Mingueza, the canterano who grew a beard to look like "a tough guy"

Reaching the first team is the dream of every Barça youth squad.

And, for its members and fans, having a team entirely made up of home players, as happened with

fully in command against Levante in the 2012-13 season, is a source of pride.

But it is not easy.

In no case.

Most especially, perhaps, from midfield to back.

From

, the last defenders of the house who have managed to establish themselves have been

and

.

And both did it after passing through the ranks of Manchester United and Valencia, respectively, and returning to the club.

A case that, perhaps, will repeat next year an

who has already expressed his will not to renew his contract with City and who has the Camp Nou between his eyebrows.

and

, for example, failed to get a hole.

The story of

, (Santa Perpètua de Mogoda, Barcelona, ​​1999), on the other hand, could be very different.

His is the triumph of perseverance.

Not in vain, he has been in the Barça discipline for 14 years.

He has gone through all the teams, from the Prebenjamín to the subsidiary.

Last Tuesday, in Kiev, he made his dream come true by making his debut with the first team and this Sunday he could continue it against Osasuna (2:00 p.m.).

The serious knee injury of

, one of his great references, and the losses of

and

have made

have opened the doors of ownership.

And Mingueza, for the moment, has not missed the opportunity.

Against Dinamo, he showed the workings of a veteran.

He was attentive and fast in the cut to thwart again and again the foray attempts of the rival attack.

"I get more nervous than he", his father, Joan Cales, would reveal at the end of the meeting in Kiev.

Of course, the remarkable premiere of his son has generated a wave of interest completely unusual.

As he would later explain on Radio Barcelona, ​​Óscar decided to grow a beard when he started playing at B, to give an image of more seriousness, robustness, of a "tough guy."

Although, in fact, in the celebrations of the Youth League that he won with Juvenil A against Chelsea, in April 2018, one of the titles of which he says he is most proud, he already wore it in an incipient way.

Long hair would take a little longer to come.

Koeman gave him the alternative in Kiev, but who put him on the track of the good qualities of the young defender was

, current coach of B. Several of the current great figures of the current Barcelona first team have already passed through his hands.

For example, he was already

assistant

in that cadet A of the 2002-03 season who, with

and

in his ranks, simply won everything.

It even sounded like a possible replacement for

.

The Dutchman, of course, paid attention to him and wanted to see how he performed training with the first team.

What he saw, sure, he liked.

For this reason, he decided to give him the title against Dinamo and he may also give it again next Sunday against Osasuna.

Mingueza passed the test.

And with note.

His

17-year-old

sister

, who plays for women's Barça B and who, according to her father, would like to combine football with journalism, showed her pride and happiness for the premiere of the young central defender on social networks.

And he, with grass still in his boots and after receiving the congratulations of the Barça stars in the dressing room, highlighted it in a string of thanks that, of course, also included his entire family, his partner, his best friend and everyone the technicians who have helped you along the way.

"They know what I have suffered and what I have lived," he added.

Now, he has to live a dream that has already begun to become a reality.

The hard work award for a lifetime.

According to the criteria of The Trust Project

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