To the west of Los Palacios y Villafranca, where Barcelona and Spain prodigy Pablo Paez Gavira (aka Gavi) was born, are huge, soggy marshlands separating his tiny Andalucian town from the historic Guadalquivir river, which flows from the Atlantic Ocean almost all the way across to the Mediterranean Sea.
Right now, it’d be no surprise if the mayor proposed to the local council for a small airstrip to be build on land claimed back from the marshes, or for a flotilla of small boats registered to Bayern Munich, Chelsea, Juventus or Manchester City to be seen determinedly chugging their way up towards the town from the Guadalquivir’s junction with the Gulf of Cadiz.
That’s because things just got really crazy.
The football community in Spain already knew that Los Palacios, a tiny speck on the landscape in geographic terms, had produced not only this phenomenal 19-year-old known as Gavi, but also 27-year-old Fabián Ruiz (now at Paris Saint-Germain) and Sevilla‘s grandmaster, the 37-year-old Jesús Navas. This small place appears to be a massive anomaly: previously only known for its tomato and rice crops, it has produced three top-class professional footballers.
The fact that Gavi, Ruiz and Navas have already won 22 major trophies at the club and international level — across LaLiga, Ligue 1, Serie A, the Premier League or at tournaments held in South Africa, Poland, Ukraine, the Netherlands and Italy — can be regarded as a little miracle. It shouldn’t be feasible. However, over the past few days, each man has stood out for their contributions. Navas delivered the cross for the late goal that finally split Spain and Scotland in their titanic tussle for Group A leadership; Fabian Ruiz was La Roja‘s standout player 72 hours later against Norway in Oslo; it was Gavi who cracked home the winning goal in that match as Spain beat Norway to qualify for Euro 2024 in Germany.
The Three Musketeers of Los Palacios strike again.
