"
A waking dream
".
Very close to giving up football at the age of 19, Randy Nteka left his Parisian suburbs to reluctantly emigrate to Madrid, where he went through hard times, even accepting a position as a stadium keeper in a regional club.
Now, he explodes at Rayo Vallecano (4th in Liga), under the aegis of Radamel Falcao.
It all started in 2016, when an agent approached the young player who was playing in U19 DSR in Linas-Montlhéry, in the Paris suburbs.
"
When the agent contacts me, I'm not too hot.
Frankly, football, I didn't think about it too much.
I was already looking for small jobs to get into working life.
But my father hadn't turned the page.
Whenever there was a slight chance he wanted me to try.
So when the agent approaches me, he made me understand that, basically, it's now or never,
”Randy Nteka told AFP.
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But when he arrives in Madrid, it's a cold shower. "
The agent didn't really have any contact ... He knocked on doors, with nerve ... I fall from a great height. I imagined myself arriving, doing my test week, and if it was successful, launching my career ... But no, not at all,
”says the tall player (1.89 m, 80 kg). Nteka tries his luck with Rayo, who appreciates his profile but has no more room to sign him. The club in the working-class Madrid suburb is redirecting him to Betis San Isidro, a regional division club, while telling him that they will continue to supervise him there. “
I had come for a week or two. In the end, I stayed on trial for six months,
”summarizes Nteka. "
The Rayo was the only thing holding me back. I said to myself + maybe tomorrow, they will call me +
». Guided by the models of French successes abroad (Griezmann, Kanté, Pogba ...) set up as examples by his father, Randy Nteka takes his troubles patiently. But he lives without resources. To help him, the Betis San Isidro club found him a position as a stadium keeper.
The following summer, in 2017, Randy Nteka does the entire preseason with the Rayo. But the club casts doubt on a possible contract and the player decides to try the adventure with a reserve contract in Spanish D3, in Fuenlabrada, in the suburbs of Madrid. “
I didn't even know the club,
” Nteka (24) smiles today. “
When they told me that they were interested in my profile, I told them + no +, direct. I am in a pro club, the Rayo, I want to impose myself here. But my situation was too uncertain ...
"With Fuenlabrada, Nteka narrowly missed the climb among the professionals in the first season, then reached it in his second season. His best memory in football, even today. "
When you go up, I find it hard to believe that I have achieved my goal: I am a professional footballer
, ”he recalls.
Falcao's apprentice
The following summer, ironically, several La Liga teams rang at his door ... including Rayo Vallecano.
"
I tell myself that the wheel has turned,
" slips today this N.8 training reconverted center-forward.
“
Today, we can speak of a daydream, but it is true that there were difficult moments ...
”, he confesses.
On August 29, Rayo beat Granada 4-0 at home on Matchday 3 of La Liga.
That day, Nteka delivers an assist and scores his first La Liga goal.
"
It was the first time my parents had come to the stands since my return to Rayo.
When I do the first decisive pass, I tell myself + that's it, I'm in my match, my season has started, I'm not going to stop +.
And when I score, I feel like the world comes to a stop.
I do not believe it.
It was unbelievable.
Even today, sometimes I watch the video of the goal!
», Breathes Nteka.
With three goals and two assists in 16 league matches, Nteka has become one of the strong pieces of this surprising promoted who upsets the hierarchy in La Liga, alongside the Colombian Radamel Falcao.
And he hopes to continue his crazy story with a victory against reigning Spanish champion Atlético Madrid on Sunday.
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