De Gea jokes: Myopia does have some troubles, but if you lose the ball, you can use it as an excuse

In an interview with the YouTube show Cronache, De Gea talked about her growth experience and myopia.

You grew up in Atletico Madrid youth training and eventually joined Manchester United, but the development process has gone through some twists and turns. At some stage, you were even punished and demoted to the third goalkeeper of the reserve team?

"I was 18 years old at the time and there were several teams who wanted to loan me: Numancia, Las Palmas, and if I remember correctly, there was Wigan. And I hope to stay at Atletico Madrid and get a chance to make a debut in the first team. But they told me: 'If you don't loan, go to the reserve team as a third goalkeeper.' Later, the first team coach maintained me and told me: 'You are one of us.' So I started the new season as a third goalkeeper, with Asenjo and Roberto in front of me. However, Asenjo was injured at the Spanish U20, and then the second goal was injured after a few games. As three goals, I actually got a chance to play! I performed well, and then Asenjo He returned from injury and became the main player again, but he performed poorly, and I returned to the starting lineup. I have never lost this position since then. It is a miracle. Logically, I just came to the first team to train..."

In the early years, you didn't play goalkeeper in school...

"In fact, I was the best scorer in school because we were young at that time and played futsal football. I like to play forward because at that age, the forward could score a lot of goals, but whenever the ball was lost, the parents in the stands always put the blame on the goalkeeper, which made me very upset, so I was destined to be a goalkeeper."

Being a goalkeeper is also because of your father?

"Yes, that's right. My father is a goalkeeper and he wants me to play goalkeeper too, so I don't have many other options when choosing a position! Of course, he has a great influence on me and often trains with me in the backyard of my home. Even if there is no spectator in the game, he always stands behind my door alone, no matter it rains or sunny."

Despite poor eyesight, you still reach the top level...

"When I was in school, the teacher noticed that I couldn't see the blackboard clearly because I was myopic and had to wear my eyes Lens. Later, I switched to contact lenses to play football. But they always make me feel uncomfortable during the game and it is very uncomfortable. A few years ago, I underwent laser surgery and the effect is very good. However, when I was young, myopia did cause me some trouble. I used special contact lenses, which are softer, but still make me feel uncomfortable. During training, I often don’t wear contact lenses… This will better exercise my reaction ability! And if I lose the ball, I can also find an excuse to say, ‘Look, I have poor vision!’”