He is the left-hander of the youngest of the Royal House. From a very young age, his natural position is far left. Even when he was the youngest of the Handball Esplugues club, he went forward, crouched and ready, unusually fast. A buzzard. He was watched by his father, Iñaki, his idol; of him and the children and parents who came to see the team. Although a year earlier, Chronicle had published Anatota de Pelotazo (September 25, 2011), the exclusive that revealed the details of the Noos case, Urdangarin's father's bad reputation had not yet defeated the athlete who has his shirt hanging in the Palau Blaugrana.
Pablo Urdangarin, in 2012, was already the one who pointed out ways of elite sportsman among all the grandchildren of Juan Carlos I. And the only one who could inherit the legacy - in handball - of his father. Seven years later, little Pablo has grown - he is close to the ninety meter - and trains in Nantes. He has arrived - which rhymes with escape - to a top team, in one of the most competitive leagues in the world, the third in discord in France, Cup champion in 2017 and finalist of the Champions in 2018. There he trains and lives, in a Beautiful and discreet city. The ideal for him. He is close to a huge player, today coach of the first team, the Spaniard Alberto Entrerríos. Without trying to get attention, running away from Dad's shadow and, at the same time, missing him.
Much has changed his life since then. Every time he can, he escapes to see his father in the prison of Brieva (Ávila). His mother, the Infanta Cristina, tries to protect him and his brothers from the flash of the cameras. "They do not have to pay or suffer for the sins of the parents," is the general comment in their environment. But it is only a wish. Since in June 2018, Ignacio Urdangarin Liebaert entered prison - after being sentenced to five years and 10 months in prison for the crimes of continued prevarication and embezzlement, influence peddling, Administration fraud plus two tax offenses - everything has gone uphill for them. It was a tremendous blow especially for Pablo, very attached to his father, his best friend.
On Sunday, July 8, 2018, his visit to the prison was recorded in a car with tinted windows. He was still 17 years old and accompanied mom. It is the only visit of which there is photography. He is seen in profile, with glasses of pasta. Some of his people say that he is like Clark Kent - Superman's alterpiate. When he takes off his glasses, his big blue eyes look and his extraordinary physical change is more appreciated after he came of age in December of last year. After 18, it has become more decisive. He is aware that he now decides. He has practiced tennis, skiing ... but, from a very young age, he knows that he wants to dedicate himself professionally to handball. And he is after his dream. Regardless of the recurring malicious comments.
«I remember when he played with us. He was calm, and his father, unlike others, did not make fuss, just watched him and did not press him at all, ”says Sergio Sanz Cantalejo, his coach at the Esplugues Handball. «It was nothing presumed. He behaved like any other kid. It was essential in a team where they went -and go- boys of all social classes, from children of workers to managers of multinationals. He was not trying to stand out except for his good spirit. In a 2013 photo of the complete team, he is in the third row, smiling, with number 12. «His position was far left. How small he was, he made up for it with his intelligence and speed. Quick-minded and ironic, he has always evaded elucubrations about his father using that weapon.
Why Nantes Why France if it had chosen before the Bundesliga - it passed in it last year - the most competitive league today? There are many reasons. He speaks the language as a native - while in Germany he had to take classes - having studied at the French high schools in Washington and Barcelona, and having graduated from the splendid Ecolint school in Geneva.
The TSV Hannover Burgdorf was a pleasant experience for him and he even had the joy that, one of the few times his mother visited him, he just scored four goals. However, it is now in France where this sport grows the most. They send the PSG and Montpellier, but the hierarchy of Nantes increases year by year, mobilizes thousands of people to its pavilion - he does not live far away - and his budget already reaches almost eight million euros, practically the same as Barcelona in Spain .
But it is not just that. Alberto Entrerríos has been the capital for his arrival in Nantes. Iñaki's friend since his time in the national team, he has gone from player to assistant and is now the main coach. «I met him and we greeted each other kindly. The city is wonderful and this team is ideal for a guy who is being trained », refers to this supplement. And there is a future if it reaches the first team.
The average salary of professional players in Spain is mileurist if it is not played at Barça. In Nantes, it exceeds 6,000 euros per month. And, although he doesn't have a professional record - he plays in team B yet - he dreams of getting it very soon. After the last stretch, he is almost 190 centimeters tall: 188. He will not reach 196 of Iñaki, left-handed like him. He works as a classic left-winger, with a lot of jump. He needs to gain muscle, but his trainers postpone that part waiting for it to stop growing. In his first game he had to encourage his teammates -victoria against Rezéens by 40 to 30- from the bench. No one of the Spanish nobility went to encourage him. It was the best. Yesterday, Saturday, was his second meeting, against Saintes. The royal family could go see him, if he is already seated in the team, at the end of November, when he faces his peers from the PSG.
While Pablo, eighth in the line of succession of the crown, grows sportily, his father loses each of his parties by his sentence. I would like to be with him, as when they shouted together euphoricly encouraging Spain. Iñaki is writing compulsively in jail. Will there be a letter of advice for your beloved Paul? No one in your environment doubts it.
According to the criteria of The Trust Project
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