For Nacho, Giving Up Is Not A Life Choice

JAKARTA - Santiago Posteguillo's line of ancient Rome novels tell heroic stories about individuals who refuse to give up; individuals who do not make the word surrender a life choice.

However, there is one person who will not appear in these books. He is Nacho Fernandez, a Real Madrid centre-back who is not easily destroyed, even by injury.

Nacho was outstanding as Real Madrid kicked off the 2021/2022 La Liga season with a 4-1 win over Alaves last Saturday. After the game, coach Carlo Ancelotti gave him special praise.

"I've always seen that there are two types of defenders: pessimistic and optimistic," said Ancelotti.

"Nacho is a pessimist, because he always thinks that something bad can happen and because of that he concentrated for 90 minutes."

It is fitting for the 31-year-old player to end the match wearing the captain's armband. Because it serves to highlight how he is now.

In his 12th season at Real Madrid, he reaped the rewards of his persistence during a long and often difficult journey at the club.

Throughout most of his time with Los Blancos, Nacho was often a substitute as he was behind Sergio Ramos, Raphael Varane and Pepe in the starting line-up. He always failed to get a starting place.

He has received a number of attractive offers from European clubs, such as Galatasaray and Roma. However, Nacho still believes that his luck will one day change.

The start of 2021 was another setback for Nacho when he tested positive for COVID-19 in the third week of January.

However, he was named in the starting XI to face Huesca on 6 February and capitalized on the moment with a superb display.

Since then, he has never looked back. Played in every La Liga game except for the 0-0 draw with Getafe, a match in which he was suspended.

Nacho wants to join the ranks of one-club man (players who play for one club) at Real Madrid, following Hugo Sanchis, who wore the white shirt from 1983–2001 with 523 appearances and 33 goals.

And as he has shown throughout his career, nothing will stop Nacho from achieving his goals.