The young eight and nine-year-old players look to Santi Cazorla as an idol within Villarreal CF
Villarreal’s U9s (Benjamín B) is a team who are equally as talented as they are enthusiastic. The Yellow side are towards the top of the Valencia SuperLiga in a group with players aged eight and nine years old. Their strength is a collective and the foundation of the squad is the same as last season. Only two additional players have strengthened their attack.
One of the coaches of this team is Wilmar Asensi, who describes his U9s as very competitive: “At the start, the group of players were not suited to teamwork because they were more used to working on their own game. Right now the team is in a very competitive moment. The category is not simple because it’s the Valencia SuperLiga. The team is in third because we didn’t perform so well in the first games. It is part of the players’ learning and we are very satisfied. If we fail, we must learn from mistakes,” he says.
The potential of this team is tremendous. Proof of this is that this weekend they beat their opponent 0-10. “There are players who have grown massively since the beginning of the season. We have worked hard with individual goals. We have been training for six months and we are very happy,” says Wilmar Asensi.
Their dream is to win one day at the Estadio de la Cerámica. In fact, many of them agree when pointing out Santi Cazorla as their idol, although names such as Asenjo, Gerard Moreno and Anguissa also appear. Wilmar Asensi prefers to highlight another player of the Yellows’ first team: “Cazorla is a top player, at the highest level. We are delighted to have him at Villarreal, but if I have to choose someone it’s Pau Torres. He is a homegrown player who has reached the first team and is also an international player.”
Another individuality of this U9 team is that the captaincy is not fixed, and that it serves as a prize for the players. “The captaincy is rewarded. They are players who are between eight and nine years old and it is not important to have a leader as captain. The positions are more fixed. There are more versatile players than others.” This U9 team is promising.
Components of the team:
Players: Leo Morales Oliva, Carlos Alós Gorriz, Gael Palomar Medina, Álex Peris Barruguer, Carlos Díaz Guevara, Jeroni Serra Clavell, José David Barreda Galiana, Álvaro Muñoz García, Izan González Lujan, Mario Romero Bausá, Aarón Gallardo López and Gonzalo Tabares Saborit.
Coaches: Adrián Cardosa, Carlos Bou, Natxo Porcar, Wilmar Asensi and Alejandro García.
