The World Cup final is the biggest stage for a footballer, the one all children dream of from a very young age. In Los Palacios y Villafranca (Seville), with a population of 40,000 inhabitants, there is the paradox that not one, but two players will be present today in the great final in New York. The Spanish National Team has found its center of gravity in a figure called Fabián Ruiz: off the field he is silence; on it, a revolutionary player.
Gustavo Sánchez, Fabián Ruiz’s coach in the youth categories of Real Betis Balompié, tells EL MUNDO what the boy from Palacios was like. He remembers him as a “quiet” kid, almost invisible among the bustle of the locker room. He barely recalls anecdotes about him when he was little. However, Fabián Ruiz has undergone an undeniable evolution that football has already rewarded. His “chess nerves” have allowed his shyness to help him save energy and fully unleash himself on the pitch.
Fabián’s trajectory was never a straight path, but the result of perseverance. Sánchez coached him during his second-year cadet stage (at 15-16 years old) and later did the same in División de Honor. “He stood out since he entered the benjamines,” the coach recounts. “He caught attention for being a midfielder with great stamina, an excellent left-foot strike, and an innate associative football.”
An “awkward” all-rounder
However, Fabián experienced an abrupt physical growth spurt that drastically transformed his body. He became an excessively tall and lanky player, temporarily losing the speed and fine coordination that characterized him. “He had a couple of difficult seasons between second-year infantil and first-year cadet. Losing prominence and speed due to excessive height, he suffered,” Sánchez reveals. It was a process of muscular and motor maturation that was consolidated after his loan to Elche CF, returning to Betis transformed into a muscular powerhouse under the guidance of Quique Setién.
Behind Fabián’s success lies a story of enormous family sacrifice. Raised by a courageous mother, Chari, who had to support the family under severe economic difficulties, the boy’s talent did not go unnoticed by the top youth football scouts. Sevilla FC was on the lookout multiple times, trying to seduce the young talent from Palacios before he turned 16 and could sign his first professional contract.
“He was very close to going to Sevilla”, confesses Gustavo Sánchez. “Betis’s youth academy was going through a very difficult economic period then, and Sevilla had more resources. To retain him, the club offered his mother a job at the sports city laundry.” Sánchez recalls an unforgettable moment with emotion: “I remember perfectly the first time Fabián was called up to the first team. His mother came to the school offices, wearing her laundry work clothes, crying with pure happiness to tell us the news. That family’s behavior was always straightforward, with absolute loyalty to the club.”
Pride overflows these days through the streets of Los Palacios y Villafranca. Its mayor, Juan Manuel Valle, speaks to this newspaper reflecting the expectation of a town that has become the largest exporter of football talent per square meter in all of Spain. “It fills us with pride. When you meet them personally and know what they are like, the joy is doubled. Fabián, Gavi, Jesús Navas… all maintain an overwhelming humility and simplicity. Fame has not gone to their heads at all,” comments the mayor.
Valle highlights the cultural roots that define these footballers: “In Los Palacios, despite having 40,000 inhabitants, people don’t say they are from the city, they say ‘I am from the town.’ That reflects an attachment, a way of understanding life based on closeness.” This bond will materialize imminently: the town hall has already announced that, whatever the result in New York, the local stadiums will be renamed in their honor and a monument with the iconic photograph of the three Palacios stars together will be erected, a milestone that will become a major tourist attraction.
The local mystique dictates that every time a son of the town wins an international title, the local cooperatives prepare their most famous reward: the footballer’s weight in the famous tomatoes of Los Palacios, popularly known as “el bombón colorao.” Jesús Navas inaugurated the tradition in 2012, and both Fabián and Gavi already know the sweet taste of this tribute which, once again, is already waiting in the agricultural chambers of the Sevillian municipality.
Today’s match is not just any final. Mayor Juan Manuel Valle concludes the interview with a deeply motivating reflection that resonates with the strength of an entire town cheering them on: “Whatever happens tonight, these kids are already legends. But today we have a date with history. We expect that characteristic left-foot strike from Fabián from the edge of the area or a last-minute agonizing shot that gives us glory. These kids came from our fields and today hold the soul of an entire country.”
