Midfielder Virginia Torrecilla contests a ball against winger Megan Rapinoe. Tolga Bozoglu (efe)
After everything that has happened, a life without life that led to severe depression, Virginia Torrecilla (Cala Millor, Mallorca; 29 years old) has regained her smile with the ball between her feet, because that is what she has always done since she For good reason, because when he was nine years old, he joined a mixed team with his mother's approval, but secretly from his father because he thought he wouldn't understand. Time and its quality showed that it was made to compete with the best. Until cancer, a brain tumor that put him out of action for two years, wanted to contradict him. And he almost succeeded. But she returned to the pitch to receive the affection of the fans and even her former teammates, as the Barcelona players supported her while she could not contain her laughter and joy. Although since putting his boots back on he hasn't found his best version, a replacement at Atlético and then at Villarreal. And she, a fighter, a football player from that generation that came before her time but was so necessary to shape the victorious Spanish team of today and the football players of the future, who always had the right to belong to the elite, and In order to compete and satisfy his insatiable appetite, he finally decided to hang up his boots. However, she wants to train and learn to stay connected in some way to the ball, a friend who has never turned his back on her. “Today I say goodbye to professional football after 14 years. I will continue to be connected to this sport that has given me so much. See you soon,” he wrote on social media.
Torrecilla began playing football at a time when society's archaic prejudices were still latent. “I had to put up with absurd comments like 'go wash the dishes.' You don't hear that anymore; But when those comments are said to you when you're 12 or 13 years old, it's very painful… I had a bad time. Until I joined Collerense, my first all-girls team, at 15,” she admitted. And from there to fame. Well, in 2011, Barcelona signed them. “We liked his character, the way he competed and the joy he brought when playing. He was convinced and came to Barcelona. Soon they began to compare her with Busquets, even with the first team players. She was very complete, she could play in any position as long as she was inside: central defender, midfielder, midfielder and striker,” explains her then Barça coach Xavi Llorens. “At the time, there was no one better in the six-man position that is so famous at Barça. Great movement, technique, very tall for his age…” adds Vicky Losada, former Barça and national team teammate. However, after three leagues and two cup wins, he decided to leave the forum: to Montpellier, France. He wanted to assess her level, as she understood that there was no commitment to football in Spain and that there was still a long way to go to compete with the big clubs and competitions. “Here in France, a footballer earns her money.” far more than twice as much as in Spain. “I like the league a lot because it doesn't have so many teams (there are 13 teams), which allows you to rest more, for example with days off before playing in the Champions League,” he concluded in the French jersey. Four years later he returned to Spain to Atlético.
But along the way he also made his mark in the Spanish team, where he earned 68 caps and took part in two European Championships (2013 and 2017) and two World Cups (2015 and 2019). “It was very good. As a footballer, the results and his game speak for themselves. She has reached the top and we were very lucky to have her with us,” sums up her former teammate at Atlético and La Roja, Lola Gallardo. But not Everything was a piece of cake because, like the other teammates, she once raised her voice to point out the former coach Ignacio Quereda, who was forced to resign after being accused of abuse of power and constant disrespect for the players. In 2019, also and with Jorge With Vilda on the bench, he put the bracelet on himself. He was in his prime. But suddenly everything went wrong.
Neck and headaches led him to the doctor and there he discovered that he had cancer, a brain tumor. At first it seemed harmless. But after the first operation it turned out that no, it was malignant, that I had to go through 13 months of treatment, 30 rounds of radiation therapy, 15 cycles of chemotherapy, hair loss and weight loss (up to 16 kg). .. And of spirit. Especially because in June 2021, just as he seemed to reach the light of the tunnel, his mother became a paraplegic in a car accident. And even though it wasn't her fault because she was hit from behind by a truck, she had a hard time digesting the news and misfortune since she was behind the wheel. “I would get cancer 15 more times so my mother could walk again. I promise with all my heart. It does not bother me. If he could get back on his feet…” he admitted. She thought about quitting football, depressed as she was and also affected by her uncle's death from prostate cancer. He even said it to Atlético. But his parents refused and six months later, in January 2022, 683 days after his last game, Torrecilla returned to the field in the Spanish Super Cup final. And the Barça players supported him. “It is undeniable that he is an example of strength and humility,” Losada says. “I always told her that she wasn't hurt, that she was at home on the couch risking her life. And then another terrible blow happened to his mother. But she survived and regained the joy that is so special to her, because having coffee with her is guaranteed to make you laugh,” adds Gallardo. “He is an extraordinary person,” intervenes Llorens; “He's been through some hardships that I don't know if we all would overcome… But that leaves a mark on you. As a sport, it cost him a lot, he wasn't a starter and didn't have the minutes he needed or wanted.” Because with Atlético he won two more cups and a Super Cup, but he took part from the bench. That's why she chose Villarreal this summer, convinced by coach Sara Monforte, even though she also had an offer from Sevilla.
It happened that he hadn't earned his place at Villarreal either and now he has decided to say “enough” and hang up his boots. He leaves behind a successful career and a generation that fought for football to play a role in Spain. “It's a shame that the team's triumph was lost for so few years. But she can be proud of having helped the team and football grow. “Especially because a lot of sacrifices were made beforehand and it was neither valued nor recognized,” slips Llorens. “She can be proud of her career on and off the field,” adds Losada, who describes her as a friend of 10 children. “And now life gives back the things it took from it,” concludes Gallardo. This will certainly also be the case if there is a ball nearby. But no longer between the boots. “I want to thank you for the great love you have given me for so long and I want to tell you that I will always carry you in my heart,” Torrecilla concluded on social networks.
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