![](\"http:\/\/www.albluesguide.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/Baena-Valverde.jpg\")
\u201cI already had a psychologist before what happened, since I arrived in the first team, because I came from playing everything in the youth teams and when I got to the first team and I didn\u2019t play, I didn\u2019t know how to manage it,\u201d he told Relevo<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cThe thing with Valverde, these are things that happen, you have to see it in a way that at that moment I didn\u2019t see it, I couldn\u2019t see the light. The media pressure that I had and continue to have as a result of that is very high. But people don\u2019t know me off the pitch and they focus on what happened, what they see on the pitch. It is true that on the pitch I am very different: I am a winner, very competitive, that maybe in certain actions I go over the line, but it is never with malice or to do harm. And off it, I am the opposite: shy, timid, reserved. But people don\u2019t see that, although what matters to me is that my peoople see it.\u201d<\/p>\n Baena has also commented of late that he would be willing to sit down with Valverde to clear the issue up.<\/p>\n \u2014 Football Espa\u00f1a (@footballespana_) February 27, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n \u201cTo grow, mature and move forward you must know how to forgive. I know that it is very difficult for that situation to arise, for both of us to agree on what happened, but I would sit down and talk. On my part, everything is fine, I know that it is a very delicate and difficult issue, but for my part there will always be a predisposition to do so.\u201d<\/p>\n Recently Baena was involved in an exchange on Twitter with journalist Albert Ortega<\/a>, and he was asked what he would say to the people before they send him hateful messages.<\/p>\n \u201cBefore writing a comment, think about how they would take it if they were the ones receiving that comment. People get involved, write, hit send and they don\u2019t realise that there are people who have a really hard time with those things. I also believe that it comes a little from journalism, from some newspapers that encourage journalists a lot to create a campaign, not only towards me but other players.\u201d<\/p>\n And admitted that the hatred directed his way, and at his family, nearly drove him into a different life.<\/p>\n \u201cYes, few of us know this, it has been a tough year, after everything that happened. I was on the verge of giving up everything, of giving up football, there came a time when my head exploded, I didn\u2019t want to continue. It coincided with my call up for the national team, which was when I hit rock bottom. I remember sending a text to my psychologist that I wanted to quit. They all helped me, the call-up for the national team raised my spirits. Also due to coincidences in life, the Bernabeu game was my turning point, as I was injured by a stamp, but that day was when my head clicked.\u201d<\/p>\n Baena turned down an offer from Saudi Arabia<\/a> in January, noting that it was \u2018not the right time\u2019, but is expected to be one of the most coveted talents in Europe this summer.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n The post Alex Baena admits he considered quitting football after Fede Valverde incident<\/a> appeared first on Football Espa\u00f1a<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Villarreal and Spain star Alex Baena has admitted that just months before he lifted Euro 2024 and earned an Olympic Gold medal in the space of a month, he was close to quitting football altogether. Now, he has one of the brightest futures in the Spanish game. The 23-year-old has […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":525,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[10],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.albluesguide.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/523"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.albluesguide.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.albluesguide.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.albluesguide.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.albluesguide.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=523"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"http:\/\/www.albluesguide.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/523\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":528,"href":"http:\/\/www.albluesguide.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/523\/revisions\/528"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.albluesguide.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/525"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.albluesguide.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=523"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.albluesguide.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=523"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.albluesguide.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=523"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\n
![\"\ud83d\udde3\"](\"https:\/\/s.w.org\/images\/core\/emoji\/13.0.0\/72x72\/1f5e3.png\")
“Few people know this, but 2024 was a hard, hard year. After everything that happened, I was on the verge of leaving it all, of leaving football. There was a moment where my head exploded.”#VillarrealCF<\/a> star Alex Baena. Via @relevo<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/RN2o2L9Btr<\/a><\/p>\n![\"Baena](\"http:\/\/www.albluesguide.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/Baena-1.jpg\")