Turbo Fitness & Self Defense

At just 19 years old, Pau Cubarsí was named the Best Young Player at the 2026 World Cup after helping Spain lift the trophy 🇪🇸🏆

Yet away from football, his life remains remarkably ordinary…

Cubarsí grew up in Estanyol, a village of fewer than 200 people with no football pitch and no school. His parents drove him to a neighbouring village just so he could train, while he spent much of his childhood in his father’s woodworking shop, surrounded by the smell of timber, sawdust and machinery 🪵🪚

Despite becoming one of the world’s best young defenders, he still lives with his older sister, helps cook and wash up, studies Business Administration three afternoons a week, and regularly returns home to spend time with his family, their sheep, chickens and ducks. He says walks through the countryside help him completely disconnect from football.

The biggest stars don’t always come from the biggest places. Sometimes they come from the smallest villages with the biggest dreams 🫶

Lionel Messi has not eaten pizza or drunk a soda in 12 years.

His diet was completely overhauled in 2014 after Pep Guardiola told him his career would be cut short if he didn't change what he was putting into his body.

Out went the chocolate, the fast food, the carbonated drinks. In came a strict plan built around five simple food groups designed specially by a nutritionist.

He has followed it to the letter every single day since.

The vomiting episodes he used to suffer during matches stopped almost immediately, and soft-tissue injuries became less frequent - his whole body changed.

But it is not just what he eats.

Messi has a morning ritual from childhood that has followed him from Argentina to Barcelona to Paris to Miami, and now across the United States as he leads the World Cup Golden Boot at 39.

Even his rivals are shocked by his longevity - Erling Haaland called him a 'madman' - but it's no accident, just a combination of science and discipline.

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Michael Olise’s journey is not evidence that every released academy player will reach the very top.

That is not the message.

The message is this, young players are still changing far too much for adults to make final decisions about who they can become.

Olise joined Chelsea at nine, where he spent years inside an elite academy environment.

Then, at 14, Chelsea released Michael, following his exit he moved north Manchester City's academy, this stint lasted only a year before he was released again.

For a short period, the route forward looked uncertain.

• No major academy.
• Obvious next step unclear
• Uncertain that another club would take the chance.

Then Reading opened the door.

Olise continued his development, earned his opportunity, and made his senior debut in the Championship at 17.

By 19, he was a Premier League player with Crystal Palace.

At 22, he had joined Bayern Munich.

Now 24, he's representing France on the World Cup stage.

So what changed?

• Time
• Patience
• Confidence
• Maturity
• Opportunity
• Technical growth
• The right environment

Children do not all develop on the same timetable.

One player may look ahead early, while another needs longer physically, socially or emotionally.

A few may simply need enough support to stay in the game while the rest of their development catches up.

That is why early certainty in youth football can be so misleading.

The job of youth sport should not be to close doors too quickly based on a snapshot.

It should be to leave enough room for children to grow, change, struggle, recover and continue.

The player who looks like they have fallen behind at 9, 10, 11 or 14 may still be a long way from their ceiling.

How much can anyone really know about a child’s future at nine?

⚽️⚽️💚💙⚽️⚽️💪🙏

TURBO (@turbosoccertraining) • Instagram photos and videos 116 Followers, 73 Following, 42 Posts - See Instagram photos and videos from TURBO ()