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{{Infobox football biography
#REDIRECT [[Adrian Dauda]]
|embed          =
|name          = Marco Freixa
|image          = Freixa.png
|image_size    = 300px
|alt            =
|caption        = Freixa with [[Borar]] during a match against [[Dahrzor United]] in 2019
|fullname      = Marco Freixa Ruiz
|birth_date    = {{birth date and age|df=yes|2000|02|18}}
|birth_place    = Mazar, [[Qal'eh]]
|height        = 5 ft 9 in (1.75m)
|position      = Winger / Forward
|currentclub    = [[FC Ibbené|Ibbené]]
|clubnumber    = 8
|youthyears1    = 2007-2016
|youthclubs1    = FC Serkhes Youth
|collegeyears1  =
|college1      =
|collegecaps1  =
|collegegoals1  =
|years1        = 2016{{ndash}}2017
|clubs1        = FC Serkhes 02
|caps1          = 46
|goals1        = 20
|years2        = 2017{{ndash}}2019
|clubs2        = [[Borar]]
|caps2          = 82
|goals2        = 39
|years3        = 2019{{ndash}}
|clubs3        = [[FC Ibbené|Ibbené]]
|caps3          = 0
|goals3        = 0
|nationalyears1 = 2018-{{ndash}}
|nationalteam1  = [[Qal'eh|Qal'eh national football team]]
|nationalcaps1  = 12
|nationalgoals1 = 11
|medaltemplates =
|club-update    =
|nationalteam-update =
}}
 
'''Marco Freixa Ruiz''' ({{wp|Help:IPA/Spanish|[ˈfɾeʃa]}}; ''FRAY-sha'', born 18 February 2000) is a [[Veleaz|Veleazan]]-[[Qal'eh|Qalehi]] professional footballer who plays as a winger and forward for [[Liga Premiére]] club [[FC Ibbené]] and the [[Qal'eh national football team]]. Considered one of the best upcoming footballers in [[Aeia]], Freixa is known for his pace, dribbling ability and finishing finesse.
 
Freixa was introduced to the public eye by his hometown club FC Serkhes 02, whose youth system he has risen up in and become renowned in the club's ranks for his exquisite skill and finishing ability. Freixa made his professional debut for the club in a match against Koluk Daraq in 2016, aged just 16. Getting regular first team football due to the club's lack of a suitable left winger, Freixa quickly became a household name when he finished 6th in the 2016 QNL top goalscorers, netting 14 goals that year. Freixa went on to lead Serkhes to two successive Qal'eh Cup semi-finals appearances, both against [[Dahrzor United]], the furthest the club has ever got in the domestic competition. Freixa's 2017 season went much the same and during the January transfer window of the 2017 season he relocated to mainland Qal'eh when he was sold to Borar for 45 million Zaar (~€20 million). Freixa led Borar to a second place finish in the 2017-18 season, breaking the top 2 deadlock between [[Dahrzor United]] and [[Al-Nadja]] that had lasted twelve years, and a Qal'eh Cup victory in the 2018-19 season. Freixa was named QNL Young Footballer of the Year in 2018 and was runner-up for Qalehi Footballer of the Year in the same year, losing out to international teammate [[Mohammed Reza Qanbari]].
 
With 10 goals in 11 caps for the Qal'eh national team, including an historic hattrick against [[Juznia]] in his [[Copa d'Aeia|Copa]] debut<ref>https://forum.nationstates.net/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=465895&start=25#p35832443</ref>, carrying the team to a 5-1 victory in the match, Freixa has the highest goals-per-game ratio in the entire team, with 0.91 goals per game, alongside 5 assists. Freixa's performances for the national team were enough to earn the winger a move to [[Midrasia|Midrasian]] club [[FC Ibbené]] for a then world-record fee of Đ170 million.
 
== Early Life ==
[[File:شهر_قدیمی_میبد.jpg|200px|right|thumb|The town of Mazar, where Freixa grew up]]
Marco Freixa Ruiz was one of five children born to a Veleazan father and Qalehi mother living in Mazar, a town in the Qalehi-administrated [[Kasahgan Peninsula]]. He often played futsal and street football on the streets of Mazar, and he credits his early exposure to the urban iterations of football with how he attained his renowned skill and dribbling ability. He went to his first FC Serkhes game when he was 4 and joined their youth program at the age of 7. When he began earning additional income when he was 14, his parents relocated to a wealthier part of Mazar, which allowed him to continue with the youth program and led him to being signed by the professional first team when he was 16, making his debut shortly after.
 
== Club Career ==
=== FC Serkhes ===
==== Youth ====
Freixa was scouted by FC Serkhes on the streets from a young age, a common tradition in Qalehi football scouting. He was offered a contract by the club in 2007 when he was inducted into their youth program. One of the few players to lead a successful career coming from a youth program in the Kasahgan Peninsula, Freixa did not meet any prominent Qalehi footballers whilst he was at the youth program, although did get some training sessions with Qalehi midfield legend [[Omid Afshar]]. Aged 15, Freixa visited the [[Dahrzor United]] youth program, meeting now-teammate Aziz Khaledi in the process, whom he became good friends with.
[[File:Freixa Serkhes.jpg|150px|thumb|right|Freixa with FC Serkhes in 2016]]
==== 2016: Debut season ====
Freixa made his professional debut on on January 19, 2016, against Koluk Daraq in a QNL league match, aged just 16 years old. He was brought on with 20 minutes remaining and got one assist in a 4-0 win against the team. He scored his first goal for the team against Palas two weeks later in a 3-2 loss, a low shot from the outside of the box, which would come to be one of his signature scoring methods. The goal made him the youngest goalscorer in Serkhes and QNL history. In the Qal'eh Cup quarterfinals against Karan Club, Freixa scored twice, including a decisive 89th minute goal, to send Serkhes through to the semi-finals of the domestic tournament for the first time in the club's history. In his first season, Freixa scored 14 goals in 31 games.
 
==== 2017: Qal'eh Cup, final season and transfer ====
{{Quote box|width=26%|align=right|quote="For a 17-year-old, Marco is already one of the greatest players to ever play for the club. He is a generational talent, and, for his age, has unlimited potential."|source={{ndash}}FC Serkhes manager Behrouz Abdi when asked about Freixa's progression at the club}}
Freixa continued his improvement into 2017 and in the first game of the year scored 4 goals in a 6-0 win against newly-promoted club Qaratepe, cementing his place as one of the best players in the league at just 17 years old. In the 2017 Qal'eh Cup, where Freixa scored 6 goals in the 7 matches played in the domestic tournament, FC Serkhes reached the semi-finals after an historic 3-1 victory against previous champions Karan Club, the furthest the club had ever reached. Despite losing out to Qalehi giants [[Dahrzor United]] 2-1 in the semi-finals, Freixa was given the award for the best player in the tournament and gained comparisons to legendary Qalehi winger and international top-scorer Sadeq Hosseini.
 
[[Navish Superliga]] club [[Lhedvin]] reportedly bidded for Freixa in a move worth around €15 million. The offer was initially rejected but Serkhes entertained a counter-offer to the Navish club rumoured to be worth around €20 million, which Lhedvin rejected, saying the highest they would bid would be €18 million. Following the transfer disagreements with Lhedvin, Freixa's agent made it public that he would intend to pursue his career at a larger club with more potential for him to expand his game, and would not resign with the club when his contract ran out. Two clubs matched Serkhes' asking price for the young winger, Veleazan club [[Harris Lads Football Club|Harris's Lads]] and mainland Qalehi club [[Borar]], both of which were €19.4 million. Freixa's agent entered negotiations first with Harris's Lads, but once disagreements over Freixa's wages were introduced into the negotiations, his agent abandoned the club and instead negotiated separate wage considerations with Borar. Borar put pen to paper and on January 17, 2017, Freixa was bought by Borar for €19.4 million, making him the most expensive Qalehi teenager ever.
 
=== Borar ===
 
==== 2017-18: Adapting to Borar, second place success ====
When Freixa arrived in Borar, he was immediately given a place in the club's first team and would enter club training almost immediately after he landed in Chigir, the city the club is based in. He scored in his first game with the club in a 2-0 win against FC Azarem, and led Borar to a top-table surge from 6th to 3rd place, with the club only 4 points behind Al-Nadja in March. Mainly laying back and playing a more midfield-based role within the team, Freixa would work on his passing ability and assisting skill to better suit Borar's famous 4-1-4-1 setup with star [[Batisuria|Batisurian]] international striker [[Muhammed Tambo]] playing as the lone forward. Due to Freixa's more passive role in the team, his first season with Borar ended with Freixa racking up 5 goals in 21 appearances, although this was accompanied by a league-high 19 assists in the same period of time.
[[File:Freixa Borar.jpeg|thumb|200px|right|Freixa in his Borar debut]]
Freixa's arrival at the Olive Garden did not come without controversy, however. Many fans of the club were extremely sceptical about the signing of the 17-year-old and believed that it only exacerbated the club's already growing financial problems after the departure of long-time owner Ehsan Salehi two months prior. A large amount of fans protested against the signing of Freixa and gathered outside the club's stadium to protest the arrival of the young star. The disapproval of the signing began to fade when Freixa began playing for the club, netting two goals and securing four assists in his first six appearances with the club, the scepticism surrounding the signing quickly faded as many Borar fans became ecstastic at the thought of such a generational talent at the club.
 
Freixa scored his first QNL hattrick in a 6-0 routing of Binavand on March 2, 2017, becoming the youngest ever QNL hattrick scorer since [[Omid Afshar]] netted three for [[Dahrzor United]] in 1990, also aged 17. In that year's Qal'eh Cup, Freixa opened the scoring against Yulqunlu FC in the quarter-finals in the 7th minute as Borar went on to win 2-1 in their first leg at home, in the second leg, Freixa scored an 87th minute aggregate equaliser that secured a 3-3 aggregate score at the end of the two legs, with Borar advancing on the {{wp|away goals rule}} (Freixa played in two Qal'eh Cup semi-finals in the 2016-17 season, for Serkhes in a 2-1 loss against Dahrzor United as well as Borar's). Borar's semi-final opponents were Al-Nadja, one of the big two clubs in Qal'eh, and also a club that had reached the finals seven years running. The first match was played in [[Kyderabad]], Al-Nadja's home city, with Borar going 2-0 down within half an hour. Tambo scored from a Freixa cross to make the score 2-1 going into the half. Freixa was moved to a more attacking forward position going into the second half, and in the 53rd minute shot home one of his signature low shots, nestling it into the bottom-right corner. Freixa hit the bar in the 77th minute and the match ended 2-2, with Borar taking the away goal advantage to the Olive Garden for the second leg. The second leg of the draw was more passive, with Freixa and most of the team not doing much, and Al-Nadja advancing on a penalty converted by Mohammed Reza Qanbari.
[[File:Freixa borar.PNG|200px|thumb|right|Freixa celebrates his 87th minute goal against Yulqunlu FC]]
Going into the final gameweek, Borar were placed third, behind Al-Nadja on goal difference, while [[Dahrzor United]] had already secured the title. Al-Nadja were playing fifth-placed Yulqunlu FC while Freixa and Borar were playing thirteenth-placed Qanli Club. Freixa scored two and assisted one as Borar beat Qanli 4-1 at home, ending the season on +38 goal difference, Al-Nadja also took home a win against Yulqunlu FC, but the 3-2 scoreline gave Borar the second place finish, with Al-Nadja finishing on +37 goal difference. Freixa was named QNL Young Player of the Year for the second year running and was also named Borar Player of the Year, despite only being at the club for half a season. The 2017-18 season for Borar was the club's highest ever finish, beating their third-place finish in the 2005-06 season.
 
==== 2018-19: Qal'eh Cup victory, golden boot ====
At the start of the 2017-18 season, Freixa was given the number 8 vacated by one of the transfers Borar had completed to reimburse the club after Freixa's near-20 million fee. His number change began the hashtag trend #FR8XA, which trended on Chirper. Before the season, in response to the hashtag, Freixa said "It is great to know people are supporting my progress at the club. It helps motivate me to perform better every week."
 
Freixa scored both goals in the first game of the season, a 2-0 victory against Arzet BW, immediately propelling himself to the top of the league goalscorers table. Freixa would take up a more prominent attacking role in the 2018-19 season, with Muhammed Tambo being moved to his more natural attacking midfield position. Freixa would also score twice in the second game of the season, a 3-0 victory over Qaratepe away from home, beginning to cement his place as one of the league's top goalscorers and becoming the third player and first teenager ever to score at least four goals in the first two matches of the season. Freixa's goalscoring prowess earned him a call up to the [[Qal'eh national football team]] for the first time. Freixa and Tambo both scored in a 2-1 away win over Habudan, with Freixa's goal being a first-time volley from 32 yards out, and Freixa also assisting Tambo's goal with a through ball into the box. On December 20, Freixa received a two-match ban after he was sent off for shoving [[Dahrzor United]] midfielder Amaro Yáñez, in response to a late challenge on one of his teammates. When interviewed about the red card, Freixa stated he "would do it again" and that he "could not tolerate that sort of behaviour on the pitch". On his returning match, again Koluk Daraq, Freixa scored four goals in 27 minutes to secure a 6-1 victory over the team, becoming the youngest player (18 years and 11 months) to score four goals in a QNL match. Freixa scored another hattrick in the final game of the season to end it with a tally of 27 goals, earning him the Hosseini Award for top goalscorer in the league, becoming the youngest player to win the award. Borar finished third, despite finishing with more points than the prior season.
 
Borar's success this season would come from the domestic Qal'eh Cup, with the club breaking the record victory in the club when they beat a local fifth-division team 17-0 in the first round of the cup, with Freixa not playing in the match. The first QNL club they faced was Fazleh in the fourth round of the cup in November, beating them 5-1 with Freixa securing himself 2 goals, scored within ten minutes of each other. In the fifth round, Freixa started at left midfield as opposed to his usual left wing/forward position that he had been starting in for most of the season, the match against Qanli Club displayed some shaky football from Borar, going 1-0 down to the bottom-tier QNL club in the 28th minute after a free kick from Firooz Hayati. The club pulled it back in the second half, however, with Freixa securing two assists, both crosses, and both met by a header from Muhammed Tambo, the second in the 92nd minute, to lead the team to a 2-1 victory against Qanli.
[[File:Freixa borar 3.PNG|200px|thumb|right|Freixa's iconic celebration after scoring the first goal in the Qal'eh Cup final]]
The quarter-finals came around and Borar were drawn with [[Dahrzor United]], the club that had eliminated Borar in the semi-finals the previous year. Freixa started up front for the game and almost immediately capitalised, slotting home a pass from Tambo, playing at attacking midfield, to put Borar 1-0 up in the 5th minute. Dahrzor equalised 1-1 at the half but Tambo scored a free kick in the 70th minute which would end up being the decisive goal, putting Borar through to the semi-finals against Palas. The semi-finals were an easier game for the club, with Borar cruising to a 2-0 victory with two goals from Tambo, one assisted by Freixa, and 65% possession throughout the game. The final of the Cup would be against Al-Nadja, played in the Omid Yazdan Arena in [[Dahrzor]], attended by around 70,000 people. The first time Freixa had played in front of a crowd this large, his teammates have often stated that his nerves in the tunnel were visible. The nerves quickly faded however as he netted the first goal of the match in the 12th minute, one of his signature low shots, to give Borar a 1-0 lead. The lead was quickly cut short as two goals in quick succession from [[Liiduria|Liidurian]] striker Jurgen Kask to put Al-Nadja up 2-1 going into the half. In the second half, Tambo quickly equalised with a magnificent strike from 30 yards out that nestled itself into the top corner to put the game at 2-2, where it remained for almost half an hour after the goal. In the 79th minute, Kask was brought down in the penalty area with the referee immediately pointing to the spot afterwards. With a hattrick at stake, Kask took the penalty but hit the left post as he tried to put it in the corner, it ricocheted off the post and was cleared to safety. The clearance was picked up by Tambo in midfield, who played an airborne through ball towards the sprinting Freixa, who easily outpaced his slower defender, gathered the ball at his feet, and scored by lobbing the keeper in the 81st minute to give Borar their first-ever Qal'eh Cup title. Freixa finished the tournament with 5 goals and 5 assists, but lost out the Player of the Tournament award to teammate Muhammed Tambo, who finished on 6 goals and 5 assists.
 
=== Ibbené ===
In spite of Qal'eh's early exit from the [[Copa d'Aeia 2019|2019 Copa d'Aeia]] Freixa was still able to provide several outstanding performances which marked him out as a key talent for the future. There was considerable interest in the winger from a number of established clubs in Aeia, with [[FC Ibbené]], [[Bersk SK]] and Victoria CF rumoured to be interested. Several days after Qal'eh's elimination, Freixa announced his wishes to leave Borar in search of "bigger and better things". Following a lengthy transfer saga, it was announced on the 28th of July 2019 it was announced that Freixa had signed for Midrasian side Ibbené for a then world-record fee of Đ170 million, making him the most expensive transfer in footballing history at the time.<ref>https://forum.nationstates.net/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=427019&p=36014284#p36014284</ref> Freixa took the number 8 jersey at Ibbené which was vacated by midfielder Sylvain Tristan.
 
== International Career ==
Freixa scored in his international debut in a 2-1 victory against [[Hytekia]] in January 2018, when he was 17 years old for the Qal'eh U19 team. He was called up to the senior team to play [[Navack national football team|Navack]] in March of the same year, being 18 years old by now. He scored one in a 2-2 draw against the Asuran nation, and has cemented his place in the senior team since then.
 
=== 2019 Copa d'Aeia ===
Freixa was called up by Kamyar Dara, manager of the [[Qal'eh national football team]], for the 2019 Copa d'Aeia, to offer an extra option for the aging Mohammed Reza Qanbari. The first match against debutant nation [[Juznia]] allowed Dara to start Freixa for the full 90 minutes instead of risking an early Qanbari injury. To many people's disbelief, Freixa stole the show and netted home an emphatic hattrick in his Copa debut, leading the team to a 5-1 victory against Juznia, with contributions also from [[Bersk SK]] midfielder Kamran Gankhaki and [[Hudenholm]] midfielder Aziz Khaledi. After the match, Freixa said that his debut match was "everything [he] had hoped for, and more".<ref>https://forum.nationstates.net/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=465895&start=50#p35832851</ref> The game against Juznia would be Freixa's only real success, however, and aside from netting a consolation goal in Qal'eh's final game - a 3-1 loss to Navack - he went largely quiet. Despite this, he still emerged as the top scorer for the team throughout their short Copa run.
 
== Style of play ==
[[File:Freixa borar 2.png|200px|thumb|right|Freixa's passing ability has been compared to midfield legend [[Omid Afshar]]]]
Freixa has often been compared to Qalehi legendary winger Sadeq Hosseini, the current top scorer for the [[Qal'eh national football team]]. Freixa is a versatile player who can play as a left-winger, with his ability to cut inside with his stronger right foot, as well as his ability to create chances through passes or crosses into the box. Freixa's pace also allows him to outrun many fullbacks and wingbacks. Freixa can also play as a central forward, with his exquisite finishing ability, finesse and power allowing him to be a deadly force up front, he suffers the setback of his short height, however, standing at 5 feet and 9 inches, making him often unable to win headers over taller defenders. Freixa's passing ability is sometimes compared to that of Omid Afshar, and allows him to play a more attacking midfielder role, slotting in passes and through balls to central strikers or playing longer passes out to the wings to distribute the play along the width of the pitch. Despite his versatility, Freixa most often plays as a left-winger for both his club and his national team.
 
Freixa's signature celebration is to cup the back of his ears towards the opposition crowd, popularised by his 2019 Copa hattrick against Juznia but actually originating from similar chants from Palas fans when he scored his first goal against them in 2016.
 
== Outside football ==
=== Personal life ===
In an interview with IQH Sports, the most popular sporting outlet in [[Qal'eh]], Freixa stated that "the spotlight has not been easy", and details his endurances and sacrifices of being a professional footballer at such a young age. Freixa did not enter higher education, and left secondary school at 15 to pursue his footballing career and also to provide some income for his family, who were struggling at the time. Freixa is also an [[Alydianism|Alydian]], taking mainly after the beliefs of his Veleazan father, and follows the [[Alydianism#Puritan|Puritan]] branch of the religion. Freixa has, on multiple occasions, funded the construction of churches in the [[Kasahgan Peninsula]], where [[Alydianism]] is a minority due to its historical ownership by [[Veleaz]].
 
=== Media, wealth and sponsorships ===
Freixa has a sponsorship deal with sportswear and equipment supplier [[Caribou]]. In 2017, Freixa's talent saw Caribou launch their own pair of boots dedicated to and inspired by Freixa, named the FR8XA Elites. Freixa has appeared in many advertisements for Caribou and actively endorses their products.
 
Freixa also regularly appears in IQH Sports interviews and television programs, citing them as his favourite channel to watch when he was growing up, and would often watch Midrasian and Navish football through their coverage. In 2019, Freixa became one of the faces of the IQH Sports brand.
 
== Career statistics ==
'''Club'''
 
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center"
|-
!rowspan="2"|Club
!rowspan="2"|Season
! colspan="3" |League
!colspan="2"|Cup
!colspan="2"|League Cup
!colspan="2"|Continental
!colspan="2"|Other
!colspan="2"|Total
|-
!Division
!Apps
!Goals
!Apps
!Goals
!Apps
!Goals
!Apps
!Goals
!Apps
!Goals
!Apps
!Goals
|-
|rowspan="1" |[[FC Serkhes 02]]
|2016
|rowspan=1|[[Qal'eh National League]]
|17||9||9||3|| colspan="2" |—|| colspan="2" |—||5||2||31||14
|-
!colspan="3"|Total
!17!!9!!9!!3!! colspan="2" |—!! colspan="2" |—!!5!!2!!31!!14
|-
|rowspan="3"|[[Borar]]
|2017
|rowspan=3|[[Qal'eh National League]]
|21||5||7||6|| colspan="2 |—|| colspan="2" |—||10||5||34||10
|-
|2017-18
|38||25||11||8|| colspan="2 |—|| colspan="2" |—||13||7||62||40
|-
|2018-19
|38||27||9||5|| colspan="2 |—|| colspan="2" |—||6||2||53||42
|-
!colspan="3"|Total
!97!!57!!23!!19!! colspan="2" |—!! colspan="2" |—!!29!!14!!149!!92
|}
 
'''International'''
 
{| class=wikitable style=text-align:center
|-
!National team!!Year!!Apps!!Goals
|-
|rowspan=3|[[Qal'eh national football team|Qal'eh]]
|-
|2018||2||1
|-
|2019||10||10
|-
!colspan=2|Total||12||11
|}
 
== Honours ==
'''Borar'''
* [[Qal'eh National League|QNL]] runners-up (2017-18)
* Qal'eh Cup (2018-19)
 
'''Individual'''
* [[Qal'eh National League|QNL]] Young Player of the Year (2016-17; 2017-18)
* Qal'eh Cup Player of the Tournament (2017-18)
* Borar Player of the Year (2017-18)
* Hosseini Award (2018-19)
 
== References ==
 
[[Category:Qal'eh]]

Latest revision as of 16:41, 29 August 2019

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