Álvaro González Soberón (January 8, 1990, Potes, Spain) has become one of the most sought after figures in French football for the past few weeks. His confrontation with Neymar, who accused him of racism after PSG-Olympique de Marseille, has gone around the world and it has been analyzed from all angles. Finally, Justice spoke last week and the de Potes did not see any sanction as there was no indication that he had spilled racist insults to Neymar. The Spanish center-back attends AS to express how he feels after one of the most tense moments of his career.
Álvaro, it's been two very tough weeks because of everything that happened with Neymar, but the first thing I wanted to ask him is how he is. I imagine that he is calmer already, knowing that he has not received a sanction.
Right now, after the worst has happened, which have been the weeks before a commission in which I could remain calm and in which the truth could be known. I'm looking forward to thinking only about football, which is right now what I'm in Marseille for and where I am at a great moment in my career.
After analyzing all the angles, the LFP did not see racism in his words to Neymar. After all that the PSG player generated on Twitter, how were those days? When you arrive at the locker room are you already aware of the magnitude of the accusation or until you pick up your mobile phone you don't realize it? You said the other day that you couldn't sleep.
I realize the magnitude when I arrive in Marseille and we land at the airport, but more than from the words that Neymar could say, that in the end we are in a field and it can be misunderstood, it was more because my phone was leaked. More than two million WhatsApp messages came to me on my cell phone and there you realize that everything has gotten out of hand, not only to the public Álvaro but to Álvaro in his private life.
Have you considered leaving Olympique de Marseille in the face of all the commotion that has been generated? Were you afraid before you knew the penalty?
I met with the Marseille fans about the club. We live in a city where you cannot live if you are racist. We live with all kinds of people and I wanted to be calm in that regard. And to know that I had all the support of the club, of the supporters (fans) and of the city, I met with the fans and that way my person was much calmer. Then I was scared when I received all kinds of threats. I knew that nothing had happened, I knew that nothing had happened more than what is a football match and a classic. I was calm when I saw that he was not sanctioned. But I couldn't sleep soundly.
You beat PSG for the first time in nine years and the only thing that was talked about was your run-in with Neymar. I imagine that for a player it must have been a nightmare to have had two weeks in which everyone spoke before justice said anything.
For me it was the worst of all this. For two or three weeks there was no talk that we had not beaten a team that had been a finalist in the Champions League for nine years. No credit was given to what we did. More was said about this to the great game that we made. But look, now after a month, you start to remember and the truth is that it is nice to win at the Parc des Princes and now we have drawn Lyon after 75 minutes with ten players.
Puma tried to intrude between you and Neymar to try to reach an agreement. Do you think that the German brand feared that what the Brazilian really did to you was defamation and that what happened was really a misunderstanding?
When this happens you realize the magnitude of the case and that you are not really harmed at all. More than anything for the words that Neymar could say. They tried to talk to me, but what I said is that I only wanted a pardon from the other party and that I did not consent to other types of words. There was nothing more to talk about in this case. They feared more for Neymar than for me, because I don't have much brand movement.
Do you think justice has been done with the sanction with Neymar? Or do you think not?
I do not enter to value that. All I wanted is for me to be clean both for myself and for my future. I am living my best moment as a professional. It's a league that suits me wonderfully because it's quite physical. I do not enter to assess what has happened to Neymar. Two games have already been sanctioned. At no time have I taken off the field what they could have told me.
Did Neymar affect you on the pitch? The other day we saw him much looser against Lyon than against Metz or Lille.
Yes perfectly. They are weeks in which you are thinking about other topics that are not good for everyday life and for football. In those weeks you rest badly, you think more about the issue of a Commission than in the trainings themselves. Still I was able to play and I have been able to rest well these days. This week I found myself back at the level I wanted in Ligue 1.
Did the LFP training procedure seem fair to you? The press assured that it seemed that Neymar was being protected.
I have no information about everything that happened there. I am denounced for what I am denounced, I give my allegations, we ask for all kinds of images and plans so that the truth comes out and from there the one who will not be harmed is me, as has been seen. I don't know to what extent they tried to defend a Ligue 1 star. As I have done at all times, I have done my thing.
Let's talk about soccer now. He is facing his second season at Marseille, but it must be remembered that Villas-Boas was close to leaving in May. Would you still be at OM if the Portuguese had left?
We should have discussed it all. They had to exercise a purchase option with me and if the two people who have trusted me (Zubizarreta and Villas-Boas) leave, we should have discussed it with the new ones. I couldn't tell you, but it is clear to me that I was happy in Marseille and had found the best level of my career. And I felt loved, something important to give up. It would have been very difficult to lose Zubizarreta and Villas-Boas, who have given me all the confidence in the world.
How do you face the season? Do you think playing the Champions League in Ligue 1 could affect you? In the first days, the team has been somewhat tired.
We have the maximum illusion after so long. The team had not played the Champions League for a long time. Playing League, Champions and Cup is going to be complicated. But we have good players, what we need is to regain confidence, last year we got a lot of games that got complicated for us. Hopefully we find our level soon. We are going to need everyone and see if we can measure up. In Champions we have a difficult but beautiful group, I think we will be there to enter the second round. We also have to focus on the League, it is very even. We are not going to throw anything away.
The other day, against Lyon, we again saw a spectacular version of him performing a fantastic second half and supporting OM with ten players. Do you think you are in the best moment of your career?
Yes, I think I am in the best moment of my career. Here both the club and the fans have given me that affection as a coach that I needed, I like French football, I also like the Velodrome. They are all different games, crazy and with a lot of atmosphere. Both physically and mentally I am in a full moment. It seemed that at 29 and 30 I was in my last years, but as football is, I am in a great moment and it has been seen that many players in their prime reach their maximum level.
He has been shortlisted on Luis Enrique's last list thanks to his great performance with Marseille. Do you dream of going to the Eurocup?
I have always dreamed of going to the national team. Now I find myself in that moment that I have options to go. The club gave me joy by telling me that I was in the preselection. I don't think about the Eurocup, but if I keep working like this I have chances. I had two dreams last year, to enter the Champions League and go to the national team. I have already achieved the first one, going to the Eurocup with the national team would be my greatest pride as a Spaniard, so I hope one day I can be there, but I have to continue in this line to be able to be on a list in which the best are.