For those who didn’t know him, in two games he has displayed an amazing letter of introduction… I am happy that things have gone well both personally and collectively. I have always said, as we have all said, that the strength of this team is the collective. I try to give a little point to the team and everything I have inside so that we can do great things this Euro Cup.
We already know that three internationals have left (Gavi, Jesús Navas and you) from your town. But explain to us what your town, Los Palacios, is like. It is a small town in Seville where we have great pools of soccer players, three players in the national team is something historic. We have a secret, which is tomatoes. They are the best in the world… I invite everyone to try them because they are wonderful.
In which park did you play in Los Palacios?
He played next to home, in La Palmera park and in a field called Cristóbal, which is now the Jesús Navas sports complex. I played when I was little with my brother who is six years older than me, but he always took me to play with him and his friends. I learned a lot from street football.
What were the rules of street football like? Were they all fighting to choose you?
At first they didn’t choose me because I was smaller. They tried to leave me out and my brother was the one who always put me on his team. And the basic rule was that he who carried the ball was in charge. The one who was in charge, if he lost, many times he would leave. We made the goals with stones on the ground, then they put up a bench and it was the best of three. We changed teams and whoever won stayed, but the elders ruled and the one carrying the ball was the one who threatened to leave when he was losing.
Were there balls in your house to send?
At home we were not well off financially, but our gifts were always balls, for me and my brother. We were lucky to share it and we always went together. We had balls, but at first we didn’t control them and then we started to control them too. We won more games than we lost.
Can you explain what the economic situation was like at home?
Yes, no problem, I have nothing to hide. My parents separated when I was 12 years old and that made the financial situation a little worse. My mother had to raise my brothers and me alone. I don’t know how much she earned, but not much. And with a house, three children, studies, taking me to train at Betis… It wasn’t easy, we had a bad time financially. My little sister and I didn’t realize it, but my older brother and my mother did, who ran the house.
How did they manage?
My mother worked from Monday to Sunday, cleaning. Fortunately we had the help of my aunt, who was not very well off financially either, but she gave us great support, especially my mother. Fortunately, we have received the reward with football. Whenever I win something, I dedicate it to my mother and I will always say that it is thanks to her. I am where I am and I am what I am because of her. Also for my aunt, who in the hardest moments was the one who supported me and my family.
Have you bought them a house or something similar?
My family will never lack anything. Everyone now has a house and a car, that’s the most important thing for me. As long as you are lucky enough to be financially well off, you will not lack for anything. They are very humble and it is even difficult for them to ask me for something. We are a humble, plain family, from the town. And the economic part is not the most important, but rather the united family. Being united made us move forward when we were very bad. The most important thing is health and being well with the family.
street football
He was fortunate to work in the same company as his mother, Chari Peña. You are a footballer at Betis, she is a cleaner at the club’s facilities.
At first I was a little embarrassed because she cleaned the Betis locker rooms and I changed there. She was younger and was in a locker room with players like Joaquín, club legends, and others. And the truth is that at first I was a little embarrassed because I was very young. Then I was able to turn the situation around and more than shame, it was pride to see my mother there. It was a satisfaction to be able to see my mother there every day at the same job. It was a unique and very beautiful moment and one that I will always have in my head.
Is your mother still working or has she stopped?
When I left Betis for Naples I told her that my reward to her for all the effort she had made over so many years was to take her out of work so she could enjoy her children a little more. She had been working all her life from Monday to Sunday and surely she did not enjoy her children as much as she would have liked. I was lucky enough to be able to afford to take her out of work and take care of my family, and without a doubt I did. At first it was difficult for her, she thought about it for a long time, it was her routine, and quitting suddenly was difficult for her. Then she really enjoyed being able to come with me to Naples, to see me play, to be with me and my brothers.
Do you learn more on the street and in difficulty than in soccer academies?
I don’t know if other things are learned. I have said it for a long time: I am sad that children are no longer seen playing in the street. They are on their cell phone or on the play without leaving home. I learned on the street to be with everyone, every day, without cell phones, without plays. I had no way to communicate and I went to my friends’ houses to find them to go out and play. He did the same or more than now with so much communication. I wish we could go back to life before, because you learn a lot.
What did he learn?
You learn many things, especially mischief, depending on yourself, finding your way, defending your friends. If something really matters to you, like friends, you go look for it. In football you improve your cunning by playing with older children, you learn their tricks, and spend more time with your friends. Today we lock ourselves at home, we play games, our mobile phones and our world becomes smaller. We should invite children to go out more, communicating through words is more beautiful.
Did he score 107 goals one year?
Yes, in fry when I was 12 years old. That season I grew up, I played higher up, it was 7-a-side football, I stood out a lot, yes.
He has known the essentials of the street and today works for the club of millions, PSG…
If I’m honest and people who know me can tell you, nothing has changed for me. I am still the same person who played in that park, the same person, with the same friends, the same people, the same humility, the same closeness. And that is one thing that I like and that I don’t think we have to change for the simple fact of having changed our life or economic or sporting situation. I have always said that for me the most important thing is family and friends. And I don’t care what team I’m on or my financial situation, I will always be the same and it will never change.
He seems shy. Can you be shy in football?
I’m shy, yes. But when he took the field he left his shyness behind, in football it is important to communicate, to speak. Although I am aware that shyness in football is not a favorable factor.
Since Luis de la Fuente assured that if his name were not Fabián he would be more recognized, you have become a kind of symbol of the native product.
Well, I don’t think this comes only from these two games with the national team. I think it comes from quite a long time ago. It happens to us a lot and I include myself too. In Spain we always look outside, not at what we have in our country and we do not value what there is as much. I invite myself and the people to value more what we have in our country, not only in the sporting field, but in all other aspects. We are a country in which we lack nothing, we have everything, we are the envy of many other countries that would like to have what we have. And well, now there is a lot of talk about the change of my name, that we don’t value the players as much… I think that the fans and the people related to football do value the players, but they don’t give it as much importance and we look more at what We do not have.
Does it bother you in the selection?
It’s not about bothering. When we talk about football we can think and value what we have a little more and see that in this team there are great players who would most like to have others. They are world players who are in the best teams in the world and who luckily play with us. I invite us to give a little more value to that.
Why do you think this happens to us in Spain?
It seems to me that it is not just an issue for us, but for many other countries. We always look at what the person next door has or what we don’t have. As far as my thinking is concerned, since I come from a very humble family, as I have already told you, we have always valued what we have and not what the person in front of us did or had. If you enjoy what you have, I believe you can be a happier person. We are a country in which fortunately we do not lack anything and what more would other countries want.
What do you like to do beyond football?
I like series, I watch a lot, and walking with the dog. At home I watch a lot of series with my girlfriend, we have a great hobby, and we also have a dog named Vela. We usually walk with her a lot, next to her house there is a forest and we like to clear our minds by breathing a little with her. She is very affectionate.
How is life in Paris?
I have always said that Seville lacks the sun a little, but it is an incredible, wonderful, very beautiful city that offers everything you want to walk around, see it, enjoy it. It catches my attention that it has many green spaces. From what I see, they take great care of nature. And I love it in that aspect because we are a family that likes to walk.
What is special about this selection?
It is a young, long-range team, with also veteran players but above all young people with a great future. We have footballers from 16 years old to thirty-something, the average is very young and I would highlight that they are very hungry, they have the desire to win. Few players have won anything, apart from the Nations League, or Jesús Navas the World Cup and the European Championship. We are a team that wants to do something historic for our country and that encourages us to be more ambitious.
