When Sergio Canales, 33, lines up for Monterrey on Wednesday against Inter Miami’s quartet of former Barcelona icons, he will do so as the most expensive signings in Mexican football history.
There were many moments when imagining glamor at this point in her career seemed fanciful, if not impossible. None more so than on December 30, 2015, when he was sent off the pitch at the Bernabeu – the place where it was predicted his career would ignite as a teenager but where he only lasted one season to play for Real Madrid. Then with Real Sociedad, he had just suffered the third ACL injury of his career.
That day, his own family couldn’t imagine him playing again. Canales could though, and nine years later he hopes to play a vital role in defeating Lionel Messi and company in the CONCACAF Champions Cup quarter-final.
“My family was at the match (Real Madrid v Real Sociedad de Canales) and they went down to the locker room at halftime,” Canales said. Athleticism. “My uncles were crying, my wife was calling me crying. My brothers, my friends, everyone was devastated. I think they all thought my career was going to end. I had overcome it before (in 2011 and 2012), but I had fallen through another crack.
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“That day, I said to myself: ‘My career is not going to end here.'”
Canales began researching how to recover from these major setbacks. He began receiving counseling and was connected with a sports psychologist, who worked with him to set short- and long-term goals.
“The recovery from that third injury was really bad,” Canales says. “I remember the doctor telling me he wasn’t sure I would be able to fully compete again. So I had to believe it again. I became very stubborn.
“Together, with my psychologist, we set a goal: to be called up to the Spanish national team. It was strange that I couldn’t even race and other people suggested I retire, but I was thinking about the national team.
In March 2019, at age 29, the vision finally came true. Canales made his debut for Spain against Norway, the first of 11 caps which saw him score against the Netherlands and be part of the team that won the Nations League final against Croatia l ‘last year.
“Looking back, I wasn’t afraid even though it was a complicated goal and the level of talent in my position in the Spanish national team is one of the best in the world.
“It’s been eight years of weekly sessions with the psychologist. This allowed me to take a big step in terms of maturity. You need to set realistic goals that you believe in and you can’t fear failure.
“I always told myself: ‘I have my goals. I’m going to give my life for this and I know I’m going to do it. I’m not afraid to fail.
“You need to train yourself to think like this every day. It’s not easy and it’s not just about saying “I believe in myself”. Otherwise, we would all be able to do it. It’s an invisible and undervalued training exercise, but one that really counts.
As a teenager, Canales won the European Under-17 and Under-21 Championships with Spain and, after 39 appearances for his local club Racing Santander, he was signed by Real Madrid in 2010, one week before his 19th birthday, for an amount of €. 4.5m.
He went on to play for Valencia, Real Sociedad and Real Betis, totaling 375 La Liga appearances, even earning a place in the 2018-19 squad of the season and collecting a Copa del Rey winners’ medal with Betis in 2021-2022.
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Last summer, Monterrey paid around 10 million euros for Canales, which was the highest transfer fee in Liga MX history.
“At Real Betis, which was the most important club of my career, the pressure came from the need to qualify for the Champions League, to win the Copa (Del Rey), to qualify for the Europa League. This means you know you are going to lose games because you are not playing for a club built to be league champions.
“Now, in Monterrey, we feel like we have to win every game. This is expected, so you have to prepare differently due to the short structure of the tournaments. More than the pressure, I’m just really motivated by the expectations and the pressure that I’ve always put on myself.
Monterrey are five-time winners of the Champions Cup (formerly CONCACAF Champions League), with their last triumph coming in 2021 when they beat fellow Mexicans Club America.
Coming up against an MLS team coached by Gerardo “Tata” Martino is a different proposition from the domestic game in Mexico.
“Here in Mexico, it’s a totally different game than what I’m used to. It’s neither better nor worse. Every league is its own world,” says Canales. “Here, you have to be in very good physical shape. It’s transitional football, there are a lot of attacks and the pitches really stretch. There is more space between the lines. I have always been a player who runs a lot of kilometers per game, but I have increased that number since arriving in Mexico.
“I work with a technical staff who approaches the game differently from what is typical in Liga MX. This is what I am used to: keeping the ball, playing directly and not rushing our decisions. We use the ball to control the match.
Monterrey beat Guatemalan club Comunicaciones and MLS’s FC Cincinnati in the previous two rounds of the Champions Cup, and enters the home game against Inter Miami with a 2-1 lead from the first leg. from which they dominated possession and dominated a match without Messi. , Miami 10-man team 20-8.
Canales has shared a pitch with Messi for a combined total of 988 minutes during his career, winning against him three times in 21 meetings.
“It’s great because I didn’t expect to face him again while I was here,” he said.
“We could have met in the League Cup last year but we were eliminated before the final. And now, on the one hand, I am happy for the city of Monterrey and for this club because it is an important moment where players like Messi – the best of all time – (Sergio) Busquets, (Luis) Suarez and (Jordi) Visit Alba because I would put them in the top three, top four of all time in their respective positions.
“This is going to be a very demanding match. I follow them from here and they are very motivated to win. Players like that are unforgiving and they always play at a very high level.
Canales hopes to add the Mexican Clausura and Champions Cup to his collection during his three-year contract at Monterrey and is determined to immerse himself in a new culture during his first stay away from his homeland.
“There is a lot of misunderstanding about what Mexico is. It’s a country whose negative headlines reach the rest of the world, but Monterrey is a fantastic city and the people have been great to us,” says Canales.
“I had only played in Spain. I was in my comfort zone. There is obviously no language barrier for me in Mexico, but there are different ways of looking at football and life in general. Now I am the only European in the club. I had to adapt to this but it was a great challenge for me.
“I’m very proud of all of that and the way I still approach the game today. I want to give 100 percent effort until my last day as a player.
(Photo: Rich History/Getty Images)