The Barça keeper spoke to the REVISTA BARÇA magazine about his career and chose five important moments and five photos to illustrate them.
It’s been eight years since he made his debut and Victor Valdes has secured his place not
just in this team, but also in the history of the club . For the REVISTA BARÇA he chose five great
moments in his career so far.
“If it hadn’t been for Rijkaard, I wouldn’t be Barça’s
keeper”
“I knew what I was going to do at the final whistle and I ran to
the dugout and gave Frank a hug and said something like ‘you chose me and you were right, now
we are Champions of Europe’. I’ll be grateful to Rijkaard all my life. That season I
made two or three errors and received a lot of criticism, but he believed in me, when it might have
been easier to drop me. That really helped me to grow and the game in Paris was perfect. I owe so
much to Frank and he’s made a big impression on me as a person, who I have learnt a lot
from”.
“With Guardiola, Barça will always win”
“Pep is like a teacher – it’s like going to university
every day, you learn something every day. He always has a solution and with just a small change he
can alter a game and you win. I’d never seen that before. Thanks to him I really enjoy the
game. In his philosophy of the game the keeper is key in starting moves. He’s the best
manager in the world and I have a lot of respect for him, because apart from his role as a manger,
Pep is a symbol for the club. As a Barça fan, I want him to stay in charge for many years because I
want to see us winning and with Guardiola, Barça will always win”.
“Andrés is like a brother to me. It was as if I’d scored the goal
myself”
“I had a strange feeling during the game. Chelsea had their chances in the
second half, but didn’t take them. I was convinced we would have our opportunity and it came
right at the end! I went crazy, especially because Andres is my best mate - he’s like a
brother- I’ve known him since we were kids and we grew up together and took the same path. We
help each other and you can imagine how I felt when he scored in Stamford Bridge or in the World
Cup Final. It was as if I’d scored myself. For me, and not just because everybody is praising
him now, he’s the best player in the world and he deserves the World Player of the Year
Award.”
“I didn’t want to be a keeper – I really suffered until I was about
18”
“I didn’t want to be a keeper. It really made me feel bad,
don’t ask me why, but I really didn’t enjoy it and had a bad time. Then when I was
nearly 18, I said to myself “I don’t want to do this anymore’. I was clear that I
wasn’t going to be a professional keeper. Even though the people around me said I could reach
the top. I went into therapy and that helped me get over it and see things differently. Since then
I’ve lived my profession intensely and I’m enjoying it more all the time. Linking up
with Pep has been a fundamental step in the right direction – now I live my life as a keeper
with passion”.
To view this content you need the latest version of the Flash Player
“Del Bosque’s call up was a surprise for me”
“The day that Del Bosque released the list of players for the World Cup, I was at the doctor
with my son and my wife and I got a message from Andres. I didn’t need to read it, I knew
that he was writing to tell me I’d been picked for South Africa and he was as excited by that
as I was. I was so happy, like a little kid. Spain has some great keepers and it wasn’t easy
to choose just three. I’ll always be grateful to Del Bosque and I’ve also discovered
what a great person he is. He made me feel a part of the group from the first day and I felt
completely a part of what is a great group of guys. It was normal that I wouldn’t play -Iker
is doing really well and he put in a great tournament, but I felt just as much a part as if I had
played in all the games”.