In a split second, everything went wrong for Thierry Correia. As Getafe’s Marc Cucurella evaded his challenge, the Portuguese committed a “childish error” by pulling his opponent’s jersey.
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Thierry Correia was struggling. Home was more than 850km away in Amadora, a 15-minute drive from central Lisbon, Portugal. The 21-year-old had arrived from Portuguese giants Sporting CP in the summer of 2019 for a hefty 12 million euros. But instead of starting every match, he was glued to the bench.
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Just a year ago, Hugo Guillamon was still an academy player. These days, he’s a regular presence at the Mestalla. But while he’s firmly in the spotlight now, the young centre-back is not feeling the pressure. What’s his secret on staying calm? Batzine spoke to him to find out. Making the switch playing in the […]
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Hugo Guillamon is still unsatisfied. Despite scoring his first goal against Alaves last month with a towering header that secured a draw for Valencia, the young centre-back rues that it was only worth a point. “I would have liked to score in a game that would have helped the team to win, but it was […]
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Valencia’s youth success is not solely defined by the number of players that make it to the starting lineup, although it is a good indicator.
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Talent sprouts from the grounds of Valencia’s famed academy. In 2020, 28 first-division professionals across Europe’s top five leagues were cultivated from Valencia – the fifth-most productive club according to a study by the International Centre for Sports Studies.
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In football, timing is everything. On a chaotic Sunday evening at the Mestalla, it took Yunus Musah exactly 22 minutes to flick the switch from mundane to magic. The moment of ignition came from Gabriel Paulista, who looked up and played one of those fast-break balls to the right of midfield. Finding space down the […]
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Vicente Esquerdo, one of Valencia’s latest academy stars, has signed a contract extension on September 21 that will keep him at the club until 2024.
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Yunus Dimoara Musah was midway through a training session with the England Under-18 squad in late 2019 when he realised he had improved significantly. He found that he was half a second quicker on the ball, read the game better, and all-round tactical nous and positional discipline that little bit sharper. “I’ve noticed the difference […]
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There is a famous picture of a bruised and bloodied Salvador Gonzalez Marco that seems like he is emerging from a war zone rather than a football pitch. Flanked by two medical personnel, his white jersey is covered in streaks of blood dripping from his battered face. The defender had broken his nose while attempting […]
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