A radical transformation

With positive attitude and dedication Alejandro Torres has turned himself into an elite athlete and has been called-up to Bolivia’s U-20s squad.

“Hard work has its rewards”. That was the first thing Alejandro Torres Suárez thought when, in June of 2016, he was signed by CE Sabadell. He didn’t realise that shortly after there was another reward around the corner, a call up to the Bolivian U-20s squad. An extremely great achievement, but not a surprise to anyone who has seen the South American goalkeeper grow up.

“Everything Alejandro has accomplished he’s achieved it himself thanks to his work ethic and dedication”, Carlos Rivero says, head coach at Marcet’s High Performance Academy. “He’s one of the hardest working players we’ve ever had. He’s had an exemplary attitude throughout and he’s turned himself into a model professional. We don’t know where he’ll get to, but we know he already acts as a first class player”.

It hasn’t always been like this. Alejandro came to Barcelona in November 2014 lacking some important attributes. The coaches saw that he stood out when it came to one on one’s, but he had low concentration levels and his technique had to be improved. “Alejandro fell short with the same problems lots of other Latin American players have”, Rivero explains. His coaching team concentrated on improving his agility, which implied a great physical change for the Bolivian keeper, who in a few months went from overweight to achieving an elite athlete’s body. “Alejandro has big upper body proportions, so on the technical side of training we worked a lot on opposition aerial attacks. This had to be his biggest trait, his strong point”.

Whilst he was progressing with his technique and physical attributes, a team of phycologists worked on transforming his mental side of the game. “When he first arrived Alejandro seemed a little shy and quiet”, Rivero tells us. “We worked a lot on this side of his game, because a top player, especially in the goalkeeping position, needs to be heard, show his presence and take charge of situations when necessary. Today Alejandro is what we expected him to be: a commanding, no frills, stable goalkeeper”.

“I’ve grown so much and I am what I am today thanks to Marcet”, assured the Bolivian goalkeeper. “In Latin America the football is more physical, more shoulder to shoulder. Here it’s much more technical, you have to think a lot and be more intelligent. Also, the game here is a lot more detailed. The level in Spain is a lot better than the rest of the world and the intensity in the matches and training is very unique”, Alejandro explained when he was signed by Sabadell, alongside another player from Marcet, Heo Eungang:

The call up to the Bolivian national squad was a dream come true for a kid who started playing football age 6 with his local side. He started off playing as a centre back and eventually went further back into the defence. “Until I realised that running about wasn’t my thing, I decided to try out being in goal. Within a short space of time I loved it”, recalls Alejandro, who’s facing a new challenge knowing that a he’s learnt the hardest thing which is that “hard-work always has rewards”.