Ville Magazine l Insider Access for City Lifestyle May/Jun 2016 / Health & Fitness Issue | Page 32

nelson valdez

EXCLUSIVE

#16 - FORWARD

CM: You’ve played football (soccer) all over the world.
How does the lifestyle and culture of football in other
countries differ from the lifestyle and culture of
football (soccer) in America?
NV: In America, the weather is different. Russia was
very cold. And in UA (United Arab Emirates), it was very
hot. However, I put Seattle as one of the best places
I have played. Here, every game we have 40,000
or 50,000 fans. In Spain where I played for 2 years,
maybe 5 games out of the season, we would have that
many fans. In San Jose, it’s maybe only 20,000. Here,
it is every weekend.
CM: You grew up in one of the poorest neighborhoods
in Paraguay. Now you and your wife have a foundation.
Can you tell me about it?
NV: We created a school for football in my