Jonathan Biabiany was once the ‘random’ signing of the summer in the extinct Second Division B. He arrived at San Fernando almost two years ago and relatively young: his DNI is still 33. Of course, he shows day by day that he did not do it to retire. He is a regular starter and, not only that, he sometimes wears the captain’s armband. Completely committed to his team, this season he has played as a midfielder, right back and centre-forward, although his most recurrent position is that of a winger. He has three goals and two assists and has won over the fans.
In its day, Spanish football was shocked by such a movement. It should be remembered that Biabiany played for Inter Milan, with whom he won a Club World Cup. He himself, in his presentation, recognized his hunger: “I come here to make a difference“. Before arriving, FIFA took out a commemorative letter of him with 99 acceleration and 97 sprint. Not to mention that he played more than 200 games in Serie A and that only knee injuries put obstacles in his way And he was arriving at the San Fernando!!
The fairy tale does not end. His contract ends next June, but he could renew, as he has acknowledged in an interview on Footmarket. In it, he has also praised the level of Spanish non-professional football and has declared his love for San Fernando. “With COVID, I didn’t see my family for three or four months. I live in Spain and my priority was to be close to the family. In order not to be far away, I promised them that I would play here. I have known the president of San Fernando well for many years. He told me about the possibility, of a project they have, to go up to Second or even First in a few years. I accepted,” she reveals.
He immediately realized that his risky bet paid off: “Everything is going very well. We lost promotion last season during the Playoffs. In this one we did not start well, but we had a good run. The objective is for the club to progress, to ascend. I am prepared, I keep fit and I am constant. I pay a lot of attention to food. I also work inside the facilities before and after each training session. That is then paid on the field and physically“.
The high level of the First RFEF
With such perseverance and the poster with which he came from long ago, it is normal for Biabiany to sweep the bronze category. He is performing at a high level, while he is stunned at what he sees on the pitch: “I was surprised by the level, I thought it would be lower, that it would not make noise. The level of a third division here is much higher than in Italy. There are a lot of affiliates of the Primera clubs. There is a lot of quality, many promising young people, professionals who are going down and who are raising the level. It’s a great championship, you play a lot with the ball, it’s fast football. Frankly I did not expect such a high level and I like it“.
As an anecdote, Biabiany was asked how much he earned and about his future. He left it open, but with good eyes regarding San Fernando: “Surely these are not First Division salaries, but it is the choice I made with my family. I still have a salary that allows me to live well. I always look at what I have instead of what I don’t have. My contract ends in June. We are in a period of negotiation, to see what we do. Several teams have already contacted me, from Spain, from abroad, from everywhere. We take everything into account. We need to talk to the president and see what happens. I want to continue playing, that’s for sure.” Then, he ruled on a possible return to France:”Frankly, I live here in Spain and I like life here. I prefer to finish my sports career here. I’m fine, but we’ll see. I do not close the door to France.”
A successful past
Biabiany, despite his moment of happiness, regrets that the coronavirus and some of his choices have not turned out as well as he would have liked. Even so, he remembers with a smile all his journey, including the moment in which he arrived at Inter and trained with legends like Eto’o, Diego Milito or the names that he himself reveals: “I had the opportunity to train with Adriano or Ibrahimovic. I often trained with them and then played with the reserve team. I started in the Italian Cup playing with Figo, Recoba, Adriano… It’s incredible. We told ourselves that we were lucky to be with the great players. Then I wanted to show my qualities and show that I wanted to succeed.”
He refers, specifically, to the second leg of the Coppa round of 16 in 2006, when he stayed on the bench while Inter thrashed Messina Peloro. That day, the ‘Emperor’ Adriano was part of the game, accompanied in eleven by names that will be familiar to them: Solari, Figo, Cambiasso, Burdisso, Toldo, Samuel… A couple of months later he had the opportunity to make his debut in the quarterfinals. It was not part of the game, but the banner was lifted in the 75th minute and Figo merged into a hug with him to relieve him.
Then he would disappear from Inter until years later. Given the anecdote, the Footmercato journalist had no choice but to ask who in that constellation had impressed him the most: “They all marked me. The most impressive, although he did not have the career that he should have had because of his problems, was Adriano. He had a phenomenal force of nature, technically it was too much. It was full, fast, powerful. After the death of his father, he had problems. But he is the most complete striker I have ever seen.”
your heart problems
Biabiany, in a routine check-up, suffered a severe blow after revealing to the doctors that he suffered from a heart problem. He had to stop four months and undergo constant tests. That took its toll on him. It was 2014 and he still had football in his legs, but he had a year without playing. Despite the fact that Italy, as seen with Christian Eriksen, is very strict with this issue, he was able to continue playing: “At first you are sure to be scared, but you calm down and when you come back, you are a little apprehensive, but quickly you think of other things“. The San Fernando attacker closes: “Right now, I’m playing and I’m seeing what I can do in the future. For now, I think more about non-football things“.