I’ve been wanting to post about these videos for a while, but haven’t been able to get around to it until now. They are segments on Punto Pelota where they talk about my favorite canterano Álvaro Morata, and my second favorite canterano Juan Carlos (he became that the day he said Mou “smelled nice”).
Let’s start with Álvaro. He had a promising start to the season, when Mou picked him to accompany the first team on their U.S. tour, and he has occasionally trained with the primer equipo since then. The video calls him el futuro del Real Madrid, la perla de Valdebebas and la esperanza blanca (the white hope, with “white” referring to Madrid, of course).
MFC Álvaro seems so shy, no? Mumbling with that tiny little voice… The program went back to his origins, in the Mirasierra neighborhood of Madrid, and to his cole, the Colegio El Prado. His former professor said that he was different from the other students, and that he always had football on his mind. Meanwhile, his former PE teacher said he was already posing like a footballer as a little kid, but the big news is that Álvaro used to be blond!
Then the show goes to the Calle Serrano, to speak with Marta, Álvaro’s hilarious and very expressive sister. She tells us that it was impossible to get Álvaro out of bed during the week, for school, for example. But on game days, with the game at 13h in the afternoon, Álvaro would be dressed and ready by 08h, and waking up everyone else. In response, Álvaro says that his entire family suffered to make his football dream a reality. Marta continues, saying that she and her mother would go to Álvaro’s games, but have no idea what was going on, even though it had been explained to them 5,000 times. She described them as the most loyal supporters, always shouting things, but when asked what they were reacting to, they wouldn’t know how to answer. Álvaro said it’s impossible to explain to them about football, and adds his grandmother into that group.
When Álvaro got the call that he was to join the first team on their pre-season tour, the family had just arrived in Málaga on the start of their vacation. Álvaro and his mother then drove five hours back to Madrid (his mother did all the driving – if you remember, MFC doesn’t have his license yet).
And of course, Álvaro’s asked about Mou and Cristiano. He said that in his room, he has a photo of Mou coaching him during a training session, and with regards to Cristiano, he says he’s a great professional and a hard worker.
As for Juan Carlos, his origins are in Madrid suburb Boadilla del Monte, and in terms of football, with Madrid Oeste. The kids currently playing there love him, as evidenced by them saying he’s a crack, he’s the best out of everyone, and that he’s going to beat Messi for the Golden Boot. By the way, Pepe Reina also came out of this club. His former coach says that Juan Carlos is a very good boy, and a very great person off the field. He adds that when he was small, he always ended up going home covered in mud and of course his parents complained. They were all very happy with Juan Carlos’ debut, and there were people at the Bernabéu who cried upon seeing him debut.