Federico Valverde beyond football: from his desire to be a young father to the nickname he can't get rid of

Uruguay could not with South Korea 0:58

(CNN Spanish) --

Federico Valverde debuted at the World Cup in Qatar as one of the undisputed stars of the sky-blue team.

From his desire to be a young father to the nickname he was given in

and which he could never get rid of, we review the life of the Real Madrid midfielder beyond the ball.

"I wanted to be a young father"

Valverde and Mina Bonino, his wife, had their son Benicio in February 2020, when the sky-blue star was 21 years old.

"One never imagines being a father so young, although I wanted it very much, I wanted to be a young father. When I met my wife, we already looked for him and I was the happiest kid," he recalled in the interview with AUFTV.

For the player "there is no title, there is no debut, there is nothing" more important than the little one.

"It's the best of my life," he said in a recent interview with La Guitarrita.

Traveling a lot is part of his job, so the midfielder tries to take advantage of "every minute" he shares with his son.

In addition, the merengue player has reflected on the possibilities that his son Benicio has today compared to his own situation as a child.

"I grew up in Uruguay with other things, with other teachings, I didn't have so many privileges but my parents always gave me everything they could. Today thanks to soccer, thanks to all the people around me, I can help my son give him other privileges that I could not have," he explained.

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His mother and father "are everything"

Fede Valverde has also spoken in a very emotional way about his parents, with whom he gets along "spectacular" according to what he said.

"Since I left, they are everything to me. They are the ones who always accompanied me at all times, good and bad, they were always there," she recalled in the AUFTV video.

"Today being able to enjoy with them is also nice, being able to give them lots of joy fills me with pride."

When they asked him who Fede Valverde was 10 years ago, his parents answered again: "A kid who wanted to pursue the dream of being a professional footballer and that's it, and then nothing, always be close to his parents."

Mina Bonino, a wife who "criticizes as number one"

Argentine sports journalist Mina Bonino, to whom he is married, "is the best thing" he has with his son, Valverde said in La Guitarrita.

"She was the person who gave me a son, who made me a father, that will always be special, unique," she explained, and defined her as a "great woman" and a "great wife" who is always aware of everything .

The player also referenced Bonino's tendency to make "constructive criticism".

"Criticize as number one", he recounted in that interview amid laughter, although he acknowledged that "before it was worse".

The Argentine wife of the Uruguayan player has a high profile on social networks.

During Valverde's debut in the match against South Korea, he shared several images with his adventures in the stadium, from a flag that was larger than allowed and had to cut to the fact that his son fell asleep in his arms and fell lose the father's game.

Valverde explained that Bonino has been a great support professionally and personally, and that it has also helped him overcome the shyness that characterizes him.

"There was a moment when I didn't play at all in Madrid and it was difficult for me and I was angry with life, I was angry, and she was a great help, she was the one who gave me many tools to open my head, to open my body , to listen to other options, to learn, and I managed to change," he said.

The young is in a dilemma, between the sky-blue of her husband and father of her son and the albiceleste of his homeland, which has none other than Leo Messi.

In an interview with the Double Merit program on YouTube, the journalist made her priority clear.

"If Uruguay and Argentina play, logically seeing my husband happy would make me happier than seeing Messi happy, for example, who doesn't give me anything," she said.

If Uruguay is left out, of course, then it goes with Argentina, in her own words.

The nickname that could never get rid of "Pajarito"

A

coach , the way the children's league in which Valverde started is called in Uruguay, baptized him "Pajarito" because he was skinny and fast.

Valverde could never get rid of the nickname, although he did not like it, and in the end he ended up becoming friends.

But there's another nickname he prefers because, in his own words, he's "tougher": "Hawk."

• Results of Uruguay in the World Cup in Qatar 2022: points, classification, scorers, statistics and more

Federico ValverdeUruguay national team