How youth players are sparking Valencia's LaLiga resurgence - ESPN

Six guys stand in a line. Fran Pérez, Pablo Gozálbez, Cristhian Mosquera, Diego López, Javi Guerra and Alberto Marí are taking it in turns to define, in a word, what has happened to them recently and what this all means. Behind them, the football pitch at the 2,250-seat Antonio Puchades stadium where they used to play, the final stage before the 49,430 Mestalla stadium where they play now. Ahead of them, their whole careers. They are young — one is 19, one 20, two 21 and two are 22 — they are in their Valencia training gear still, yet to shower after the morning session, and they are smiling.

Along they go, some a little more confidently than others — step forward, Mr. Mosquera — and offer an answer. Reward. Pride. Magic. Dream. And… magic again. There's another dream, too, and small wonder: most of them are from nearby. This is the culmination of all their work, and also just the start of it.

Those are good words, and here is another: hope. The kids are alright; they are also a symbol of the resurgence of one of Spain's great clubs, a reminder of everything done behind the scenes and the pinnacle of a long process: Pérez, Gozalbez, Mosquera, López, Guerra and Marí all came through Valencia's academy and all of them made their first team debuts in the last two years.

But it's not just that they have played: together, they have transformed this place that transformed them.

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Standing at one end with the slightly flushed face of the first year college student that he still is, Guerra is asked to go back to that moment, the one that changed everything. «It was the last few minutes, a difficult situation, a direct rival,» he starts to say in a soft voice. «I didn't really