University student Guillamón among Spain defenders in Qatar

MADRID: For young Spain defender Hugo Guillamón, any downtime at the World Cup may mean study time. The 22-year-old Valencia player is heading to Qatar for his first World Cup while still attending university and studying biomedical engineering. “If there’s time and everything goes well, I’ll try to (study) a bit,” Guillamón said Tuesday.

“In a tournament like the World Cup, there is not a lot of time to think about anything else, but I’ll try to do what I can.” Guillamón said that luckily there won’t be any need to pack any books as “now everything is done through the Internet.” He said his parents always encouraged him to keep studying despite making it as a professional soccer player. “It’s always been something natural for me,” he said. “I try to go little by little and combine the studies with soccer.” Guillamón is one of the up-and-coming players selected by coach Luis Enrique in a revamped World Cup squad.

He will wear the No. 15 jersey that used to belong to his idol, Sergio Ramos — one of the many veterans who are not in the team anymore. “Sergio is a legend and a reference for every player,” Guillamón said.

“I grew up watching him play, paying attention to him and trying to do what he did.” Guillamón was a late addition to Spain’s team heading to Qatar, making to the final squad despite having only a few previous call-ups. He has only two appearances with the senior squad, compared to the 180 by Ramos, Spain’s most-capped player. “As youngsters we can add a lot of energy and ambition,” said Guillamón, who scored when Spain used its Under-21 players in a friendly against Lithuania in 2021 after the senior players had to go into isolation because of the coronavirus.