The Spanish footballer who stopped his career due to the coronavirus and helps in his family’s pharmacy in the midst of a pandemic: “The situation is dramatic”

Toni Dovale speak with concern. His tone is hectic, he almost tramples on his words when trying to express everything he is experiencing. This midfielder who trained at La Masía del Barcelona with Jordi Alba and Bojan and remained for several seasons in the Celtic You just saw how the board of your life flipped one hundred and eighty degrees. Barely one month Back he was preparing his bag to agree to continue in Asian football, but suddenly the pandemic froze the planet: Asia put restrictions on European travelers and Spain declared a state of emergency. Football, from one moment to another, was in the background: began to attend the family pharmacy in Galicia in the midst of an unprecedented health crisis.

"I I started to study pharmacology at university at 18, at the same time that I debuted as a professional. About four years ago I finished it. I was missing some practices and I didn't plan to do them now because I was planning to return to Asia, but I was confined to Spain and I thought it was the ideal time to help my people, my family, the neighbors. What I want is that we all recover our normal lives as soon as possible. It is very sad everything that is happening: older people die in hospitals without being able to say goodbye to their relatives because we are all isolated from each other. People die and family members cannot bury them, say goodbye! It is very sad. All I can do is try to get everyone back on our lives. In my case, to recover my life, which is to play soccer and fight to win on Sundays, ”the 29-year-old midfielder explains to Infobae from his mother's business in La Coruña.

After defending Celta's shirt for eight seasons, passing through Huesca, Lugo, Leganés and Rayo Vallecano, Dovale used soccer as a vehicle to get to know the world: he played at Sporting Kansas City in U.S, Bengaluru and East Bengal of India, Nea Salamis from Cyprus and at Navy FC's Thailand, your last stop. At the end of 2019, he returned to his hometown to spend the end of the year parties with his family, recharge and start a new adventure in Asian football.

"I was negotiating with other clubs. I already had half a suitcase ready to go there, but the situation began to get complicated. First, the clubs wanted the players to be in quarantine for 15 days so as not to infect the rest. After three or four days, the governments of Asian countries have already banned European citizens from traveling. And four or five days later they declared the alarm here and confined us to the houses. The government only allows supermarkets and pharmacies to be open. The rest of the population has to be locked up at home”Details the man who was key in the promotion to the first division that Celta got in 2012.

The official news in Spain marked that the situation worsened: it added 740 more deaths in the last 24 hours and reached the total sum of 3,434 deaths, higher than the figure that occurred in China. More than 47,000 infected with the Covid-19 virus, it is only outnumbered by China, Italy and the United States. The health system collapsed and there is no horizon to plan the end of the problem. "The situation is very complicated. To give you an idea: we don't have gloves, there are no masks; we make masks with kitchen paper and staples. Everything very rudimentary. You are very exposed to the virus, to catch it, but I think it is the only way we can help and that each one complies with the security measures at home. Healthcare people, like me, have to lend a hand in this situation so that everything returns to normal. Many people have died, hospitals are overflowing and we all have to bring the man closer, "explains Dovale.

Toni reviews what her eyes see and begins to list the desolate panorama of the streets, the overflow in hospitals, the shortage of places. As her story progresses, her voice seems to crack, as if every time she tells it, she takes a notion of the apocalyptic reality: "The hospitals are collapsed, there is a lot of shortages: we don't have alcohol, gel, gloves, masks, thermometers, paracetamol; we do not have many of the basic tools to fight this situation. Sometimes it feels like you're going to war with slingshot (NdR: slingshot). It is a drama, a situation that I would never have imagined. Five weeks ago I was packing my wife to go play soccer and now you see yourself in this situation. People suddenly get sick, they go to the hospital and they don't come back. "

Although the main focus of the conflict in Spain is centered in Madrid (14,597 cases) and Catalonia (9,937 infected), the region of Galicia appears among the most complicated in that statistic with more than 1,600 sick. While trying to control the situation, the government asked to extend until April 11 the forty general that began on March 15. Dovale affirms that the "authorities took the measures very late" and makes the comparison with Thailand, the country of his last club, where there are 900 confirmed cases to date: "They took all kinds of measures to prevent the spread and were reporting from the first day. In Spain four days before decreeing confinement there were demonstrations with thousands of people promoted by the leaders. Suddenly the schools closed and they told us that we could not get close to each other, that we should use masks, alcohol and all that. The leaders informed the people only when the subject was already fully known to everyone; that there were many infected. This situation now has irreparable personal consequences and will have long-term economic consequences.; Many people lost their jobs and many people will lose them in the coming months. "