Not that I wish injury on anyone but its good Rodri has a pal going through the same thing as him. So long as he's not convinced him to sign for Real by the end of his rehab.
I heard this on the radio a few months ago, on a farming programme , of all things.
Sport
This Kerry family will certainly be cheering for Spain tonight
14/07/2024
An Irish family who struck up a strong friendship with a Real Madrid soccer star and introduced him to the GAA will be rooting for Spain in the Euro 2024 finale today.
Dani Carvajal ended up in a Co. Kerry home a week before playing in the 2016 Champions League final – and returned to Spain ‘taken aback’ by the physicality and amateur ethos of the GAA.
And the 32-year-old defender, who will start for Spain against England, has kept in touch with the Twiss family, even inviting them over to meet Cristiano Ronaldo and the boys at their Madrid stadium.
Speaking to RTE’s Countrywide yesterday, Derek Twiss from Killarney explained that he and his wife had enlisted the help of a Spanish au pair for about half a year in 2016, leading to the unlikely friendship.
Dani Carvajal with then-girlfriend Adriana
The home helper, Adriana, told the family she was a season ticket holder at Real Madrid as they watched a game on TV one evening.
‘About five minutes later, she said she was going out with one of the players – who turned out to be Dani,’ Mr Twiss said, admitting he was sceptical at first given how ‘casually’ it was said.
‘Then she started showing us pictures of when she was at matches, hanging around with [Sergio] Ramos and Pepe and these other guys.’
Then, around a week before Real played local rivals Atlético Madrid in the 2016 Champions League final, Mr Twiss got a call from a man who would be lining out for Los Blancos.
‘He was looking for our address – he wanted to surprise Adriana.’
Dani Carvajal ended up in a Co. Kerry home a week before playing in the 2016 Champions League final – and returned to Spain ‘taken aback’ by the physicality and amateur ethos of the GAA.
Carvajal spent two or three days in Kerry with his girlfriend before heading back to Dublin to fly home for the match
Mr Twiss remembered: ‘It turned out he actually got injured in the final – he pulled a quad muscle. So I hope all the driving and flying had no part in that.’ (Real won on penalties, handing Carvajal the second of his joint-record six Champions League medals.)
But before that clash, Carvajal witnessed a battle in Killorglin, when his hosts took him to see their club Milltown Castlemaine as they beat East Kerry in the senior championship.
‘A few younger guys recognised Dani so they came back and asked for pictures, 20 or 30 of them.
‘But he was very down to earth. You wouldn’t think for a second that he has the profile he has.’
The superstar footballer later invited the Twiss family to a game in Madrid. And he still keeps in touch, with Mr Twiss saying: ‘He’s married now. He has two kids, but still stays in contact… it’s nice.
