White socks. Black pants. Green and white striped shirt. Hair collected. Muddy ankle boots. Ball to the floor. This is what Deyna Castellanos looks like in some photographs from her family album: uniformed and smiling, any game day, in Maracay (Venezuela).
It was her mother who urged her when she was five years old to “find some other activity, apart from school, so that she could get rid of all the energy she had.” “We wanted to tire her out a little, to be honest,” remembers Mrs. Irene in statements to EFE. “As a child, Deyna was active, restless, energetic and bold; sometimes reckless. I found it funny how incredible it was to see her play and leave all the boys behind. She was very fast and, once she had the ball, she had a huge advantage over the other children. Immediately the parents of the other teams said: 'we lost, that's a goal,'” she says.
Following the example of her older brother, Deyna Castellanos was encouraged to kick and run around the field. Her mastery of the ball was amazing back then. She continues to do so today, ranked among the top scorers and assisters in the Spanish First Division. "Starting to play football has been the best decision of my life," the Atlético de Madrid player says in a chat with EFE.
Deyna Castellanos is only 21 years old. Seven years have passed since her brilliant appearance at the 17 U-2014 World Cup in Costa Rica, when she confirmed on a big stage what was already evident in her as a child. “When I was very young, I was very skillful. I was intuitive and intelligent. I stood very well on the field and I was very mature with the ball. If you had knowledge about the sport, you realised that I was really good from a very young age,” emphasises her mother, who defended her daughter’s dream even though for the family this meant staying away from her. “As for the rest, there was no sacrifice. We always accompanied her, injecting her with a lot of confidence and responsibility. We showed her that we believed in her, in her game and that she could become the best,” she reflects.
That is precisely Deyna's great desire. "I know that I have the ability to become one of the best in the world, if not the best. Giving joy to my country is one of the main things that motivates me and drives me. And also making my family totally proud of me," the Atlético forward says, without mincing words.
Her agent, Guillermo Zamarripa, points out that the Venezuelan star already radiated “confidence and security” when he met her. “At 16, you asked her about her goals and she told you she wanted to be the best player in the world. She said it with such ease that it gave you goosebumps. On the court, there are hundreds of players with exceptional talent, but what makes Deyna Castellanos different is her mentality. She is one of a generation, because she has the talent and all the intangibles. She has the discipline, she has the hunger and she can handle pressure,” he asserts.
She has been dealing with all this since 2014. She saw the U-17 World Cup in Costa Rica as “a showcase” that could open “many doors” for her. “What better way for my dreams to come true than to do well there!” says Deyna Castellanos during the interview.
«I had already discussed that part with myself (…) and it was up to me to know how to take advantage of that opportunity. I think that both the national team, as a team, and I individually took advantage of that World Cup. That's where my university scholarship in the United States comes from. Many teams from Europe and Latin America also approached me then, wanting me to grow a little more in their team. Later, at the 2016 World Cup in Jordan, I decided not to let people think that it had been a stroke of luck, that it had been something basically fortuitous, but to show them that it's not luck but talent,» she says.
Once her impact was confirmed, Deyna Castellanos decided to "cut corners" and delay her professional debut. However, she could not avoid the individual recognitions that followed. In 2017, in fact, she was one of the three finalists for The Best award given by FIFA. Never before had such a young player reached that position. Her precocity, in any case, did not divert her focus.
“One of Deyna’s best qualities is humility. She is very confident, but always respectful. And even when she received that recognition, she remained humble and appreciated the others around her,” her coach at Florida State University, Mark Krikorian, added to the conversation from the United States.
That was the step that Deyna Castellanos decided to take amidst the noise. “Everything came to me very young,” she says. “I started university when I was 16; I finished when I was 20. Going through those stages was very important to me. It was my childhood, my childhood, and I didn’t want it to go to waste. Also, education is extremely important to me. For any male football player, their first contract is already worth millions. We don’t have that reality, so for me one of the priorities was to be able to study at a university, since that opens many doors for me in life,” she points out.
From those four years in the United States, she especially remembers the tearful farewell and the gymkhana in the first month. “I didn’t speak English. The campus was extremely big, there were too many people. It was quite complicated at the beginning. I knew I had to put a lot of effort into learning a language and achieving another of my goals. I’m happy that it finally happened. I came to feel comfortable with my teammates and my coaches. The teachers, in addition, were very understanding. They gave a little more than they really had to give and tried to understand me. They explained things to me with drawings. I also put a lot of effort into it and I take credit for having learned English quite quickly,” she adds.
In fact, she considers the city of Tallahassee her home. “I came to feel that it was more like my home than my own home in Venezuela. For me it has a special place in my heart. I would keep all the people I met, who contributed something to me and who taught me a life lesson. That is what I take with me the most, in addition to all the things we had on the team. We had facilities, equipment, technology, a great coaching staff. Mark, more than a coach, is like my father. He has taught me to be, above all, a better teammate,” she says.
EFE
