FCBARCELONA.CAT

10.06.2010 10:43

David Villa’s roots in Asturias

Marc Guillén

David Villa’s self effacing attitude and his commitment to hard work come from his childhood upbringing in the Asturian village of Tuilla, where his family worked down the mine. We visited the village to discover his more about his roots.

“I lived 20 years there and it has defined who I am. My character is from Tuilla: not Valencia, Zaragoza or Gijon – I’m a product of Tuilla”, explained Villa – so where better to go to discover more about Barca’s new signing than to the small mining village up in the Asturian valleys.

The mine

Villa’s life was defined by the mine. The men from his village went off to the nearby mines and Villa’s father was no exception, working down the mines all his life until a colliery fire nearly killed him. Villa’s father has been an important influence on him and the experience of the mines helped form a sense of community in the village that still lives on, even though there are only 800 inhabitants left.

Broken leg

When he was only four, Villa broke his leg in the school playground. In those days there were only two treatments available – operate and run the considerable risk of permanent injury, or rest and a long recovery. Fortunately for football, Villa’s parents chose the second option and after six months in plaster, young David made a full recovery.

In the village, many still remember David insisting on playing football even with his leg in plaster: “he’d lean on the right leg which was in plaster and shoot with his left”, recalls his friend Vicente Díaz. For some, that marked the day that he became a two footed player.

Proud

Everyone in Tuilla seems to have positive memories of David: “we’re all very proud of him here, the fact that he’s had so much success, but hasn’t changed is something people really appreciate about him”, according to his schoolteacher Amparo Arce.

One of his friends, Hector Ravanal Vegas, gave an insight into the often shy footballer who appears on our TV screens: “he’s a bit of a joker and likes telling jokes, but he changes and becomes more serious in front of the cameras – otherwise people would think he wasn’t serious”.

Football for dinner!

Like so many kids, Villa was mad about the game from an early age and Vicente recalls: “we used to go racing home from school at lunchtime so that we could get some time in for a game before we had to head back”.

TV star!

The Associació Esportiva David Villa in Tuilla shows all of Villa’s games and they have now signed up for Barca TV. The founder of the Associació, Carlos A. Miguel explained: “we always have the TV on to follow David and now we have Barca TV we were able to see his presentation live”.