Jorge de Frutos (Navares de Enmedio, Segovia, 1997), can boast of being one of the last internationals leaving where he came from. The Rayo Vallecano attacker, who will face Oviedo in Tartiere this afternoon, was born in a town of 92 inhabitants. He learned to play soccer with only four kids. One was his brother, and the other three were brothers from another family. Luckily, in the summer, the people of Madrid invaded Navares de Enmedio and the occasional summer tournament was organized. His parents, owners of the town cafeteria, instilled in him the values of work and effort. He rarely had to take care of the business behind the bar, but he did help his mother make the skewers from the kitchen.
He started playing soccer more seriously at fourteen. He signed up for Sepúlveda and from there, for Rayo Mahadaonda. He entered professional football with just two training sessions a week. After a meteoric career, he was promoted to the Second Division and the all-powerful Real Madrid noticed him, but he never made his debut with the first team, although he did participate in some training. From Castilla he went on loan to Valladolid and then to Levante, where he spent three seasons. Last season he signed for Rayo, and right now, he is one of the fittest players in the golden category of Spanish football, which is why Luis de la Fuente, national coach, did not miss the opportunity to make up for Lamine Yamal’s last-minute loss with him.
With the team from the Vallecas neighborhood he has four goals in eleven games, all of them as a starter. He is playing Conference League and contributing his good football to a Rayo Vallecano that is making a very good start to the league within its possibilities. They are thirteenth, but are only three points away from returning to the European positions. Iñigo Pérez is knowing how to bring out the best version of De Frutos who, when he played with his friends in Navares de Enmedio, did not expect to end up playing for the national team. If anyone doubts that anyone can become a footballer, from any remote part of the peninsula, they should ask him. n
Important since young
Born 20 years ago in Zaragoza, Adrián Liso is one of the genuine products of the prolific Maña youth team, despite the fact that the first team has not yet achieved the desired promotion to the elite. Liso made his debut on March 17, 2024, in Zaragoza’s home defeat against Espanyol, 0-1. He played the last 24 minutes. With the Aragonese team he has played 53 games in the last two campaigns, being important for all the coaches who have passed through his bench. In addition, he has helped with six goals. His start with Getafe could not have been better in the scoring aspect: he scored in the victory against Celta and scored a double in the victory in Seville. He has been a starter in the first three days of the competition.