It is the summer of 1979, and the life of Rafa Benítezis about to undergo a dramatic change. He is 19 years old, playing in the Spanish Third Division for Real Madrid Aficionado, the club's amateur side. But rumours start to circulate around the old Ciudad Deportiva training ground that he will play the pre-season with Castilla, in the Second Division.
As a graduate of INEF (the National Institute of Physical Education) he is selected for the World Student Games in Mexico.
"In the second match, against Canada, an opponent tackled me from behind and I twisted my knee. I carried on playing wearing a kind of knee pad, and I didn't know that I had ruptured a ligament in my right leg". These were different times where sports medicine was concerned. In fact this was practically the end of his playing career. A poor diagnosis, a very long period of recovery, and useless attempts to return to what he had been before. It was not to be. One year out and then he went out on loan to Parla to try for the impossible.
So the footballer ceased to exist, and the manager was born, though in fact that manager had always been a part of him. "It is true that, when we were playing, many of my teammates would say that I talked too much, but I couldn't help it. It wasn't to criticise anybody, just that I could see things that others couldn't see, and I was trying my best for the side as a whole. I wasn't shouting at anyone, just making comments".
"It is always better to be a player than a manager. If you're a manager it's because you can't be a player. I'm sure that I wouldn't have got to the highest level as a player, but I think I would have played in the First Division if I hadn't got injured", he has said on numerous occasions.
