Small Town to Big Dreams: The Making of Iago Aspas “El Turco”

The football world has seen its share of late bloomers, and Iago Aspas, known as “El Turco,” is one with a remarkable story. Born in 1987 in Moaña, Spain, to María Juncal González and Urbe Aspas Martínez, Iago grew up with football in his blood. But there’s more to his nickname than meets the eye—”El Turco” stems from his Arabian descent, with roots tracing back to Lebanon.

This article explores not just Iago’s journey but also the footballing paths of his siblings—Jonathan, Pablo, and Urbe—all of whom began their careers at their hometown club, CD Moaña. As a young boy, Iago was known as “The small boy of Moaña,” a nickname earned during his time at the Moaña Academy. When he got the chance to try out for Celta Academy, the biggest club in Vigo, Galicia, disappointment struck. Despite his talent, he was turned away because the trials were only for children born in 1986.

This article delves into how Iago Aspas, a late bloomer, defied the odds and achieved a meteoric rise in the beautiful game.

Iago Aspas Childhood Story – Early and Family Background:

For Biography starters, his full name is Iago Aspas Juncal. Iago Aspas was born on the 1st day of August 1987 to his mother, María Juncal González, and father, Urbe Aspas Martínez. He was born in the municipality of Moaña, Spain, which is known for its beautiful coastline and beaches.

Iago Aspas Family Origin:

Judging from his facial looks, one would clearly see that Iago has some proportionate mixture of Spanish and Arabic facial appearances. From a Spanish perspective, he looks very much like Andrés Iniesta.

According to a credible report, Iago Aspas’s family is of Arabian descent of Lebanese origin. This explains the reason why football fans usually call him “El Turco“.

Iago Aspas’ dad, Urbe Martínez, came together with his parents to Spain as a little boy. Today, every member of his household, including Iago, has become a pure native of Moaña in Spain. Iago Aspas’ parents, Martínez and María, are proud of their four children, especially Iago, who, together with his brothers, all agreed to face football right from an early age.

Speaking of that, Iago Aspas grew up with his three brothers, namely from the left: Jonathan, himself, Pablo, and Urbe, who is the oldest of the brothers.

All brothers started their childhood footballing journeys with their native club CD Moaña. Jonathan ended up playing his football in the Cyprus League.

Urbe became a goalkeeper for Alondras, a football team based in Cangas in the autonomous community of Galicia, Spain. Urbe is retired and now works as a laboratory technician and clinical assistant.

Pablo, who is the youngest, tried to focus on football but couldn’t make it to becoming a professional. Iago also grew up with his cousin, Aitor, who represented smaller teams in their native region.

Even his uncle Cristobal Juncal played in the lower categories of Celta. Despite all of them, the one who had the most character was our very own Iago Aspas.

Iago Aspas Biography – Career Build-Up:

“The small boy of Moaña”, as he was rightly called during his youthful days with Moaña Academy, got the opportunity to attend trials at Celta Academy, the biggest Spanish football club based in Vigo, Galicia.

Iago had to travel about fifteen kilometres all the way from his home to Vigo to attend the football trial. This was a period when the Celta de Vigo academy was very focused on catching children of his age group.

Iago Aspas, upon his arrival in Vigo, met a great disappointment as he, together with his parents and uncle who accompanied him, was told that the football test was only for children born in the year 1986.

In his words,

“I could not stop crying. I was convinced that I had to go home empty.

However, my uncle, Cristobal Juncal convinced me to lie to them saying..:

“Just tell them you’re 86 and that’s it.” So I lie to them and they bought it.”

The Lucky Boy:

Celta de Vigo academy technician could only look at Iago’s face and got convinced that he had all the evidence needed to allow the little boy to go to the trial.

Iago Aspas looked a year older, perhaps because of his hard physique. Also, his left-footed ability didn’t go unnoticed.

Finally, Iago Aspas faced the tough test, but the results were not given immediately. Coming unprepared, it was the first time he had to play football on a synthetic or artificial field.

Instead of coming with his preferred boots, Iago Aspas wore smooth boots, which made him fall on the ground constantly. He returned home, not convinced that he would pass the trial.

Surprisingly, after half an hour after he arrived home with his parents and uncle, the telephone rang.

It was the Celta academy office calling and telling his parents that their son had been recruited into the youth team. This left the Iago Aspas family filled with joy and happiness.

However, they never thought of one thing. The fact that they would have to show paper evidence of his age when they take him for formal registrations. This was the beginning of a new fear the Aspas family had to face.

Iago Aspas Biography – Age Fears and Triumph:

Iago Aspas’ parents, Martínez and María, still had their fears as their son prepared to leave home for the academy.

This fear came from the moment Aspas’ uncle Cristobar motivated their son to lie about his age during the Celta trial. However, a decision was made.

They all agreed to confess their son’s age and make a plea to the academy technician not to reject their little boy.

Surprisingly, The Celta academy technician did not care about the lie Iago Aspas had to put up early on.

This was because he was convinced he had discovered a little genius in Iago. According to trial results, Aspas stood out among other kids who competed for the same spot with truthful age.

Iago Aspas joined Celta de Vigo academy in 1995 when he was just eight years old. At the academy, his life was marked by the soccer ball, which accompanied him everywhere he went.

Iago Aspas Biography – Success for the Aspas:

Iago’s Celta story caused a small football revolution in his home. Every member of the Aspas household became interested in taking a trial test and moved to join Iago in Celta. Among all the brothers, only Jonathan met the requirements, which led him to go for trials.  Fortunately, Celta also accepted him, and both boys became bonafide members of the Celta academy.

Because Aspa’s parents did not have a car, an alternative had to be made in order to get him and his brother to training. They had to share fuel costs by following a fellow teammate whose father had a car.

At the academy, both brothers were looked after by the God-sent academy technician to whom Aspas once lied about his age.

Iago Aspas Biography – Becoming Professional:

Iago Aspas was able to make his way through the lower categories of Celta. He earned his promotion through several age groups in the academy. His game, gestures, improvisation, and ease of dribble make Aspas a firm promise for the future.

In the 2004–2005 season, Celta had to send him on loan to Rápido Bouzas, where he got matured as a striker who was ready to be made professional.

Iago finally made his debut for the Celta reserve team B in 2006. He moved to the Celta senior side after two seasons, where he stayed till 2013 before Liverpool came calling.

Iago Aspas Biography – Liverpool Misadventures:

Aspas came to England with the hope that he could adapt to a change of environment. The first issue he had was difficulty learning the English language. The second was the fact that he played second-fiddle to Philippe Coutinho (AM), Raheem Sterling, Sturridge, and Luis Suárez. Aspas also faced an inferiority complex by his teammate and captain, Steven Gerrard.

Steven Gerrard once wrote in his autobiography that he was sceptical about Aspas and his suitability to the Premier League.

This thought came when he first saw him in the Liverpool dressing room. Gerrard compared his physique to that of “a little boy“.

Little did he know that both he and Aspas would be involved in their premier league crown lost to the hands of Manchester City through Chelsea.

Iago Aspas made fourteen appearances for Liverpool, scoring zero goals. Painfully, he was remembered for his hopeless corner against Chelsea, which led to Willian racing down the other end to score.

His mistake wrecked Liverpool’s title dreams. This mistake made Iago Aspas to be named among the worst players to represent Liverpool during the Premier League era.

Iago Aspas Biography – Trouble in Sevilla:

Sevilla offered him a loan ticket back to Spain, but a return to his home country proved no happier on the pitch for the Spaniard.

On June 12, 2015, Sevilla signed Aspas from Liverpool as part of an agreement between the two clubs. However, on the very same day, they sold him back to Celta at a reduced fee.

Iago Aspas Sevilla’s rejection and sale to Celta came after he was caught on camera having a bitter verbal spat with Unai Emery in the dugout in one of their games.

Right on from that point, one thing was certain for Iago. He had to go back to his roots, Celta Vigo, where his football journey started.

Iago Aspas Untold Biography – Returning Home:

Iago came home, back to his native Galicia and his beloved Celta, where he was greeted by Celta fans at his presentation. If he ever wanted to make things right, it was no other time but now.

Before his very first match, Iago prayed to the gods of football, who answered his prayers, thereby making him a late bloomer.

Right from that moment, he rose to the occasion to become the Spanish deadliest frontman.

Iago Aspas became so drunk and goal-driven that he would go on to celebrate with anything; even the hidden media camera was not left behind. He was condemned to success.

Iago went on to win the La Liga Player of the Month of October 2016 out of the very watchful eyes of Lionel Messi and Christiano Ronaldo, who were the world’s best. This achievement saw him being called upon by the Spanish national team.

Dropping the Liverpool Scars:

Iago marked his debut for Spain with a sensational equalizer against England at Wembley. Watch the video below;

According to reports, he did that to prove a point that he bore no scars from his unhappy year at Liverpool.

]His equalizer against England saw football scouts come circling around him like sharks and looking for his services elsewhere.

Despite this attention, Aspas declared that he had no intention of making the same mistake by leaving Celta again. This came at a time when he was very much accepted by both Celtan and Spanish fans.

In his words,

“I’m very happy here, with my people.

Here in Celta, I’m with my son, my wife, my parents, and that’s something money can’t buy.

I always dreamt of playing for Celta, and that’s where I want to retire.”

Since that moment, Iago Aspas has been seen as a football hero. More importantly, he is a role model for youngsters like Gabri Veiga and Stefan Bajcetic.

The rest, as they say, is now history.

Iago Aspas Wife – Jennifer Rueda:

Without a doubt, Iago Aspas is a Celta Vigo legend. His playing ability, as well as his lifestyle off the pitch, will help you build up a complete picture of him. Right before his days of agony in Liverpool and Sevilla, Aspas had been with his pretty girlfriend and model, Jennifer Rueda.

As a way of saying “thank you” for staying with him throughout his turbulent years, Iago, in the year 2017, proposed to his beautiful girlfriend. They announced the engagement through Jennifer’s Instagram page. Immediately afterwards, their wedding plans began.

Before their wedding, Jennifer Rueda was already pregnant with their son. The ceremony had to wait until the delivery of their son, whom they named Thiago. It was a private wedding ceremony that took place in Moaña, Iago’s hometown.

Iago and Jennifer currently enjoy a fulfilled life as they experience the joys of parenthood. Having Thiago and expecting another child is an essential source of happiness and pride for the couple.

Father and Son Relationship:

If Dads aren’t role models for their sons, who are? Beyond guiding his son’s moral and ethical development, Iago also hopes his son will grow up to be an even more successful footballer than he is.

 

Any man can be a father.

It takes someone special like Iago Aspas to be a dad who would spend much of his private time taking his son out. Thiago has both his father’s hand and back.

Personal Life:

The Spaniard once said, “Life can be wonderful”, as he showcased his Porsche and Lamborghini on his social media account.

He owns one of the most expensive rides owned by some of the biggest names in world football.

Iago sees the Moaña beach as his playing ground. This Spanish maritime hometown has indeed brought luck to him.

Food:

Speaking about food, the veteran La Liga player is a huge fan of pizza and he has consumed this dish of Italian origin since his days at Liverpool.

He also likes the theatre, taking holidays, being admired, and having fun with friends.

Fact Check:

Thanks for reading our Iago Aspas Childhood Story, including his Untold Biography Facts. We strive for accuracy and fairness in our writeups – as seen in the articles about Eldor Shomurodov and Orbelin Pineda. If you find something that doesn’t look right, please share it with us by commenting below. We’ll always value and respect your ideas.