Mariona: I wouldn’t have a good time scoring towards Barcelona
In her first season at Arsenal, Mariona Caldentey displays on loyalty, language, legacy and what would possibly occur if the Champions League closing brings previous ties into direct battle.
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Mariona Caldentey has stated she wouldn’t have a good time if she scored towards Barcelona, her former membership of 10 years, ought to Arsenal meet them within the Champions League closing in Lisbon.
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“I wouldn’t have a good time scoring a aim towards Barça. I don’t suppose it will come out of me,” she instructed forward of the second leg of Arsenal’s semi-final towards Lyon.
Now 29, Caldentey left Barcelona final summer season looking for a brand new problem. “Leaving Barcelona for London was an actual problem. I approached it as a 12 months of adaptation, and it’s passed by in a short time,” she stated.
The early a part of the season was tough, each for her and the membership. “It’s true that we began the 12 months a bit up and down. We dropped fairly a couple of factors within the league. However for the reason that teaching change, the workforce has been robust.”
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She speaks overtly concerning the challenges of relocating, from language to climate to the day-to-day tradition shift. “I struggled with English. There are such a lot of accents and everybody has their very own expressions, however you communicate it day by day and that helps. This week I did my first press convention. I’ve additionally finished a couple of interviews and began going to English lessons.”
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On life behind the wheel: “You get used to driving on the opposite aspect fairly shortly. However within the first few days I blew a tyre on the curb… (laughs).” However the hardest half? “Surely, the winter and the meals. I used to ask all my family and friends to deliver me ham. Now, with the brand new Brexit legislation, they will’t.”
The transfer meant forsaking her household and familiarity, however she was clear about her priorities. “At first I used to be open to discussing it with my mum and my brother. However it’s your job and it’s your life. So there got here a degree after I simply instructed them: I’ll let you understand. Clearly, for my mum, having me in Barcelona was excellent. It’s half an hour by aircraft from Mallorca. However household simply need you to be comfortable.”
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Requested about the opportunity of going through Barcelona within the closing, she stated: “I don’t understand how I’d really feel taking part in towards them in Lisbon, however I’d signal for that proper now.” Regardless of the gap, she nonetheless follows her former membership. “Sure. At first it felt a bit unusual. Even now. However I like watching them, I need them to do properly.”
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Her function at Arsenal is completely different from the one she performed in Barcelona. “I’m in a brand new workforce, with a special taking part in type and completely different teammates. I’m taking part in in a special place, in a extra central function. Every little thing is extra even and that helps me enhance.”
Reflecting on the upcoming second leg towards Lyon, she stated: “The trauma I may need had I obtained over final 12 months once we beat them with Barça in San Mamés. Clearly, I’ve plenty of respect. I’ve suffered towards them. However we have now what it takes to come back again.”
Off the pitch, Caldentey can be celebrating following the discharge of her guide Mariona Caldentey: Cómo hemos cambiado la historia. “It wasn’t my concept. I assumed, ‘What am I going to speak about?’ The writer (Cossetania) obtained in contact with my agent, Carlota Plana, and he or she prompt Laia Coll (a journalist at RAC1) as co-author. Laia made it very simple for me.”
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The guide touches on the lack of her father, who performed a central function in her soccer journey. “My dad left us before we’d’ve appreciated. He was the one who made me really feel the eagerness for soccer. He took me to coaching and, like my mum, by no means missed a match.”
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She additionally speaks candidly about psychological well being, one thing she started addressing throughout some of the turbulent intervals of her profession. “I began going to a psychologist when every part with the nationwide workforce occurred, which coincided with a time after I was coping with plenty of accidents. It helped me.”
Requested what she has realized, she stated: “We’ve helped deliver a couple of broader social change for girls basically and in ladies’s soccer specifically. I’ve additionally realized that success must be labored for. These have been years of resilience. We have now to show ourselves in an effort to be supported, not the opposite means round. That’s simply how it’s for us. And we’ll maintain working.”