Budesca and Marcos are the full-backs for Villarreal and Roda in the División de Honor
Daniel Budesca (Murcia, 2006) and Marcos González (Elda, 2006) have many things in common. Both are players in the Yellows Academy, are the same age, live together in the residence of the José Manuel Llaneza Training Ground, play as right backs in the demanding División de Honor Juvenil (one in Villarreal and the other in Roda) and were champions on the track before successfully showing off on the pitches of Miralcamp.
Budesca began running popular races and, when he realised that he had the ability for this sport, he became a member of the federation and competed in 50, 60, 500, 1,000 and 2,000 metres and even competed in long jump and high jump championships. The yellow youth player proudly recalls competing with the Murcia regional team in triangular competitions against Castilla La Mancha and the Valencian Community: “We always won. Now I compete in football with the Valencian team and we beat the Murcian team 5-0 in the Spanish Championship,” he confesses with a laugh.
Marcos is the Valencian Community champion in the 2,000m indoor and 3,000m outdoor events. He started competing only in athletics because of the passion that his father passed on to him until he combined it with football, joining Elda Unión, a club affiliated to the Submarine, which he joined last season, and left athletics behind. “U14 was my last year and I focused on football,” González emphasises. The opposite is the case of his teammate, who started playing football in the ranks of Real Murcia, later combined it with athletics, until he focused on football again.
Both players know that athletics has also given them an aptitude for football, even more so playing as attacking right backs. For Marcos, some of those competitive advantages are “speed, enduring games and training and also injuries”. “Holding up in games is not something we struggle with,” he adds. Budesca believes they are “complete full-backs” who like to “go up and down”. In fact, he looks up to Alfonso Pedraza: “He’s an idol and a reference point. I think he’s a total player. I wish I could be like him.”
Speed and physique are qualities that are becoming increasingly important in today’s football and Dani Budesca and Marcos González possess them. Perhaps, these skills, which are bearing fruit in the Yellows Academy, will be crucial for a future arrival in professional football in yellow.
