Fri Nov 22, 2013 12:28 am
"The Chilean hardman, they call El Pitbull, has impressed fans with his passing and movement in the Premier League and his ability to stay out of trouble"
Cardiff City star Gary Medel increased his stock further this week with solid performances against England and Brazil and today insisted he's loving life at Cardiff City.
The Chilean hardman, they call El Pitbull, has impressed fans with his passing and movement in the Premier League and his ability to stay out of trouble.
Medel, who has a history of red cards at his previous clubs Sevilla and Boca Juniors, was even reportedly tasered in the car park after an under 20 game in Canada, but says he's told himself to behave.
The 26-year-old today told MailOnline : “I am a nice kind of crazy.
“I have told myself to behave, to stop the trouble.”
But it's not easy for the man who grew up in a poor family on the mean streets of Santiago.
Gary Medel; NeymarGary Medel keeps tabs on Robinho for Chile against Brazil
He said through an interpreter: “‘I have always talked with my football.
“I was playing football in the street since I could walk.
“I played in an amateur team close to my neighbourhood.
“When I was eight, I would play against 14-year-olds.
“They tried to push me around but I would jump into tackles and never back down.
“I have two brothers and a sister — as children we played hard.
“I was often in trouble as a child — fighting. We did not have the money for video games, so we were in the street all day.”
It's that toughness that gives Medel the ability to play as an international centre half at 5ft 7in and to dominate midfield battles in the Premier League.
The man who is already a cult figure on the terraces at the Cardiff City Stadium and will return from international duty to a heroes welcome against Mancheste United on Sunday, having marked Wayne Rooney out of the game at Wembley as his unfancied nation defeated England, added: “I am very passionate and I am very loyal to my teams.
“The red cards and a lot of the incidents I have had — they are almost all because of my reaction and not my action.
“They are not for bad tackles.
“I have a big temper but as I am growing I am learning and trying to adapt, to react less, because I know I must. I am maturing.
“I will not change the aggression in my game.
“English football is great.
“In Spain, if you breathe you get a yellow card.
“Here it is more intense physically. I like to be intense, I love to win the tackles. I will not change that.”