TODavid Raya (Barcelona, 15-9-1995) He is neither surprised nor scared that little is known about him in Spain. He went to England when he was only 16 years old. A decade later, after much work and sacrifice, he is in the Spanish team just a few months before the World Cup.
QUESTION. Last Friday. How did you find out about the selection call?
ANSWER. The master tells me in the middle of training, between exercise and exercise. It is seen that an analyst approaches and tells him about it. He picks me up and tells me: “Hey, the list has come out and you’re called for the selection.” I don’t have time to process it well, because I had to start the next exercise. When the training is over, he breaks the news in front of all the classmates. Then it becomes a little more reality. But until I get here on Tuesday you don’t quite believe it.
Q. What did your companions do when they found out?
R. Congratulate me, of course. They were very happy. The truth is that everyone was very happy for me. Representing your country is a dream for everyone.
Q. You didn’t sense anything, nobody from the club told you that you were on the pre-list?
A. Nothing at all. No, she didn’t know anything, not that she was on the previous list or anything.
Q. Wasn’t he afraid it was a joke?
R. It was an objective that I had, to represent Spain. But hey, when they tell you, you don’t believe it. It’s a strange feeling to think about whether or not they’re hesitating. But when Thomas Frank said it in front of the whole world, you know it’s real.
P. Here was a big surprise.
A. I understand. I left here when I was 16 years old and it is normal that many people did not know of my whereabouts, who I was. I’ve played almost all my life in the Championship, but those who follow the Premier a bit… And I come from the bottom, from playing in the Fifth Division. That’s the beauty of football. I hope that now many people know the story of where I come from.
Q. How many messages did you receive on Friday?
A. Countless. The first thing I did was call my parents and my girl to tell them. But they already knew! The list came out before I could talk to them.
Q. To the people who wonder who David Raya is, what can you say?
A. A normal boy from Barcelona who left at the age of 16 to find his dream. Little by little and work after work, because he has achieved it.
Q. Those beginnings are at Cornell.
R. I came from the team of my town, the Corbera de Llobregat, I was prebenjamn. They saw me and followed me. And in 2012 I went to England.
Q. They never called you Barcelona or Espanyol?
A. No. After the first contact I went back to Cornell to try two weeks, more time to see how they saw me. And they booked me.
P. You are the typical case of the little boy who has an older brother and who does not want to be a goalkeeper.
R. Yes, exactly. My middle brother, who is three years older than me, was a forward winger. Since I was the little one, well, he had to put me in the goalkeeper. I liked it. When I was little, the opportunity I had to play was as a goalkeeper. I took advantage of it, I liked it and here we are.
Q. You have huge hands. Are they family?
A. That’s it. I think I have my grandfather’s hands. The truth is that they suit me.
Q. But when you arrived in England you didn’t convince the first time.
A. The athletic director of the Blackburn academy saw that my father was not very tall, although my mother is. I hadn’t quite grown yet, I was 1’80 more or less. In English football they like tall goalkeepers, who go well above. He is 1.84m tall, but I think I can do the same job as the 2m tall.
Q. What do Spanish goalkeepers have that they like so much in England?
A. We are showing a good level. I think we are 5 6 performing well. It is the philosophy of taking Spanish goalkeepers, since now they require a little more game with the feet. The Premier League is a very attractive league that attracts players from all over the world.
P. Jrgen Klopp put his game through the roof with his feet.
R. I was very flattered. When these words came from such a high-level technician, they surprised me and flattered me a lot.
Q. Those months of 2014 on loan at Southport…
R. People there did not play football for the love of art. Each game counted because they gave you an extra. For them it was very important, they combined training with their normal work. Every extra they could have was money to help out at home, pay the mortgage, their expenses… That’s when I realized that I was privileged when I was only 16 years old. At the academy I had everything: my clean clothes, breakfast, everything… There I had to go back with my clothes, I washed them myself. It was a touch of reality. I appreciate it very much and I always keep it in mind. Thanks to those three months I am where I am.
Q. Do you value what you lived there more for being here now?
A. Sure. They were the best months of my life, because I enjoyed them very much. And in every way. It’s football, life. One day you will tell about the path you have had, but also that it has cost a lot.
P. How much has it cost you to reach the elite?
R. The final step, quite a lot. Blackburn, the loan then at Brentford… The first year we reached the final and lost it. There was COVID, we only had 13 days of vacation and we said: “Holy shit, let’s try to get back up again.” We thought it was going to be very difficult, which it was. But we did it against Swansea, and at Wembley.
Q. You have been in England for a decade. Food?
R. [Risas] One of the things I missed the most when I left. I missed my house, my mother’s! Everything was hard at first. As often as my parents came, they brought me ham, loin, sausage… Everything they could fit in the suitcase. At night I got hungry, because at the Academy we had dinner at half past five. At eight o’clock I made myself a ham sandwich or whatever they sent me.
P. Do they ask you a lot in England about what is happening in Catalonia?
R. Honestly, no, people follow him little. There are those who ask about independence and all that, but they are a little more on the sidelines. I think it’s a little more national than international. It’s not something I’m usually asked about.
P. Your gloves say that you have it clear.
R. Sure: I’m Spanish and then I’m Catalan.
P. Well, you can debut with Spain at home: in Barcelona.
R. Hopefully, hopefully! I hope to be able to do it in a Cornell stadium full of fans of the Spanish team, to help us. They will say it is a friendly, but for us they are two important games. We hope that they are there supporting us and that the tickets are sold out, as the rhythm of the sale says.
Q. “If I’m wrong, I’m wrong.” It is a phrase of his.
R. If I’m wrong, I’m wrong. After all, mistakes will always happen. The best thing you can do is accept them and learn from them.
P. But a goalkeeper is more marked in his failures.
R. They will come, for sure. There will come a day when you make a mistake and… Well, that’s it, done. You have to leave it in the past, because you can’t do anything about it anymore. The only thing you can do is learn from him. If I make a mistake, then I accept it and learn from what has happened.
Q. You are from Barcelona. And from what small team?
R. Since I was little I have followed the Premier.
Q. Are you considering going back to Spain or are you closing that door?
A. No. I’m not one to close doors. You have to see the opportunities and what options are the right ones. I don’t close the door to playing in LaLiga at all. What’s more, I would like to be able to experience Spanish football, but I really enjoy it at Brentford and in the Premier. football will say
Q. How is Eriksen?
R. After so many months, after everything that happened to him in the European Championship, the important thing is that he is well, that he can play football. Hopefully it will help us in what we have left.
Q. Your arrival in the national team coincides with the departure of De Gea. How do you analyze the Manchester United goalkeeper?
R. He is a great player. When I came to England, he did too. He is an icon of the Premier and United.
P. How has it been to train with a giant screen in the field?
R. I have seen the master explaining something to the forwards. I think it will be a very useful element to improve training.
Q. Your body is a museum of tattoos, starting with the fingers of your right hand. What do they mean?
R. The first is the O of my brother Scar’s name and then it’s what he says before each game: strength (a clenched fist), football (a ball) and love (a heart). I have tattoos all over my body that mean a lot to me, whether it’s family things or important dates in my life. I really like tattoos.
Q. Do you have room for one of the World Cup?
A. Of course I have, there are still many places where I can get new tattoos.
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