The Uruguayan player of Real Madrid spoke with The Players Tribune about the most important days in his life and his career.

Looking back at my life, I had three perfect days. First day, if I asked Real Madrid. Another day, when my son Benisio was born. This is the third day since my son Bautista was born. On that third perfect day, my homeland had to go through hell.

I want to tell your story. Call me, I'm not loud. It behooves me to carry everything with me. But I realize that I have this knowledge, because I know that I can help active people. Especially for guys like me, who are respected for capturing their hair better. And trust me, New America has plenty of us. Before we tell this story, we must start from the beginning. If I'm going to talk to you like a man like I am, then you are to blame for the understanding of the guy I am..

Everything is different in Uruguay. Difficulties are in our blood. I don’t want to say that we were miserable. I want to say that my mother and Tato were hustlers. Tato pratsyuvav okhoronets at the casino. Mom sold clothes and toys at a flea market.. I can still feel the sound of the wheels of the majestic shopping cart and boxes she was carrying along the street.. It looked like nothing more than Galk could earn, but it was all my poor little mother! Prote, she was a warrior, human. She was trying to pull that car to the market - it was hot, it was cold, it was dark.

Sometimes I walked alongside her and sat on boxes, staring at the cars that passed by without acknowledging her victim.. The greatest ones were those who, at the end of a long day, had to fold all their clothes, pack everything again, and get the extra carts home! Then prepare dinner! And waste my brutish skins! You can recognize yourself? I tell you, my mother is my hero.

Vona worked from 8 pm until 7 pm, and Tato worked from 8 pm until 6 pm. You can enjoy it yourself. We had one golden hour to sit together and eat our little piece of meat, worth the cost of three. And what is now incredible for me, thinking about everything, is that my mother always told me about having my Cola. Man, I used to be a little lout for sparkling water. In Spain and America, most people can give up on nothing. " Tse mayzhe bezkoshtovno" Ale for me was more like champagne. I really don’t know what she sometimes donated so that I could wash my jar of Kolya. I don't know what I want to know.

In childhood you are naive. You look like your mother doesn’t eat, and you think: “Oh, she’s not hungry.”? It's wonderful. I'm hungry. " While we were at the same table at the end of the day, she was happy. For a while, the moment we lived together every evening was a real thrill.. This is our firmness, our spirit, our courage. For a whole year, sitting together with our little piece of meat, we were happy for everyone. It’s possible that we didn’t have enough pennies to fill up the entire cabin, but we just washed up one of the walls in my room, and it looked new. Or I’ve splashed the water outside with a hose, and we know what our little pool is. It's a real thrill. Ale, honestly it seems, our furnishings stuck on me. If you start playing football and school, your friends may be more, but it’s just a little more than that, but it may not be easy.

I remember that I didn’t want my teammates to come home before me, since we only had three channels on TV - no money! When you go to sleep, you hear how the targans are sleeping near the coot.. My bed was just a mattress on the underside. The springs were on the floor, so if you lie down in the middle, you will eat such a “sandwich” and have to shout for help. Ha ha ha! It's so funny. Ale todi meni bulo trokhi sorno. Do you know how cruel children at 11-12 can be?. I was thinking, why should I be poor, why should I be so happy, how can I live?. So I was already a quiet child, on my own.

I suppressed my emotions for football. And finally I was able to change the situation for my family. It's a pity, it also changed me. When I became a professional with Penarol at 16 rocks, I thought that I was God. I don’t think people understand that it’s God’s will to go beyond nothing to the point of walking along the streets of your place, and grown-up people will immediately want to take selfies with you. You withdraw your attention from the girls, who wouldn’t even look at you last year. Kozhen wants to be your friend. It’s true that you have such wonderful fathers as mine, it’s impossible not to get into trouble. For those of us who have survived the virus in the era of social restrictions, the influx is so strong.

For every single child who dares to cross the border, you don’t know 100 of them who, having recognized their failures, I remember saying to me: “Hey, why don’t you hang out with this guy anymore?”? What's wrong with you? I was your friend even at that hour when you were on the street! Well, I replaced old friends with new ones, like a lot of young football players. There was no such thing that I was afraid of God. Ale, I'm a babe. I remember how little children checked the park for my autograph and thought: “E-e-e.. I'm too tired today" All the children shout: “Fedya! Gay, Fede! Please! It would have cost me two coins, otherwise I would have turned my back.

Looking back, it hits me less, because my dads didn’t hit me like that. In truth I was no one. I'll be another idiot, like football, fighting for my dreams. What happened to the child, she was happy with the cola? I can also explain to you that I was blinded by Rapt’s glory. So I started to learn about the business side of football.

If you google me, you'll get a lot of stories about how I didn't get to Arsenal when I was 16. This may be true. I have nothing against Arsenal, but I don’t even want to go to England. At that time, the business side of football took a toll. Some people told me: “Who wouldn’t want to pay for Arsenal Do you want to lose money here in Uruguay This is Godville! What they really said to themselves was: “We can earn a lot of pennies the way you go.”.

You understand that football is your life - not yours. Especially in a young age, you feel more like a guardian. Your relatives will become guards. Football lasts until the end of life, especially for us in New America, and the vultures know this. The stench is pressing on you in the “accepting” way. “Damn, Fede, if you go to the Arsenal, you will have a lot of light and a shower that will leave you with a warm stretch of 30-40 minutes! Who wouldn't want such a life?

I was sent to London for a week for a review, and I was simply uncomfortable. Why do you think only about material speeches that sound wonderful?. Ale mi ne roboti. The reality is that my homeland could not travel with me to London. I would have had the opportunity to live alone, not speaking English, in 16 years. For every single child who dares to cross the border, you don’t know more than 100 of them who have recognized failures.

I am either God-loving enough or brave enough to say “no”. Give me a cold shower before I can lose my homeland. I thought that I would spend my entire career in Uruguay. Then I turned off the call that changed my whole life. I took part in the American U-17 championship near Paraguay. I have been kind to myself, and the next day we will play an important match against Argentina. I was sitting in my hotel room, and my dads were in another room. Mom called me and said: “Hey, come to our room right away.”. There are a lot of people here who want to talk to you." We had a curfew, and we were about to leave the room, and I said to him: “I can’t, mom.”. It's time for me" Vona called me back: “Fedya, come right away.”. These are the people from Real Madrid.

I thought it was hot there and rushed to the room to see what was there. I was impressed that there were two guys there, whom I had never seen before. Mom's eyes are cloudy. Ale vona was crying steadily, so I still didn’t know what to think! I said: “Mom, no wickedness. Vona said: " Lock it. Listen to these people. The stinks are looming for you, garni of new things" I remember, I thought that these guys were probably from Penarol. I was thinking that they were going to give me a new contract, and the first thought in my sixteen brain was: “Damn, maybe I can buy a new set of Nike boots for the match against Argentina. Maybe I can afford my own PlayStation."

The boys started speaking in Castilian, and not in original American Spanish, and I thought: Damn it. Don't stink. It's real? They told me: " We believe that you can become a star and want you and your dad to move to Madrid." I marveled at my mother, then at my agent: “No. You care about me" My mother looked around: “Lock it up, Fede. I don't know"

The world has 500 thousand citizens, and Madrid wants to sign me? What? I literally ran out of the room and shouted: “De tato? I need to tell you guys! I ran to the lobby. My tattoo stood and talked to one of the fathers, and I said: “Tattoo! Tattoo! Madrid is here! Vin said: \? What are you doing on the street, you seem to be stinking here De? I said: “Up there, near the room! You want to sign me! Real Madrid wants to sign me!

You marveled at me so much that I would be the most godly person in the world. He said: “The mountains are near the room? What are you doing here Turn around there, idiot! Ha ha ha! I rushed back to the room, and, fortunately, the guys from Madrid were still there, and it wasn’t all a complete dream. This was the first perfect day of my life. Because I am a student, as my fathers have saved me. My mother is crying through be-scho, ale my father - skelya. You need a lot to show emotions, otherwise I'll open a crack! Ha ha ha! I see light in your eyes, you understand? " It's priceless.

I was at the top of the world. For many months. This life has told me to be modest, as I have always been. I can tell you the exact moment, if I realize that I am a bovdur. Listen, you are guilty, please understand. In a proper way, take a second to see what I mean. Tobi 17 rocks. Two years ago you slept in bed, and now you sign a contract with Real Madrid? Cholovic, how not to deceive yourself? When I arrived in Madrid, I thought that I was Messiah and Cristiano in the same body.. Ha ha ha! Seriously!

For my protection, I’ll say: if you’re 17, you don’t realize how stupid you really are, especially since you give a few pennies and praise. This combination is a baking drug. Ale men have quickly turned to reality. On my first training session with Real Madrid Castilla, I lay down at the rack like I was walking through the gloom. I'm so excited. I don’t really remember anything about training. Everything was razmito. But I remember how everyone dressed up, and I marvel at everything, looking at everything... and I begin to notice how everyone was dressed up. Belts Gucci. New Nikes, no scuffs. Gamantsi Louis Vuitton. Louis Vuitton toiletry bags.

I’ll guess, these things are not legends! We're not talking about Benzema, Modric and Marcelo! These were children! Information from the Bliskavichs: Damn, Fede. You have football for two euros. Zara was dear to me. In Uruguay, if you wear Zara, you are barefoot. I marvel at the boys who wear old-age clothes, who cost more expensively, than my father’s houses at home. This all struck me at once: This game is equal, you, bovdur! You are nobody!

Well, I’m still sitting by my brutish form, but I still don’t take off my boots. Everyone starts going to the shower, and I'm waiting for the guys at the Gucci underwear. Damn Gucci underwear, bro! If they came up with a stink? How many people have you burned Ha ha ha! I thought: “I bet I don’t have a lot of dicks today.”! " I've been sitting there for 20 minutes, and I'm checking it out even more important on the phone.. I'm just hanging out for an hour. The boys marveled at me, seemingly saying: “It’s not like that, brother? Everything is fine with you? I have never felt so small.

I finished waiting for everyone to take a shower, and left for the parking lot, and then decided to overexert myself, if I had lost everything.. That evening I went to H\u0026M and said: “I need 10 sets of your finest white underwear.”. Ha ha ha! I remember saying to myself that night: “Man, who do you respect Tse Real Madrid. What do you think about Cristiano " I was a lad. What's funniest about football. You can have millions of subscribers, or millions of dollars, or millions of people, who think you are the best, and thus lose the bad boy.

I haven't won anything yet, like everyone else at the drawer. Why do we wear Gucci underwear Here's to Louis Vuitton to polish our toothbrush? I don't criticize them because I was just as naive. I'm just showing you the world of football and how it changes you. Fortunately, my basis was the value of my fathers. Having realized that I am nobody, I began to value everything that was given to me. The feather mattress I slept on. Air conditioner. 50 channels on TV. Catman arrives with our new boots. What a big deal! Tse paradise!

I remember pulling into the parking lot in my BMW X3 and feeling like I was driving a Ferrari. I walked up, saying: “Guys, beware. Don't spoil the farb! This is the cheapest car in the parking lot. Ha ha ha! Ale tse bula firstsha my car, and I felt like a king. This is the beginning of a wonderful period for me, although I have not yet achieved anything in Madrid, and I am still nobody, I am on the road before I become a man. Ale, those who inspired everything for me - in football and in life - Benicio. The most important chapter of my story is when I became a father.

When I was 19-20 years old, I played football, earned pennies, drove good cars, I was still a lad. Once my first son was born, when I was 21 years old, my life changed properly. This would be another perfect day. Until this day I was obsessed with my horns. Yakbi I had a bad time, I wouldn’t have broken up with my dad for 24 years. I would walk to my room, sit on my own and drink my meals. I don’t know what’s good, but if you play with Real, the pressure is the strongest in the world. So you live 100%.

Only since I was born Benicio, I feel like a human again, when I turn home after a nasty result. When he started walking, he ran up to the front door with his toy Buzz Lightyear in his hands and hugged me.. You don't care about the match. He really doesn’t know what football is. You just want to “play Toy Story”. For me, love has changed me as a person and as a football player. Mentally, I will need it, because no one in the world is attracted to me, not even myself. And before the speech - my squad? Mina? Vaughn on another level! She knows the game very well, she’s Argentinean, and you know how it stinks. Ha ha ha! Why would I not be afraid, of which there is never enough.

You remember how Ajax knocked us out of the Champions League? We sat at the car after the match, I was disconnected, and first of all, she said to me: “Really, Fede? You're serious? What is it Axis how you are going to pay for Real? I said: “You think I don’t know? Vona said: “You didn’t risk anything. Need to beat. This is the strongest part of your game." Man, I had a chance to turn the radio volume up to maximum in order to drown out the analysis.. The greatest ones - and without saying anything to her, I also believe that she doesn’t read - the greatest ones are those who have a small reading. Ha ha ha! Damn it!

We are help for the football family. One Uruguayan and one Argentinean are at the same time like goddamn God. So when our son was born, there would be a neutral change. When you marvel at your son before going to training, you feel like a warrior. Yak Galk. It's different, if you have 17 rocks and your whole world under the Gucci belt. When you play for your son, you never feel arrogant. I think it’s not surprising that I spent my shortest season in 2021-2022, since Benicio was two years old, and turned into a little person with a special personality. If we won the Champions League, I imagine that they will lose their track from Real Madrid.

After a few months, we found out that Mina was pregnant again. We were very happy. For the first few months everything was perfect. One day Mina went to her doctor for a scan, and then everything fell apart. The doctor told us that the war has come under a great threat, and the chances of our son being alive are very small. The doctor said that throughout the coming month the stinks will be keeping an eye on the situation, and until then we will not be deprived of anything but to check. Find out what you feel in these words. " I can't describe the pain.

My squad has suffered physically and mentally today. You could say I just got involved. I am the one who deprives everything from herself. I know that this is not good, but I am the way I am. I don’t want anyone to hurt me in tears, no matter how. Hello my family. My fathers would come before us for supper, and my mother would begin to say: “Fedya, be amazed!. Bam. This is everything that was needed. I got up from the table and walked to my bedroom to be on my own. For 20 years a day, if I haven't been to football, I've been loving myself. Without phone. Without iPad. Just in silence.

I realized that I was to blame for the skeleton that everyone else suffered. I'm a character's engraver, you understand? A strong, stoic lad from my squad: “Everything will be as God wants it”. If I'm alone, I cry for hours. I went to the bathroom for 15 minutes, cried for 10 minutes, burying my head in my hands.. Lying before the match, when I was calm and calm, I was lying on the bed, thinking about our son, spinning. Sometimes I don’t do well, and I know it, and I could almost hear the patients whistling. Then, after the match, I had a chance to testify to the power of the snake, and I don’t want to show my emotions or let people know that I’m going to. Tse bulo dovbane hell.

My pleasure to everyone who experiences similar things is that you don’t need to be as close as I am. You are not to blame for the suffering. After the match against Villarreal, the situation reached rock bottom. Everyone knows the headlines. You know the grievances of both sides of the “story”. I don’t want to think about these conniving speeches again. Everything I want to say is. On the football field you can call me practically as well as for good, and at the same time it doesn’t hurt. I'm Uruguayan, for God's sake. Ale there are singing boundaries that you may not cross. Not as a football player, but as another person. If you talk about my family, it’s not football anymore. That day the boundary was drawn.

Chi mav ya reaguvati? Perhaps not. Perhaps I could go home and have a blue burger, eat chicken nuggets and watch cartoons. I am a human being, and sometimes I need to stand up for myself and my homeland.. It hurt me more than those who portrayed me as a cruel man. A lot of lies were said, which were later confirmed. Well, to be honest, I’m not doing anything wrong, because this has marked me even more as a speciality and brought our family even closer. Thank God, after that dark day everything became much better.

If my squad decided to share this world, what we are going through, everything changed for us. I will never forget how my teammates and fans encouraged us. The stench once again took away from me and my homeland. I give an inaccurate pass, and the stinks confirm the chants of my name. At the Bernabeu, where the level is so high, it’s a bit of a wonder.

Mothers of 80 thousand people, who are so supportive of the greatest moment, are similar to 80 thousand volumes. To all of you. All I can say is thank you. After the second month of pure heat, we took away the brightest newness in our lives. The scan was rich in color, and it seemed that the moisture could be chewed. Of course, it was still a very busy time. While we couldn’t rub our son in our arms, we didn’t want to see him. Hello, thank God, our son Bautista was born into the world. Healthy and happy. Our miracle. Third perfect day.

You know. I am very capable of myself, just like in football, so in life. I don’t think that if I felt completely satisfied earlier. I never felt that I truly achieved success after earning enough. Besides the wound in the hospital, when my squad was treating Bautista in their arms, I thought: Fede, marvel at them. Axis here. Ti vigrav.

For materials from The Players Tribune.