From the fear of losing the father at his mine to vibrating for his origins in a World Cup

Torelló"It's a tremendous joy and something that almost seemed impossible," highlights Valdo (Villaseca de Laciana, León; 1981), former Espanyol player and player for the Cape Verde national team. He speaks of the feat of this African archipelago, one of the four debutants in this World Cup and Spain's first opponent this Monday in the group stage (6 PM, La 1). Cape Verde, a former Portuguese colony, is the second smallest country in the tournament's history by territory and the third by population with 4,000 km² and 600,000 inhabitants. The province of Girona has 6,000 and 850,000.

His father arrived in Spain in the seventies. Today, Cape Verde is an increasingly popular tourist destination, but back then it was a very poor country. "He spent some time in Portugal and then wanted to go to the Netherlands, but they stopped him at the border with France and since he didn't have permission from my grandfather, they didn't let him pass because he was still a minor. He returned to Portugal by train, but when they were passing through Salamanca, a gentleman offered him a job," he says. This is how he arrived in Villablino, a town that then had over 14,000 inhabitants and has now fallen by half. "People started leaving when the mines closed," explains Valdo, with over 300 matches under his belt in La Liga, the Copa del Rey, the Champions League, and the UEFA Cup.

His father worked for hours and hours in the coal mines. He has not forgotten the "uncertainty" nor the "fear" of not returning every time he "went down there". "It was very hard. My father has not had serious accidents, but he has friends who have been rescued and others who have stayed there. When I was younger he didn't tell me anything about it, but later he did tell me how they used to try to rescue people who had gotten trapped. Sometimes they succeeded and sometimes they didn't. Once he had been talking to the miner in question to encourage him while they were trying to rescue him and when they had reached him there was nothing more to be done," adds the former footballer.Football as an "escape valve"

Five years later, he entered a reception center in the province of Madrid because his parents had separated and neither could take care of him. He only returned to the village in the summer, for holidays. He remembers crying, tortured by loneliness. Fortunately, football appeared as an "escape valve". Football, and Sister Marina, a key figure in his life. She was a nun, very fond of football and also of Real Madrid: "She organized tournaments within the center and kept track of the standings and goal scorers". She also founded the center's team and on weekends drove the players in a white Pegaso van, full of children. "At that time there were not many checks and seatbelts were not mandatory," he says. Valdo would dedicate one of his first goals in the elite with a jersey to her: Gracias, hermana Marina. Valdo finished school, but neither he nor his father wanted him to return to the village because they already knew that his destiny was the mine and they "bet" everything on football, as a safe passage to another life. "I didn't have a plan B," he admits. He stayed to live at the coach's house and started playing for Pozuelo de Alarcón. Shortly after, the interests of Madrid and Atlético arrived. He chose Madrid, the family's team. He still remembers the call with his father. "We were on cloud nine. Everything had been worth it."In the blink of an eye, he went from strolling around the Santiago Bernabéu with his friends, imagining himself on the pitch, to making his debut, like the umpteenth gem from the Zidanes and Pavones generation. He was born in the same year as Iker Casillas. Valdo played four matches with the first white team.Then he made history at Osasuna and in 2007 he landed at Espanyol. It was two years, seven goals in 50 games: "Overall, it was a good experience. The first year went very well. The second, not so much". The death of his mother in the middle of the season was too painful a setback: "They called me right after a game to tell me they had to admit her and I ran off to Portugal. I missed a game and came back here intending to go back to Portugal to see her, but one day they called me and told me she had already died. It was a hard and difficult blow. After that I didn't play much anymore".

He was alongside Ferran Corominas and Dani Jarque in the locker room and at meals. On August 8, 2009, he had already been loaned out to Malaga, but he remembers the call to inform him of Jarque's sudden death as if it were today. "I couldn't believe it. He was a great person and a physical marvel".Valdo had played with the Spanish under-21 team when he was young, alongside young Víctor Valdés, Mikel Arteta, Andrés Iniesta, and David Villa, but he didn't have continuity and when the opportunity arose to represent the country of his roots, he didn't hesitate. In 2011, he played two matches with Cape Verde. It was another country and another team. "It was like being in the Second B or Third division, in terms of facilities, equipment, and travel. We went from one place to another, making stops and transfers. It was very amateur. Cape Verde only had fishing, and now tourism has started ten or fifteen years ago," he explains.Years ago his father had been the coach of the Cape Verde team at the Immigrant World Cup in Madrid. They have been counting the hours for days to see the World Cup debut of their country's national team, full of children of the diaspora like him. "My father and I are amazed and super proud, like all of Cape Verde. It's an incredible thing".