Where were the national team players at 17? | Relief

Berlin, Germany).- There are those who age gradually, year after year. This is what is common, what is usual. A path that is not for Lamin Yamal, called to overcome natural limits, to transcendence. Today, no other destination has been devised for the pearl of the world. Barca and Choice. The Spanish national team player who achieved success in the European Cup, This Saturday will be my 17th birthday But you watch him on the field and you can’t help but doubt everything. You don’t know if he’s an adult who hasn’t let go of the child he was, or a child who is behaving like the adult he will be. But the DNR gives it away, gives a precise idea of ​​what it is, and offers endless illusions about what it could be. Especially when you take the boiling point his career reached and compare it to how each of his teammates were at La Roja at the same age. At Relevo we have done this, and the impact is even more profound.

Unai Simon (now 27 years old)

In his second year of youth (the category that corresponds to Lamin today) he competed in Athletic Youth A. A few months later, he moved to the second reserve team of Baskonia to gain experience in the third division. He had already made his debut for the U-16 team under the command of Santi Denia (he replaced Antonio Sivera, now playing for Alaves).

David Raya (28)

Blackburn Rovers U18. The English signed him almost by chance: they had a collaboration agreement with Cornellà, they went to a teammate at Raya to sign him and fell in love with the goalkeeper. A couple of years later, at 19, he went on loan to Southport, playing in the fifth division. Who could have told him that he would be one step away from winning the European Cup…

Alex Remiro (29)

Youth Athletic A. Like Unai, it didn’t take long for him to speed things up and move to the Basque Country, which in his case was facilitated by Kepa’s move to Bilbao Athletic. In his 17th season, he reached the final of the Spanish Youth Cup (Real Madrid beat him 4-0 thanks to a brace from Latino-Peruvian Cristian Benavente). The Lions featured Iñaki Williams or Unai López.

Dani Carvajal (32)

Real Madrid Youth A. He was one of the outstanding players of La Fabrica (he was chosen to lay the first stone of Valdebebas together with Di Stefano), but he joined Castilla only at the age of 18. That same year he won the prestigious European Cup, winning the tournament in the final in Valencia. Curiously, the chronicle Brand Fran Sol, Sarabia, Alex Fernandez or Oscar Plano stood out… but not him, who is currently fighting for the Ballon d’Or. He lost the Copa del Rey in Almuñecar against Athletic.

Jesus Navas (38)

Sevilla Atletico. He stood out in the reserve team and managed to make his debut for the Montjuic first team against Espanyol at the age of 18 years and two days. He did it with the help of Caparros. Even the only footballer to win the European Cup, the World Cup and the Nations Cup did not reach such precocity as Lamine.

Robin Le Normand (27)

Stade Brest II. The centre-back was never ahead of his time: it still took him a while to start training with the first team, with whom he played just one game in Ligue 2 before signing for Real Sociedad at the age of 19. And at Zubieta, there was a lot to fix…

Nacho Fernandez (34)

Real Madrid Youth A. In his 17th year, he played in the international tournaments in which Lamine should now shine (the European Championship and the Under-17 World Cup). Of course, he failed to establish himself as a regular starter in either of them. For example, at the 2007 Under-17 European Championship, although Spain had three central defenders, Santisteban decided to put Moisés Jiménez (who retired in 2018 at Xeren), the aforementioned Rochela and Alberto Morgado (who hung up his boots in 2021 at Haro) ahead of the Madrid native. He did start in the World Cup final.

Dani Vivian (25)

Basque Country. Athletic had just added him to their ranks after his good performances at Santuxi Juvenil C. That same year, in addition to playing in the Tercera and discovering his potential, he dedicated himself to completing his scientific and technical baccalaureate with outstanding grades. At 18, he began studying accounting and finance at the University of Deusto.

Aymeric Laporte (30)

Athletic youth A. He made his debut at 16 in the Division d’Honneur – against Barakaldo under Bingen Arostegui – and at the same age with the first team in a friendly against Zalla. Caparrós again placed him in the central defender position next to Ustaritz. He had to wait until he was 18 to make his league debut. In his 17th season, he became national champion among under-18s with Euskadi (along with Kepa and Ruiz de Galarreta) and began to enter the dynamics of Baskonia, playing internationally for France.

Mark Cucurella (25)

Barcelona Youth A. They won the league and reached the Final Four of the Youth League, where the culé were eliminated by Salzburg in the semi-finals. That group included Abel Ruiz, Mingueza and Iñaki Peña (who replaced Sergi Puig, today in Girona B). In the middle of the season, he began to alternate with Barça Athletic and eventually achieved second place in an unforgettable final against Racing Santander. The 1-4 score in El Sardinero, with doubles from Mark Cardona (Las Palmas) and Dani Romera (without a team), remains in the annals of his career.

Alex Grimaldo (28)

Barca Athletic. He broke his ACL a few months before turning 17, a setback that slowed his growth. He went through a similar process to Lamine, as he analysed in an interview with Relevo – he made his debut for a second-tier affiliate at just 15 – after winning the trust of Eusebio Sacristan. It took him 11 months to recover from the knee and then he failed to find a place in the first team. He asks Yamal only one thing: “Take care of yourself.”

Rodri Hernandez (28)

Villarreal Youth A. He had just changed the scene and left Atlético behind to focus on his growth. The Submarine made him a very good offer to go straight to the Honor Division, and Atléti was a bit confused. No one threw him out because of the height, because of the way he slipped,” said Armando de la Morena, his last coach with the team. in this mattress career. He also gained experience in the second reserve team of Roda.

Mikel Merino (28)

Osasuna Youth A. In the final stretch of the season, he moved to the reserve team, then to the Third Division and played five games. He debuted with a score of 4:0 against Valle de Egues. Incidentally, several came from that Promesas: David García, Unai García and Quique Barja (still in Osasuna), Alex Berenguer (Athletic), Ander Cantero (Burgos), Paris Adot (formerly from Deportivo)… It was in the following year, at 18, the Pole Jan Urban rewarded him and made his debut in the senior team in the Second Division.

Martin Zubimendi (25)

Young Peoples of the Royal Society. In the last months of the season, he enjoyed spells with Real C and Sanse (along with Le Normand, Zubeldia, Guevara and Alex Sola). He was already showing signs of his potential. It took him two more seasons to make the jump to the first team.

Fermin Lopez (21)

Barcelona Youth B. His height was still a disadvantage (his physique reduced his competitiveness) and he was the 14th most popular player in this team led by Oscar Lopez in the National League: Arnau Casas (1st place, today in the Norwegian Sarpsborg 08), Aleix Garrido (2nd place, Barça Athletic) or Víctor Barbera (3rd place, Club Brugge) enjoyed greater continuity. The following year he went to Juvenil A, and the following year to Linares.

Fabian Ruiz (28)

Real Betis Youth A. The extension was announced on the blog: “Second-year youth player Fabián has signed a two-season contract with the Division d’Honneur.” It took him another season, at 18, to start playing regularly for Betis Deportivo, and coach Juan Merino managed to bring him into the first team.

Ferran Torres (24)

Valencia Mestalla. A special case: he was one of the most promising young players in Europe and established himself in the reserve team starting line-up that same season. In October, he played in the Under-17 World Cup and Ches protected him with a 25 million release clause and a high salary for his age. In January, he joined the first team. He made his debut at 17 years and nine months in a Copa del Rey match under Marcelino.

Pedri (21)

I just signed a contract for it. Barcelona from Las Palmas for a fixed fee of five million euros. He spent the pre-season with Koeman and made his league debut at 17 years and 10 months. At 16, he was shining in the second division with Pepe Mel. In the youth team (he played at the 2019 U17 World Cup), he was already a regular.

Dani Olmo (26)

Subsidiary of Dinamo Zagreb. He started to integrate the first team with the B team, but that season he hardly played a single league game with the seniors (and on the last day, when all the fish and the team champion were sold). In the Youth League and in the Croatian Second Division, he really excelled. A curious circumstance occurs: in both competitions he scored only one goal, and in front of the goal more football than success… and now he is the Eurocup Golden Boot.

Alex Baena (22)

Villarreal B. Miguel Alvarez pulled him into the reserve team after knocking on the door with his performances in the Honorary Division. He finished the season with the most minutes in the second B (1775) and debuted for the first team in the Cup (26 minutes against Comillas) and in the league (12 minutes against Real Sociedad on matchday 36). Calleja blessed him and now he remains in the Primera.

Nico Williams (22)

Youth Athletic A. He scored six goals as a DH, eclipsing Nico Serrano (he scored 14), who he supplied from the wing. In recent months, he moved to Patsy Salinas’ Baskonia. While many of his qualities were expected, he still had a lot to polish to reach the potential he is showing in Germany with De la Fuente.

Ayoze Perez (30)

Alternating dynamics Tenerife B Third place with Juvenil A. Last year he was on loan at modest San Andrés. Then he returned and revealed himself (he scored a poker goal against Madrid in Valdebebas in the Spanish Youth Cup, eliminating the Whites) and was transferred to the reserve team. The following year he rose to the first team, then to the second team B.

Alvaro Morata (31)

He made the jump Castile. He had previously scored 34 goals for the Juvenil A team that won the League and the Champions Cup and reached the final of the Copa del Rey. He made his debut in the second leg against Coruzo with 17 goals and soon after scored his first goal against Alcalá. He made his league debut alongside Mourinho at the age of 18 years and one month. In the youth ranks (he attended the 2009 FIFA U-17 World Cup with Ginés Meléndez) he was already a mainstay.

Mikel Oyarzabal (27)

Young Peoples of the Royal Society. He returned from loan to Eibar and won his group in the league with the “Churi-Urdín”. Sanse, led by Odriozola, Andoni Ugarte (UD Logroñés) or Kako (without a team), used him in five games of the second B.

Joselu (34)

Celta Youth A. He was part of one of the best generations to emerge from A Madroa, and thanks to him the Vigo club finished second in the Cup. Hugo Mallo, Toni Dovalle and he were the leaders of the group. He made his debut for the first team at the age of 17, with Hristo Stoichkov on the bench and in a friendly against Porrinho. Two years later, at 19, Real Madrid signed him for one and a half million.