Is there much difference between the soccer you play with your teammates and that of Mexico or the Dominican Republic?
I notice a lot of difference between Mexican soccer and that of here. Especially intensity. In all the places there are many with technique, but at the moment of putting the intensity to many players that it costs them. In Mexico there is a lot of pause and here, as soon as you recover they already want to hurt you. All the time running, moving … In the first training sessions I went crazy, I wanted to walk but there was no time … it was a very high pace. That at first, by now I'm used to it and I feel good.
In the games he is seen very fast, with good technique …, but he suffers in defense …
In Mexico and in the Dominican Republic the coaches always asked me to catch the ball and look at the goal. I played extreme and that is my strength.
And has he explained it to Rozada?
He knows everything. I don't have to say that to him either, but we talk a lot and he helps me in all training sessions and he tells me to have personality with the ball and go forward. And when something fails, it tells me what to do. for me that is very important.
Do you see yourself ready to compete?
Yeah right if. The trainee knows that, that I am already smarter and more prepared than ever. that's what I'm waiting for now: compete.
Does your city know about your adventure in Spanish football?
Yes. My neighborhood, New Bell, is the same as Samuel Etoó, and it is very football fanatic and my friends are already preparing to see me on Footters. They couldn't see me in Mexico, but now they are going to see me. My dad, who was a defender for the Cameroon team, is very proud of me.
Do you sign the famous Etoó phrase of 'I run like a black man to win like a white man'?
Yes, yes, in some of my publications I have put it, hahaha. We blacks, to be in shape, we have to do twice as much as white does.
Have you noticed racism here in Santander?
No, not even in Mexico. Thank God, nothing racism has ever happened to me, but I follow Etoó's phrase: I have to work triple what others do.
How are you dealing with COVID19?
In Cameroon it is better than here, very quiet. I don't like hearing news about COVID. One says one thing, another another, that if the league is going to be suspended. I am about not listening to anything and being prepared, focused on what I am doing. I know what I want to do here in football and I have to be prepared.
Nacho Cubero (AS)
How does a 17-year-old Cameroonian footballer get to the almost unknown soccer of the Dominican Republic?
I was playing for the team in my neighborhood, in Douala, and studying too. And one day a friend called me with whom I had played at school, but whom I hadn't seen for two years and hadn't heard from him and he didn't know anything about me, and he said “Patrick, are you still playing football? I am in a team in the Dominican Republic that needs a striker and I have told them about you “. I hadn't even heard the name of that country, the Dominican Republic, but I said yes of course. Then my dad didn't want to let me go, but my mom said yes …, and I left. We are a very, very humble family. We are not poor, but we are not rich either.
Did they sign you without even knowing if you played soccer or volleyball?
Yes, yes … hahaha. The Cibao Fútbol Club, which was the name of the team, did not even see a video. They trusted my friend Franck Angong, who now plays for Barça Juvenil.
But both parties did well …
Then yes, because we were runners-up, but at first it was difficult for me. I had never ridden on a plane and to get to Santo Domingo I flew from Cameroon to Addis Ababa, in Ethiopia, and from there to Sao Paulo, and then from Brazil to Panama to finally go to Santo Domingo and then four hours in car. Two whole days traveling … hahaha. I wanted to return to my country as soon as I arrived. It was the miracle of my life, to be playing in my neighborhood team and without doing anything to start playing in another country.
And how did they sign you in Mexico?
With Cibao we were runners-up in the League and in the second year, champions of the Dominican Cup and champions of the Caribbean, of CONCACAF. And there the Mexicans saw me. My tutor, Albert Benagues, who is like my second father, approached me and told me that the Atlas de Guadalajara, from the Mexican First, wanted to take a test. I was on trial for a week and they signed me.
Then he also passes through Atlante and Mineros de Zacatecas, in Second Division, and suddenly, after six months without competition, Racing calls him … another miracle?
The pandemic was hard for me. The league was stopped, we were confined, but I kept preparing because I knew that something better was yet to come and I couldn't stay with my arms crossed.
Do you know how Racing came to you?
I believe a lot in God, and I think that if I am in Racing it was because of God. I reamember like it was yesterday. Albert Benagues called me and told me that Racing Santander was interested in me. And I knew Racing because in my country First Division football is followed a lot and Racing has a lot of history. He asked me what I was doing and I said “and you ask me? Do everything possible to go to Racing”.
One month he waited for authorization to come to Spain. Didn't he doubt that this time God could fail him?
No, no, never. I knew that sooner or later it would come. The papers are things that are resolved sooner or later and I kept working to get in shape. With God's favor I am here. This is my life.
He has been in Cantabria for a month and now, after being at the club's residence, he has settled in Soto de la Marina. Are you at ease?
Yes, in my apartment. I have a driving license from Mexico, but it is not valid here, so every day Esteban, Pablo Torre's father, who also lives in Soto, takes me and brings me to training sessions.
Do you know that Esteban Torre was also a footballer?
Yes. In the car we only talk about football, soccer and football. He is always pending, how the training has gone …, those things. He tells me “you have to get on the ice, which is very important”, he advises us and all that. I once told him that I felt tired and he told me that he saw me very well and not to worry … He knows a lot about football and advises us. I already feel part of his family hahaha.
Nacho Cubero (AS)