Julen Agirrezabala’s great gesture with Juanma Civera

“Valencia CF will always be marked in my heart and I will support them in good times and bad.” With these words, Juanma Civera summarises his feelings after facing a very difficult situation: after seven years as a goalkeeper in the Valencia CF Academy, a genetic cardiac condition —hypertrophic cardiomyopathy- has forced him to stop playing football.

“They tell you that you can’t play, but in your head you think: ‘I’m going to keep playing.’ Then, as the days and weeks go by, you start to process it. You have a hard time with your family, but in the end you realise it’s not bad news, because the important thing is that I can talk about it. Other people may have gone through something similar and haven’t been able to. Health comes first,” Juanma Civera told VCF Media.

The young player from Sagunto explains the process and the involvement of the Club and his family in consulting top specialists in order to make a decision. “My heart is perfect, but it’s about the risk of what could happen if I keep playing football.”

In recent weeks, Juanma has felt the warmth of his family, his girlfriend and his friends, as well as his teammates, his coaches, the Academy goalkeeping coaches and Valencia CF, who invited him to the Mestalla VIP Box for the match against Villarreal CF. There, the Curva Nord also paid him a heartfelt tribute.

In recent days, he also experienced an emotional day at the Ciudad Deportiva with Carlos Corberán and the first-team players, especially Julen Agirrezabala, who gave him a jersey and a pair of gloves.

“Today’s meeting has been amazing. I didn’t know what we were going to do; my parents just told me we were coming to Paterna so I put on the Club gear. It has been a great experience to watch the first-team training session and talk with them, and especially Julen’s gesture, which I will remember forever,” said Juanma, who was able to spend a long time speaking with Agirrezabala and the Valencia CF head coach.

“Both Corberán and Julen had very kind words for me,” said a grateful Juanma, who now sees a new horizon ahead. “I have to leave football as a player, but many doors open for me as a coach or goalkeeping coach,” he said, encouraged in this new path by both the Valencia CF coach and Agirrezabala.

“I want to teach what I was taught, so that others can enjoy what I have been able to enjoy in the Valencia CF Academy,” said Juanma, who concludes with a reflection that his Fundació VCF Cadete coach, Ray Henric-Coll, once shared with the team -a message that now carries even more meaning: “Enjoy what you have because you never know when it might end.”