“Some of them earn more than the coach. How are you going to tell them anything?” | Relief

Alberto Rivera (Puertoliano, Ciudad Real, 02/16/1978), Riveriteas his companions knew him, At 17, he became the youngest player to debut and score for Real Madrid. It was June 10, 1995. With his friend Raul de Cicero From that dressing room he quickly understood the rules of the first team game and in Relevo he told us how he thought they would welcome Mbappé, a star surrounded by champions.

Hierro, Zamorano, Redondo, Mijatovic, Suker, Zidane, Figo… They were some of his teammates during the two stages in which he played for the club that took him in when he was 14, when the nights in the youth hostel were filled with dreams and tears. After retiring from football, Rivera continues to break records, but now in marathons. He doesn’t like to run alone, he’s been accompanied all his life.

How did you get the opportunity to join Real Madrid and what were your first years like?

They did tests that anyone could sign up for, I was 12 years old and at 14 I was signed by Cadet A. I went to a boarding school in Madrid on Recoletos Street where I met Dani García Lara, Álvaro Benito… At first it was hard to leave the house, then things went well. We cried at night for the first few months, although there were few of us and we supported each other, we were almost brothers. We all had the same worries and difficulties. Álvaro’s injury hurt us a lot, we felt bad and we hoped that during this test they would find the key for him to play again. But Álvaro is a phenomenon and he does other things just as well.

Tell us how you got into the first team.

I was in the youth B group, and Valdano put together a group of 15 kids from different teams, made us train specially, and it didn’t matter how old you were. They played friendlies with the second B teams. And when the first team, which wasn’t in Europe that year, played, for example, against PSV Eindhoven, and Jorge took someone… He took me a couple of times. That day Butragueño got injured, I scored in a friendly, and that was the impetus. On the plane, Valdano told me that I was going to Vigo with the first team.

Which teammate helped you the most in that locker room?

Raul and I were playing at the same time in the cadet team, I debuted the same year, we were both playing at the same age and were friends. Cañizares asked me for a room, he was also from Puertollano. They told me to keep playing like I was playing in the youth team, to forget where I was.

Did some push you more than others?

They were all idols, three years before I was at home with my friends and going to school. Suddenly I found Redondo, Zamorano, Hierro, etc.

You mentioned “play the way you did.” But did you manage to do that despite the pressure?

I wasn’t nervous, really. I was a bit shy and it was hard at first, but the people there make you feel normal because they are normal too. I was the youngest player to debut and score for Madrid, then Odegaard was the youngest to debut and not score.

Are we asking too much of young people like Lamin Yamal?

It depends on his character, Raul debuted at my age and was more than prepared, I needed a little more. On a physical level and condition, the problem is that when you start so early, the route is not so long, there are overloads, you expose your body to a professional level, and your body is not yet adapted, it needs more time and without so much effort. loading matches and, especially at such intensity. Mentally, Lamin is more than prepared, and the people who go out have courage, but I don’t know if they will last so long on a physical and muscular level.

When we say that at 16 you can’t get tired, are we wrong?

Look at what Pedri went through, he played absolutely everything in a year, and look at the injuries he suffered. At 16, you recover faster from these efforts, but these efforts, when you meet professional footballers, are noticeable in the long term. You have to prepare yourself physically and mentally, because now everyone knows what you do, there is criticism, and you have to be strong. In my time, there were two programs, Stadium exploration and another one. Right now two hundred are analyzing what you do.

Did they warn you about the dangers of the “Madrid Night”?

They made you feel like you were always representing the organization and you couldn’t do whatever you wanted because it would affect everyone. If you were always going out, you weren’t performing. It wasn’t as much as you thought, what happened was you went out alone and they thought you went out four times. They told you to be on time, train hard… They didn’t tell us anything specific about the clothes, but you represented Madrid and you couldn’t just go. There are things you can read between the lines that you don’t need to be told. You saw how Hierro was dressed and you already knew that.

You couldn’t come up with a better car than the Redondo, right?

For a 17-year-old boy, it simply doesn’t make sense to have a car better than the best in Madrid, it’s a question of logic and education. In my time, it was very difficult for anyone to have a car of that category. You come from the reserve team, and over time you have to earn a lot. I didn’t even have a driving license, my first salary was 3,000 pesetas for travel, and then 8,000. When I had the opportunity, the first thing I did was buy my father a Volvo. Good thing I inherited it later…

Do you think that the current young players at Madrid maintain these values?

Society is changing and we have to adapt to it. It’s hard to talk a boy out of buying another car these days, if he can afford it. Some charge more than the coach. How are you going to tell him anything?

What were Vicente Del Bosque and Jorge Valdano like?

Del Bosque was the quarry manager, he knew that if anyone in the first team wore white boots, no one in the quarry would be able to wear them. Valdano did not get involved in these matters, his pulse was not shaking to bring the boys to the first team; Del Bosque was more interested in educational issues. Del Bosque said in an interview that he asked Guti to cut his hair, but he refused and continued to play. Alfonso began wearing white boots in the first team, the others did not think of it.

What do you think about the fact that Madrid’s main team hardly counts on its youth team?

In the end, Madrid only exists to win, if you have young players and you keep winning, great. Nacho got it, Carvajal, Lucas… Although at one point they had to leave. The thing is that in Madrid you either work in the first moment or they change immediately. Madrid requires titles and they go to the best players, although if a young player gets into the first team, he becomes very good and eventually becomes an international.

You were loaned to different teams, such as Numancia, then Olympique de Marseille, Betis, Sporting Gijon… Were you disappointed every time you saw that you couldn’t stay in Madrid?

Not at all, I made my debut in the first team, then spent four years in the Second B and went on loan to Soria, played in the First Team, came back to Madrid for a year and a half, played a little and I left. It is very difficult to be in Madrid, it is for the chosen ones. To spend two years in the first team was unthinkable when I arrived in Madrid at 14.

You’ve played with the best, but which one has influenced you the most on the football pitch?

In the end, I was with the best in the world: Figo, Mijatovic, Suker, Roberto Carlos, Redondo… Although my best friend is Tote. Outside of the megastars, his quality, like Guti, was impressive. Yes, Zidane could do it to you, but I saw Tote do it in Cadet, Juvenil, in Primera… Of the megastars, I would stop at Guti and Tote.

Has the dressing room changed much with the arrival of so many foreigners and “stars”?

When you get there, it’s a different story, but there was more media, more image contracts, football was overcrowded. When Zidane arrived, it was unthinkable to go to lunch with him, there were 200 people around him before entering. Everything changed. I had to leave with the car, and we couldn’t continue after half an hour, the car in front belonged to Roberto Carlos or Figo. The gossip press was talking about them, and not just the sports press.

How do you expect Mbappe to fit into the current Real Madrid dressing room?

I think it’s good because he’s coming to the best team in the world and now everyone has more European Cups, even if they’re the best player in the world. In Madrid, I see that they’re young people who form a pretty good group and Mbappe will definitely join them. Everyone seems to get along well, although some play less, no one makes disharmonious statements, there were real hugs at the celebrations. Join a good group and it helps even more. In Madrid, everything is harmonious now and it’s easier to fit in, it’s not the same as joining a team that has fallen apart. In the end, the players are more normal than they seem. I think sometimes having such a big influence can make you lose perspective or us with them. For example, when we were very young, you’d come home and there would be people who looked at us badly, saying: “Listen, they’re going to Madrid thinking they’re going to come.” We players were still normal and everything else changed.

Have you found a partner who is especially deified, but especially normal?

The vast majority. Iron, who I keep seeing; or Zidane, who, when I went to Marseille, barely knowing me, spoke phenomenally of me, so imagine the reception I got. Roberto Carlos is also a very affectionate guy. They are people like everyone else.

What was it like getting into the “run”?

It was for health reasons because when I retired I started mountain biking with friends but I was falling every day. He hit me with bombs… So to stay alive my friend advised me to run. So I did. I go out in a group, after sharing a locker room with 30 “animals” all my life I can’t run alone.