Santi Cazorla Inspired by Son’s Words for Fairytale Finish

As Santi Cazorla prepares for the final season of his career in the colours of boyhood club Real Oviedo, the words of his son Enzo still resonate with the 40-year-old.

While the former Arsenal midfielder spent two years on the sidelines with ankle issues which almost claimed his leg, all Enzo wanted was to see his dad play again.

During his 636 days out, 11 operations and gangrene which ate into his Achilles, Cazorla was ready to quit – only for Enzo, now 15, wife Ursula and daughter India, 12, to keep him going.

“In some moments I called my family and said ‘I will stop. After a year, I want to be with you,'” he tells BBC Sport. “‘I’m alone here, I don’t have family, nothing, things are not going well’.

“My son would say ‘no daddy, please try again – tomorrow will be better and you will start to feel better. I want to see you again, I love to see you playing for Arsenal and other clubs so please come back and play football again.’

“Finally, I did it. But in that moment it was difficult to say ‘yes, I will be back’. These words, they are my support and my power for every day.”

They have allowed him to end a career on his terms. One which has gone full circle, having helped Oviedo – the team he left in 2003 without playing a first-team game – return to La Liga for the first time in 24 years after winning the Segunda Division play-offs last season.

It will be a fairytale finish for the lifelong Carbayones fan, having signed his final deal, a one-year contract, three weeks ago.

When he penned his new contract, the club called him an emblem and a symbol.

Cazorla took the microphone to sing – surprisingly well – the club’s unofficial anthem by Melendi, an Oviedo-born musician, at the promotion party in front of thousands of fans.

Yet despite being centre stage, Cazorla, a two time European Championship winner with Spain, is happy to snub the spotlight as he ponders his legacy.

“I don’t want to feel like this, I’m one more player. I’m 40-years-old, I only try to help the young players and club to get into the top division. I don’t feel like a symbol,” says the humble playmaker.

“I know I’m an example for my team-mates and they look at me like I’m a superstar, I don’t want them to look at me like this.

“They are young, some have only played in the second division and when I came in, my first day, they look at me like I’ve played at Arsenal and in the national team. They respect me a lot, but I don’t want this position.

“You always feel proud of what you did in your career, but I prefer [to be remembered] as a person than a player. I try to help everybody, it’s what I did all my career and it’s how I am human.”

BBC.com