Diego Almeida (19 years old), one of the central defenders with the greatest future in Ecuador, announced this Friday the end of his stay in football club Barcelona. A Spanish-Ecuadorian soccer player is visiting General Vernaza (Guayas), on his family’s land, spends his vacations and promotes playing sports at the football school of the General Vernaza parish administration.

Almeida received the award from the president of the Parroquial GAD, Álex Palma Candelaria, and highlighted his twelve-season career at Barça.

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“I am very happy to be here in Vernazza, where my mother and all my family live. I’m happy to be with boys who dream of being great footballers, and I’m here to help them in whatever they need,” the native Rubí told EL UNIVERSO.

“My time at Barca is over, it was something special for me, I grew up there, I am who I am today thanks to them. But my time at the club is over, I thank you with all my heart, and now it’s time to change the scene and my future will be known soon,” he added.

The defender’s contract with the Catalan institution expires today, after the last renewal in 2020 for three years. He will continue his career in Europe, he said.

Diego arrived at Barça at FCB Escola and went through all categories until arriving at Barça B in May 2022. He even trained with the first team of FC Barcelona under the leadership of Xavi Hernández.

His evolution did not go unnoticed in the Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) and in the Ecuadorian Football Federation (FEF), and in fact the central defender went through all the lower ranks of the Spanish team. From under 15 to under 18.

He was called up for Ecuador for the first time for less than 15 microcycles in August 2018 and played at least two verification matches in the Fedenador facilities. It was Jorge Célico who made the contact for the arrangement in Guayaquil.

For the U-20 South Americans in Colombia and the FIFA U-20 World Cup in Argentina, Almeida was not with the national team, but was mentioned by former coach Jimmy Bran among possible foreign signings for the mini-Tri. Bran was fired three months before the start of the World Cup and Miguel Bravo took over.

Finally, Diego Almeida made his debut in December 2021 for the Ecuador national team in a FIFA friendly against El Salvador at BBVA Compass Stadium in Houston.

“I already do I decided to play for the Ecuador national team, defend that country and do my best. My family and I are very happy; They helped me a lot to decide that. “I am confident that I will play for Ecuador and that I will defend it whenever I am called,” he said on February 23.

That desire remains intact. He gets excited when talking about the Ecuadorian team and Barcelona Sporting Club, his idol, as he calls it. On Thursday evening, he visited the Monumental Stadium to watch the match against Cerro Porteño. His father, Ángel Almeida, accompanied him to the apartment, who instilled in him a love for the yellow painting.

(D)