Hard-hit Spain on midfielder’s mind

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This article was published 25/03/2020 (2338 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

José Galán no longer starts his days by getting ready for practice.

Instead, the 34-year-old Valour FC midfielder wakes up and checks for the latest updates on what’s happening back in his home country of Spain. Galán, who signed with Valour midway through last season, now lives in Winnipeg full time with his wife, Paloma.

“Every day, the first thing I do in the morning is read about the (COVID-19) situation. It’s just very sad for me,” said Galán, who was born in a city called León.

“My father is a doctor (who operates on cancer patients) and he’s still operating. I’m very worried about this. I speak with him every day and ask him how everything is and make sure he’s taking measures. My brother is also a pharmacist and he works in a residence for older people and he has a risk also because he prepares their (prescriptions). Of course, I’m proud of them and how they’re helping the society there, but I’m also worried about how they’re more exposed to the virus. Ten per cent of the infected people are people who work in health care. They’re high-risk. It’s very sad. That’s why I’m taking it very seriously.”

The whole world shares the same concerns about health-care workers, but Spain is among the countries being hit particularly hard by the coronavirus. On Wednesday, the country announced there have been 3,434 deaths from COVID-19, putting Spain ahead of China and second only to Italy. Spain had 738 deaths on Tuesday, which is the most they’ve experienced in one day.

The scene in countries like Spain put things into perspective. As disappointing as it is for Galán and his Winnipeg teammates to have their training camp cut short after four days, there are bigger problems in the world. The Canadian Premier League was originally scheduled to kick off its second campaign on April 11, but announced last week the season has been postponed indefinitely.

“We’re looking forward to starting the season again so much. With the new expectations, to seeing all the new teammates, and then suddenly we had to stop,” said Galán, who saw action in 13 games with Valour last season.

“We can’t have any more training. We have to train alone. It’s not easy. The past two weeks I’ve just been running by myself by the river. Some days it’s -10, -15, but that’s OK. It’s a problem everybody in the world is facing. At least we’re lucky we’re in a country like Canada.”

When last season ended, Galán was one of the few players who stayed in town. Galán got his professional start at the age of 17 with Atlético Madrid’s C-team and ever since then, he’s been living out of a suitcase. He’s played in a dozen countries in his career, a list that includes Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Hong Kong, Andorra, Jordan and Cyprus. As soon as a season ended with one team, Galán would hop over to a new club to keep on playing.

But once he heard about the CPL, Galán made it a mission to get himself into the new league. He said Spaniards think very highly of Canada and he figured it would be the perfect place for him and his wife to settle down. The couple made it through their first winter on the Prairies and they have no regrets. Paloma has started a career of her own working for Wawanesa Life and Galán kept busy coaching youth soccer for 1V1 Futbol Dreams Academy.

“I hate the cold. But you know what, you get used to it. People would say to me when it’s -5 or 0 degrees, you’ll feel like it’s summer. I have to admit, it happened to me. It’d be sunny and -5 and I’d say ‘Hey, what a wonderful day.’ I can’t believe I was saying this at -5. If I said that to people in Spain, they wouldn’t believe me,” Galán said with a laugh.

“The thing I missed the most was the daily training and of course the games, playing at a competitive level. In 18 years of being a professional, I never stopped playing or training for more than one month. That was the hardest part, to keep motivated during the winter with no competition. I tried to train by myself, but of course, it’s not the same. You have to compete. To not compete for four or five months, it was for sure the hardest part, way tougher than the cold weather.”

Galán might be at the tail end of his career, but he doesn’t plan on slowing down any time soon. He had offers on the table to play elsewhere this year, but the supporters and the people in the community have made Winnipeg feel like home. The Galán home will soon be welcoming an addition as the couple is expecting a baby girl in June.

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“The tough moments, the worst defeats, they still support us and come to the stadium. They’re so loyal to us,” Galán said about Valour’s loyal fans.

“I feel I’m in debt to them and I need to give everything I have inside for this team because I feel they really want me here… It’s the perfect place to be. Every day, we’re happy here. We’re happy to be in Winnipeg.”

taylor.allen@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @TaylorAllen31

Taylor Allen
Reporter

Taylor Allen is a sports reporter for the Winnipeg Free Press. Taylor was the Vince Leah intern in the Free Press newsroom twice while earning his joint communications degree/diploma at the University of Winnipeg and Red River College Polytechnic. He signed on full-time in 2019 and mainly covers the Blue Bombers, curling, and basketball. Read more about Taylor.

Every piece of reporting Taylor produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print — part of the Free Press‘s tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press’s history and mandate, and learn how our newsroom operates.