Marco Freixa

Marco Freixa

File:Freixa.png Freixa with Borar during a match against Dahrzor United in 2019
Personal information
Full name	Marco Freixa Ruiz
Date of birth	(2000-02-18) 18 February 2000
Place of birth	Mazar, Qal'eh
Height	5 ft 9 in (1.75m)
Position(s)	Winger / Forward
Club information
Current team	Borar
Number	8
Youth career
2007-2016	FC Serkhes Youth
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2016–2017	FC Serkhes 02	46	(20)
2017–	Borar	82	(39)
International career
2018-–	Qal'eh national football team	11	(10)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Marco Freixa Ruiz ([ˈfɾexa]; FRAY-sha, born 18 February 2000) is a Veleazan-Qalehi professional footballer who plays as a winger and forward for Qal'eh National League club Borar 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 Qal'eh Cup win and 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. 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 debut, 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.

Early Life

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.

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

"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."

–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'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 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.

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 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.

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 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.

International Career

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".

Style of play

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 Alydian, taking mainly after the beliefs of his Veleazan father, and follows the 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.

Career statistics

Club	Season	League			Cup		League Cup		Continental		Other		Total
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
FC Serkhes 02	2016	Qal'eh National League	17	9	9	3	—		—		5	2	31	14
Total			17	9	9	3	—		—		5	2	31	14
Borar	2017	Qal'eh National League	21	5	7	6	—		—		10	5	34	10
	2017-18		38	25	11	8	—		—		13	7	62	40
	2018-19		38	27	9	5	—		—		6	2	53	42
Total			97	57	23	19	—		—		29	14	149	92