Fede Valverde (25 years old) has spoken for the first time about the attack on Alex Baena after a confrontation with Villarreal. Valverde waited and attacked the Spanish footballer in the Bernabéu parking lot after a verbal fight they had had while the match was being played. According to the version of the Uruguayan's entourage, Baena would have told Valverde during the match: "Cry now that your son is not going to be born."
The assault was reported, but the court shelved it because it considered the accusation inconsistent and there was no punishment for the Uruguayan.
After months of silence, Fede has spoken out about the events in a letter published in The Players Tribune, a sports platform, titled “El Milagro”, where the little bird explains his entire life, from his growth in Peñarol to his important role at Real Madrid.
In addition, she also talks about personal issues, which include how bad it was when the doctors told her that there was little chance that her son Bautista's pregnancy would end successfully.
"In April, after a game against Villarreal, everything went down. Everyone read the headlines. Everyone knows both sides of the story. I don't want to bring these horrible things to light again. All I want to say is... On a soccer field, you can tell me whatever you want, and it's not going to bother me. I'm Uruguayan, for God's sake. But there are certain lines that should not be crossed. Not as a soccer player, but as a human being "explains Valverde.
"He talked about my family, and this is no longer football. A line was crossed that day. Should I have reacted? Maybe not. Maybe I should have gone home to share a hamburger with my son, eat some nuggets and watch little drawings. But I am a human being, and sometimes you have to know how to stand up for yourself and your family," adds the midfielder.
"It hurt me to see that the media described me as a violent guy, many lies were told that were later proven not to be true. But I can honestly say that I don't regret anything, because it made me grow even more as a person, and it made me our family was more united than ever," says Valverde.
The Uruguayan, however, says that he experienced a "hell" that did not allow him to be himself: "But when he was alone, he would cry for hours. I used to go to the bathroom for 15 minutes and for 10 minutes he would cry with his head in his hands. The The morning of the game, when I was supposed to be focused and calm, I was lying in bed, thinking about our son, tossing and turning... Sometimes I didn't play well, I knew it and I could hear the whistles from the fans. Then, after the game game, I had to answer questions from the media and I didn't want to show my emotions or tell people what was going on. It was fucking hell."
"My wife suffered physically and mentally every day. I just shut down. I'm someone who locks everything inside. I know it's not healthy, but I'm honest. I never want anyone to see me cry, ever. Even my family. I felt like I had "I had to be the rock, because everyone else was suffering. I was playing a character, you know? The strong, stoic guy who tells my wife: "Everything will turn out the way God wants," the Madrid player confessed.
The undisputed player of Madrid and the Uruguayan national team, assured that after that dark day things began to improve for him and his family: "Thank God, after that dark day, things began to improve."
Something that Valverde does regret is his attitude when he began to be a professional at only 16 years old: “I don't know if people can really understand what it means to go from being nobody to someone who walks down the street in your neighborhood. and suddenly adults come up to you because they want a photo. You receive messages from girls who didn't even look at you the week before. Everyone wants to be your friend. It is impossible not to deviate a little from the path and get bigger. But I had lost my way and replaced many of the friends with new ones, like so many young players. It's not like he was doing anything weird. But he was rude. I remember seeing the children waiting for an autograph from me and I hesitated: “Ufff… Should I stop or go straight home?” Today I am really tired.” And the children asking you: “Fede, Hey, Fede, Please.” And maybe it was two minutes, but I was able to keep going. It kills me to remember it, because that wasn't the way my parents raised me. In truth, I was nobody. He was just another idiot who played soccer, who fought for his dreams. The only way to explain it is that maybe he was blinded by the sudden fame.” Valverde has confessed, ashamed of his actions in the past.
Now Valverde is very happy to play for Madrid, but before his move to the white club, he was very close to signing with Arsenal, but in the letter, Fede, says that it was never a great option for him. “It's nothing against Arsenal, but I never wanted to go to England. There were people who told me: “Who wouldn't want to go to Arsenal? Do you want to stay in Uruguay? You're crazy!" What they really wanted to tell me without saying it was: “We can make a lot of money if you leave.” And there you realize that your life is not really yours in football. They put pressure on you in a “nice” way. “Faith! If you go to Arsenal you will have a nice bed and a hot shower that lasts 30 or 40 minutes. "Who wouldn't like that life?" They sent me to London for a week's trial, but I wasn't comfortable. If you only think about material things, then that sounds great. The reality is that my family wouldn't be able to come to London with me. I was going to have to live alone, without speaking the language, at 16 years old. So I was crazy enough, or brave enough, to say no. Give me cold showers whenever I can stay with my family. In my head, I had the idea that after that, I was going to stay in Uruguay for my entire career.”
Luckily for Valverde, he would only be in Uruguay for a short time. After Arsenal, many European clubs set their sights on the pearl of Peñarol, but Real Madrid was ahead of them all. “He was in Paraguay, playing the South American U-17 and he was breaking it. We had to play a decisive match against Argentina the next day. I was in my room, and my parents were staying in another room in the same hotel. Suddenly my mom calls me and says: “I came to our room right now. There are people here who want to talk to you.” We didn't have permission to leave our rooms, so I told her: “I can't now, ma. We can not go out". And cut. She called me again. “Fede, come right now. These people are from Real Madrid.” I thought he was making a joke on me. But I ran into the other room, and there they were: two men I had never seen in my life. Her tears fell. But she's always one to get excited, so she didn't know what to think. I told her: “Ma, without disrespect, you know that I don't like to talk…”. And she said: “Fede, shut up. Listen to them. “You are going to have great news.” And there the guys started talking in Spanish from Spain, and then I thought: “Fuck it… these aren't from here. This is serious?".
“Then they told me: “We are from Real Madrid. We believe that you can become a star with us. “We want you and your parents to move to Madrid.” I looked at my mother. I looked at my representative with a “Nah, they're screwing me” look. My mother looked at me as if to say: “Shut up, Fede. “We’re not fucking with you.” And I ran. I ran out of the room, shouting, “Where's dad? I have to tell dad!!!” That was the first perfect day of my life. Because I saw how excited my parents were. My mother gets excited about everything, but my dad is tough as a rock. He has a hard time showing emotions, although that day I managed to see a small crack. I saw the light in his eyes. “My son plays for Real Madrid.”
“For me, the most important chapter in my story is becoming a father. Even when he was 19, 20 years old, he played football, he made money, he drove nice cars, he was still a kid. It was only when my first child was born, at age 21, that my life truly changed. That was my second perfect day. Before that day, I was obsessed with my performances. If I had a bad game, I wouldn't even talk to my parents for 24 hours. I would go to my room and sit alone thinking about my mistakes. I don't know if that's healthy, but when you play for Real Madrid, the pressure is the most intense in the world. So you live it 100%. Only when Benicio was born did I feel like an adult coming home after a bad result. When he could walk, he came running to me at the door of the house with his Buzz Lightyear toy in his hands and gave me a hug. He doesn't give a damn about the game. I didn't even know what football is. "I just wanted to 'play Toy Story.'"
“After a month and a half of hell, we received the best news of our lives. The ultrasounds had improved greatly and it seemed that the pregnancy could continue. Of course, the rest of the pregnancy continued to be an incredibly tense time. Until we could hold our son in our arms, we didn't even want to breathe. But, thank God, in June our son Bautista came into the world. Healthy and happy. Our miracle. The perfect third day. You know.... I'm not easy on myself, neither in football nor in life. I don't think I've ever felt satisfied before. I had never felt like I had really succeeded, or that I had done enough. But that morning in the hospital, when my wife was holding Bautista in her arms, I thought: "Fede, look at them. That's it. You've won."
