There are stories that seem written knowing how they will end. The one of Dani Carvajal is one of them. The boy who appeared at the laying of the first stone of Valdebebas ended up becoming captain of Real Madrid, legend of the club and one of the most successful players in its entire history. A youth player who has become a symbol and the perfect representation of everything that any child who sets foot on the field for the first time dreams of. Real Madrid City.
But in that historical photograph he was not alone. Another boy appeared next to him. Another youth player. Another boy dressed in white who the club had also chosen to represent the future of Real Madrid. Is called Alejandro Merino. He played basketball. I was 14 years old. And for a few seconds he occupied exactly the same place as Carvajal: the center of an image that, over time, would end up being Real Madrid history.
Two paths born in the same place
“They told us this at the end of a training session.. They had invited us to the laying of the first stone and they had chosen me as a representative of the quarry.” I didn’t know anything before. There was no casting, no hot balls. They simply told him that he was the one chosen to represent basketball. “They told me that they had chosen me for attitude, leadership and my way of being. He was a friend to everyone, open, a good roller with coaches, teammates and even with players from other teams.”
Alejandro Merino, red circle, with his teammates in the First Real Madrid Basketball Cup and the Madrid first team.
Then he trained at Agustinianos and had an impossible life for a normal teenager. lived in Three SongsI went and came back by public transport, I trained almost every day and many nights I arrived home around eleven. “I had dinner and started studying until two or three in the morning”he confesses. And still he had time to play music and form a group called ‘The Doner Ke Funk’. “Now I think about it and I don’t know how I had time for everything.”
I often think that if I had been a professional I would not have experienced many of the things I have experienced.
He remembers that morning in Valdebebas as a whirlwind. Photographers, first team players, managers, media. Two kids surrounded by a gigantic display without yet understanding the dimension of what they were experiencing. “Carvajal was smaller, he was 11 years old and I was 14. We barely spoke. I remember a blond, shy, short boy with bowl hair.” What he does remember well, always joking, is that “I was the one who ate the most at that catering”.
The requirement to survive Madrid
Over time, that image gained enormous symbolism. Because one of those children ended up being the second athlete with the most titles in Madrid’s history (27)… and the other took a completely different path. “Yes, people send me the photo, or the news, and there is always a little joke behind it: ‘Joe, Carvajal at the top and you here’“, he says between laughs. But he has no doubts. “Always very grateful for that time spent in Madrid. At that stage my values, my way of being, were forged. Commitment, Team, effort, sacrifice and enjoyment“.
I knew that being there was going to be something sporadic and that while it lasted I was going to enjoy it
But far from speaking out of frustration, Alejandro does so from lucidity after more than 20 years of an unforgettable moment at Real Madrid City. “Looking back you understand the brutal demands of continuing in Madrid.. Madrid is not only for the very talented. It is also for those who have the right physique, the potential and the absolute hunger to reach the top.” He was 1.73 tall. “I understood it very soon”he says laughing. “I knew that being there was going to be sporadic and that while it lasted I was going to enjoy it”.
After Madrid (he left the white house in youth) continued playing in Alcobendas, Casvi and finally returned to Tres Cantos. But while many pursue their dream in the white youth academy, he took the opportunity to try other things.. Mountain skiing, climbing, trail, crossfit, travel, high mountain rescue, music, university studies, masters. “I often think that if I had been a professional I would not have experienced many of the things I have experienced”.
The story that was never told
Today he is a professor of Physical Education, sports coordinator and head of department at an international school in Madrid. He continues to do sports practically every day and continues to play music with his current group, The Sugar Factory. And perhaps that is the key to his story. It didn’t arrive, but it was also happy. “It also made me learn that when you are so focused on something that requires so much time and effort, there were things I couldn’t do: Spending so much time with friends, going out, watching TV, going on ski trips with school, doing other sports to avoid injury“.
The photo keeps reappearing from time to time. Some anniversary of Valdebebas. Some video about Carvajal. Some report about that time capsule buried in the foundations of Real Madrid City. Then the messages come back. “Yes, they always send me the photo and some jokes.” He laughs and then leaves a sentence that probably sums up his entire story better than any headline: “If I could open that first stone today, I would put a photo of my team from then. Because that was the best team in the world”.
