The Unassuming Brilliance of Federico Valverde: A Hidden Gem in International Football

His personality, his background, his humility and his work ethic undoubtedly make him one of the least good candidates for international buzz. Federico Valverde will never have one word higher than the other, will always highlight the collective qualities of the teams where he shines and will never dwell for too long on his personal feats of arms, although they are always more numerous. But, such is the life of the Internet, he did not escape the sirens of social networks in November 2022. On the picturesque grounds of Rayo Vallecano, the Uruguayan had completely unscrewed one of his recoveries, the latter ending… on the balcony of a neighbor of the stadium. Improbable and therefore completely viral. But, rest assured, since then, Valverde has got back on track.

No later than Tuesday for one of the matches of the season at the Santiago Bernabéu (3-3). While Real was led by Manchester City, the Uruguayan felt the blow by throwing himself at the far post on a cross from Vinicius. His recovery, with incredible mechanical fluidity, hit the mark. And remember his frankly brilliant ball striking skills.

Frankly, in training, I suffer a lot

This season, Napoli had already been able to see the damage after a mine of incredible violence, triggered with only three small steps of adjustment. A “Halconazo” dear to the Madrid press, who renamed the player “The Falcon” (Halcon) after welcoming him as a “little bird” (Pajarito).

The subject is so interesting for the Madrid press that Brand had taken the time, at the time, to question a speed “expert” to calculate that his shot had been flashed at 107 km/h. But, more than the speed, it is above all the purity of his kicks that makes you dream. Thibaut Courtois can testify to this: he is often the victim of these remote-controlled missiles.

“Frankly, in training, I suffer a lot from it, he slipped into a smile in 2022. We all asked him to hit more in matches because it starts at a speed… The worst is that, little by little little, the ball floats more and more. They are impossible to stop. He really has an incredible shot. On certain videos from the Madrid club, we can notably see him arming himself to the laughter of his teammates who shout “golazo”, even before the strike is triggered. And the animal changes this time with the snake mimed by the player, as if to reproduce the trajectory of his strikes.

New role, same beauty

The observation did not escape Carlo Ancelotti last year. The Italian didn’t understand how such quality could generate so few goals. So, he set a numerical objective for the Uruguayan: the 10-goal mark.

Because he is a studious student, almost too studious at times, he had exceeded the quota with 12 pawns, some of which were memorable. But this season, everything has changed. Against Manchester City, he only scored his third goal of the season, after a long series of matches without scoring. What happened ? The handyman Valverde simply responded to the needs of the collective.

“This season, the requirements have changed with the arrival of Jude (Bellingham, Editor’s note), he explained to So Foot in March. My role is different, because he is responsible for bringing the surplus into the area and I for remaining on the cover. I’m fully a midfielder this season. Afterwards, if I score a few bonus goals, I obviously won’t say no. Especially in matches with so much at stake.

The worst ? Even his failures turn into a masterpiece… He has not completely admitted it until now, but his “decisive pass” for Vinicius in the 2021/2022 Champions League final against Liverpool was above all a crushed strike too crossed. “I saw out of the corner of my eye that he was entering the area, so I tried the pass and everything ended perfectly,” he smiled afterwards when returning to this goal. It’s rare but the handyman is sometimes bullshit.

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2024-04-12 21:39:00
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