Borja González: “El Cholo is the way he lives, how he transmits”

Borja González (Madrid, 1995) will be one more soldier among all those who represent the resistance of the modest in the Copa del Rey. He will wear Rayo Majadahonda and will face his Atleti. At 26 years old, she is experiencing a sweet moment in Primera RFEF, but He remembers with nostalgia his time as a rojiblanco youth squad or when he covered the Rayista strip. Time has passed, but, in its day, Diego Pablo Simeone gave him the opportunity to be with the elders to face Reus, also in a KO tournament. That day he scored, despite not playing a single minute. This is football, the chance of the balls puts him back before the game of his life. In 2015, on one side. In 2021, on the contrary. Still, memories aside. He promises to do his best and the goal would be unthinkable not to celebrate. Now, listen to AS and send a message: “We will try to make it difficult for them to demonstrate their superiority on the field.”

Who is Borja González?

I am a versatile player, I can play in various positions and I adapt to what the team needs at all times. I am a team player, with a lot of desire and who can contribute both in defense and in attack.

I read on his Twitter: “Never let anyone tell you that you can’t do something.” What is your goal?

My goal is to reach the First Division, be a professional player and fight in the best league in the world. The thing about ‘never let anyone tell you that you can’t do something’ is because obviously in this sport they have always said things to me, they have taken away opportunities that, from my point of view, I deserved or could achieve and in the end for some things or others never happened. In the end, that is the phrase that best defines that opportunities will end up coming to you and you have to keep working for it. There are many people who will tell you that you cannot do something, but you always have to keep working.

Now at Rayo Majadahonda, he is finding those opportunities. How do you see the team? Is it scary to talk about promotion as a goal?

It is true that we are at the top, even with one game less. We are a little way from the playoff, but we are not looking at the classification. We go game by game, luckily we have a great group that makes things go by themselves. The goal at the beginning of the season … The category was new and we did not know where we were going to shoot, but it was not to look at the promotion positions, because there are teams that by staff and budget will be up yes or yes like Depor , Racing or Logroñés, which are historical. We are enjoying being at the top, we have to see how far we get. We are going to wage war.

They take 13 points from relegation. Some more peace of mind or does the pressure not go away?

The first objective was to maintain the category and I believe that we are not far from achieving it. When we achieve it, let’s look up. It is true that you do not play with so much pressure when you are up, it looks different. You have the pressure to fight for something beautiful, like promotion, but for me it is not pressure, it is an honor, an incentive. You don’t play with that nervousness when you’re in the downstream zone.

They have conceded only 16 goals, with many clean sheets. Is it your greatest strength?

Last year they made us goals very easily, even this year we have made mistakes that we cannot make. In Primera RFEF it is vital to keep a clean sheet and have a solid group, a good defensive structure. The matches are always defined by minute details.

It is said that the best attack is a great defense. And now comes Atleti, which sometimes has a hard time scoring. Is it your greatest weapon for the tie?

Being a one-game tie, keeping a clean sheet leaves you alive for the entire game. We prepare all matches with the attention they deserve and that is always key. In this, being a single match, a face or a cross, is the most important. With the tie at zero we can even get to penalties, which are more of a lottery.

Atleti does not arrive in the best situation … Is it better a wounded lion or a roaring lion?

It is at times when big teams like Atleti are at their worst that they are most dangerous. You never know when they are going to break loose. You never know when that streak will come in which they break those games in which it is difficult for them to score or they concede more easily. In the end they are streaks. This for them is not bad, it is different from the one they usually have, where they generate more danger than other times and more easily. It may be that it will be definitively cut with us like the day of the Lightning, which passed over it and in the end you do not even know what has happened.

The game, by the way, will be broadcast in free, through Cuatro. Is it even a greater chance to be in focus?

It is clear that it is a great opportunity, because many more people are going to see us than those who see us at Footters Sunday after Sunday. It is for everyone, for the club, for me, for our teammates … Give visibility to everyone and to the category we represent. It is a showcase that we have to take advantage of.

A quick one: do you prefer to reach the Cup final or achieve promotion this year?

I think I’ll keep the promotion. In the end, the final is almost unthinkable, this is already a reward for the work we are doing. The promotion the club would not forget, it would be a huge leap to the professional level for everyone, due to budget, visibility … These are the objectives that the club seeks. The final with the level that exists would be unthinkable. We depend on ourselves for promotion and we will fight for it. Going up is taking the leap at all levels. Teams have been seen to go far in Europe, for example, that have been demoted by combining competitions.

Let’s talk about his career. It was formed in the Lightning. What season are they doing.

That a recently promoted is up and getting the results he is getting … He was already able to beat Barça and he always competes. They have just come up, with a less budget and a more limited a priori template. They are doing very well.

He was also at Atleti. Would you celebrate a goal?

Yes. For me, keeping respect for a club is not scoring a goal and not celebrating it, but giving everything when you wear their shirt, that no one can blame you for anything. A goal is always a reason to celebrate. More me who am not used to scoring so many goals. And in this match, who can help both.

Surely one of the moments of your career was when in 2015 Simeone called you for the Cup match against Reus, how do you remember that moment?

It was unforgettable, a unique experience. I didn’t get to play, but being with them, in concentration, in the dressing room, on the trip … It’s something unique to be with a team like this. I will never forget it. When they told me, I didn’t believe it, it was all from one day to the next. It was something hasty and when I got home I said to myself: “What happened today?”

He did not play, but he would have the opportunity to speak with Simeone. Did something get marked?

Luckily I was able to train quite a few times with the first team. I learned a lot from them, on a daily basis. It is unique. El Cholo we all know what a coach he is. More than a phrase, it is his philosophy. In training you had to go one hundred percent, not give anything away, know that you are going to have your moment because that is how everyone is prepared. It’s the way he lives, how he lives football. It is the atmosphere that creates before a game, in the dressing room, it is unique. Beyond what he lives, it is how he transmits it and what he makes others achieve.

In this bad streak of Atleti, there are those who have questioned Cholo. What do you think?

That makes me laugh. That a coach who has taken a club and placed it among the best in Europe, reaching the Champions League finals, winning Leagues … That he can be questioned … Football is very unfair because it has no memory. You just have to see what Cholo has achieved with Atleti. The numbers are there. We all go through bad times, but you also have to see when there are good ones. He has had many good streaks than bad.

He went through Atlético San Luis, in Mexico. How was that?

It was a franchise that Atlético bought in Mexico and they gave me the opportunity to go there. It was a moment in my career where I could use it. I didn’t doubt it, it was professional football. We were champions and we were promoted to First. It was an unforgettable experience, where I learned a lot, beyond football. I grew a lot on a personal level. I went to try my luck and it went very well.

It is common to see Spaniards emigrate and succeed in foreign teams. Would you like to try out for a great minor league team again?

I would like to stay here because the level here is one of the best in the world. I never rule out the option of going abroad. It’s sad, but here the foreign value is always considered a lot before the talent of the country’s players. I contemplate the option of trying other leagues, but my dream is to succeed in Spain.

When the tie is over, the day to day returns to Primera RFEF.

I would like to see more hype for the categories below. It has already been seen that in this Cup there have been several scares. That is for something, it is because every time the details are minimal. There is not as much difference as people can weigh. Yes in budgets or salaries, beyond sports. I would love for people to see that there are teams that we will be fighting against superior teams, but we will try to make merits so that it costs them to show it on the field.