A little over a month ago, Jofre Carreras Pagès (Girona, 2001) lost his mother. The Perica fans and the entire squad hugged the footballer in an emotional tribute before the match against Tenerife at the Stage Front Stadium. A year earlier, this promising winger had also fired his father. His blows have forced him to mature quickly while he took his first steps in professional football and established himself in Espanyol's first team.
Already in his debut in the top category, in the last game of 2021 in Valencia, he showed that he was made of different stuff. An assist from him and a penalty caused the victory for Espanyol. Two years later, Jofre is one of the important men on Manolo González's team. A boy who looks ahead to problems and who continues dreaming of being a protagonist in his Espanyol in First Division.
There are six days left to go. Do you feel the pressure?
People are motivated and if you are a professional, you have to know how to handle the pressure and take on the challenge. It is very important to achieve the goal.
How has Manolo González improved the team?
At the game level perhaps it is more fluid. Manolo offers you many solutions in the game, and that helps us a lot.
Now they concede fewer goals, but it is more difficult for them to score.
We are the ones who have to be more accurate in the final meters. In each game we create many chances and we just need to score them.
How are you feeling?
It is impossible not to be affected by what has happened to me. It would affect everyone. Plus what happened with my father a year ago happened. But inside the locker room I escape. My teammates help me and football is what makes me happy. I'm improving day by day.
Is playing football a therapy?
Yes. It's like an escape route. When I'm on the field, I only think about the game, about helping the team. In addition to being a motivation, it helps me escape. And I enjoy.
How did you experience the Stage Front tribute?
I'm lucky to have people who love me. I got very excited. There I could see that I was not alone. It was all very recent and I experienced it much more. I am very grateful because I realized how much people love me.
You expressed your feelings at a very difficult time for you.
I am clear about what I want. My mother wanted the promotion as much or more than I did. She was excited. So at that moment she couldn't come down to me. I did it for myself, selfishly, but also for her and my colleagues. I felt physically well and believed I could help the team.
The club has improved the area of psychological help, how necessary is it in football?
Even before being here (time at Mirandés), when what happened to my father happened, I spoke with the club's psychologist and had talks every week. I am not hiding it, it is a tool that is there to be used and that has worked well for me. Now the psychologist is helping me. The club puts it in to help, it works for me and I don't have to hide because of it.
Psychological help is gradually becoming less of a taboo.
To overcome certain problems you must talk about them naturally. I had a very special relationship with my mother. And I want to talk about her so, in some way, I don't forget her. I think she would be proud of me for doing it like that.
They say in the Espanyol academy that he is one of the players with the best evolution.
I arrived at Espanyol in junior A. I am an only child and I have always been very attached to my parents. That's why the first years were difficult. I had a bad time.
And then came a ligament injury for which he did not play for a year. Do you consider yourself a mentally strong person?
Yes, although things affect me like anyone else. You have to know how to handle it in the way that best suits you. But with everything that has happened to me, the blows I have had have strengthened me and I have matured little by little.
How do you remember your debut in Primera in Valencia in 2021?
That day was special. One of the best of my life! He was coming back from an eleven-month knee injury and I didn't expect it. I remember coming home and my parents were almost happier than I was.
He had to leave on loan to find minutes.
The year at Miranda went well for me, but what happened with my father at the beginning of the season. On a personal level it served to mature. All of this has helped me to be the player I am today and to see things differently. I do not regret.
Now he shares a dressing room with a large number of homegrown players.
Some I've been playing with all my life. With Joan (García), with Nico (Melamed), with Pol (Lozano), with Omar (El Hilali), with Rubén (Sánchez). They are your colleagues, but they are your friends. It is a comfort zone. Traveling with your friends is always easier.
It's a brave bet.
They are not hiding in this. It is a quarry team. They are not afraid to raise people and they know they can get something out of it.
Three goals and three assists and some MVP, doesn't the responsibility of being a leader weigh on you?
I appeared against Albacete, but a season is very long. I like to take responsibility, I am comfortable with it. It's a pleasure for me.
Who do you dedicate the goals to?
To my parents. To both.
What do you dream about?
I would like to play regularly in the First Division with Espanyol. That is the dream and I believe we are going to achieve it.
