‘Now I enjoy the pressure’

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Javier Cendón, ex scholar at Marcet’s Professional Program, speaks about his day to day with Villarreal CF.

If you truly want something and it gets stuck in your head, you fight for it and you get the best out of yourself. It’s daily work, effort… But it’s worth it”. This is how Javier Cendón sums up his journey as a goalkeeper. “It’s really hard. Sometimes you think you’re leaving your life behind and you don’t know whether you’re going to get anywhere. But when you get signed for Villarreal CF, when you get called up for the Valencia squad, when you get called up for the Spanish national squad… You remember all the negative moments: that time you got home destroyed, the days you cried when you couldn’t take it anymore… And you know that in the end it’s worth it, because the satisfaction you get through all the effort is more gratifying than anything else”.

The ex Scholar of the Professional Program at Fundación Marcet, Cendón, returned home to speak in front of the camera about his past, present and future. He spoke about maturing, his obsessions before running out onto the grass and that frustrating feeling of being stuck on the bench for a few matches before returning as a starter with even more strength and conviction. An important statement for any young footballer with dreams of turning their passion into a profession.

A mentally draining position

One key element to his evolution was to control his emotions during a game. “I didn’t play with joy before. I preferred it when there were less people in the ground. I didn’t like people seeing me. Then I started to think that it made no sense to get nervous, because I was doing what I liked. I learnt to enjoy the pressure. When you start to play the game and enjoy it, the sensation you get is spectacular.

“To be a keeper you have to be mentally prepared”, the Villarreal keeper tells us, who was last seen the colours of Fundación Marcet in the 15-16 season before signing for the ‘Submarino Amarillo’ (Yellow Submarine). “It’s a very mentally draining position. In one game you’re getting shots from all directions, then in another the other side won’t have any. You have to stay concentred for the whole clash, you have to shout messages out to your teammates… It’s a lot of physiological work. But when you make an amazing save and you hear the crowd cheering… It’s as if you’ve scored a goal”.

 

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