Today we interview Joan Femenias del Salto from Real Oviedo.
Age: 19/08/1996
Current team: Real Oviedo
Height: 1,87
How did you start playing Soccer?
I started when I was very young with friends at school at recess and playing in the street. When I was 10 years old my parents signed me up to go training with my neighborhood team, that’s where it all started! Forming in the lower categories of Villarreal getting to win the title of Honor Division League and Champions Cup Champion. Best Honor Division Goalkeeper Award that same year.
With the villa of Villarreal two seasons performing the promotion play-off to Second Division.
Tell us what Real Oviedo is like from the inside.
Real Oviedo is a historic club and very large in every way. It only took me one day to feel the soccer atmosphere that is lived within the city. The club is very well organized, has a great working structure in all areas and if you add to that the support of the association, it becomes an ideal place to grow as a soccer player and person.
What model of gloves do you wear?
These matches I’ve been using the Guerrero Pro model. It is a glove that gives me a lot of confidence, the latex used gives me lots of confidence even in extreme rain conditions and at the same time is a model that I feel fits very well to my hand and I gives me the feeling of grip and mobility of the fingers that I helps me feel comfortable.
What advice would you give to a someone who was starting to play soccer?
The advice I can give to a boy or girl who is starting to play soccer is that they enjoy it, that they always play in the position they wants at the moment, that they have a good time with friends and that they study a lot.
How would you define yourself as a goalkeeper?
I consider myself a goalkeeper who, beyond technical or tactical conditions, looks forward to continuing to improve and grow. I love having the opportunity every day to be able to go to training and I am very demanding in the day to day and in improving small details.
How did you start to get interested in soccer and more specifically int the goalkeeper position?
I think it comes from my family. My grandparents love soccer and since I was a kid I’ve seen soccer at home. I think it’s something that lives inside me. I was always impressed with goalkeepers, they seemed special to me, they were of a different color to the rest, they wore gloves, they could use their hands … From then on when we played on the street with friends whenever I could I would place myself as a goalkeeper, that’s when I first felt that feeling of being able to save a goal and I got hooked…
What has been the most important moment in your sporting career?
I think one of the most beautiful moments has been my second division debut last season after many months without having the chance to play, I received the reward for the hard work done in the past months. Although I think the moment that has marked me the most was my 7-month shoulder injury. It was a time that helped me a lot on a personal level and also on a sporting level.
Nerves are one of the most important problems a goalkeeper has to face when. How do they affect you?
The truth is that I like to feel that tingling before the matches, I try to always be very focused and very attentive to everything, I have almost no time to think or feel nervous. If you manage to reach those concentration levels everything flows….

Any habits before or during games?
It is true that I have some habits before the matches, small details that serve as anchors of concentration, nothing exaggerated.
What care do you give the gloves to keep them ready?
To this day I do not usually use any products, I try to always dry the gloves and keep them in the best possible condition.