Almunia on the Daily Mail

0-0でアルムニアの記事が掲載されていることを知り、ググってみた。すると、デイリー・メールに２つありました。いまや、レーマンさまを抑えてファーストチョイスになっているので、旬なのでしょう。こういうことでもないと、多分アルムニアの記事なんて（失礼）扱わないだろうから、ここで紹介。
１つめはアルムニアがキーパーというポジションを選んだ理由について、少年時代のエピソードが紹介されている。

Manuel Almunia was a natural goalkeeper at an early age - because he could not run.
As an asthmatic six-year-old the footy-mad Almunia really wanted to play on pitch.
But he revealed: "Running quickly would give me asthma attacks back then. It gave me a lot of problems and so my dad used to take me to the park and take a few shots at me. It was the only position I could play."
Almunia added in the Daily Express: "I know I'm in a privileged position. Sometimes, when we score goals and our defenders come back to their positions, I say to Kolo Toure: 'How on earth did we do that?'"

６歳のとき、彼は走ると喘息の発作が出たので、大好きなサッカーをするのに問題が合った。そこで、父親に公園に連れてってもらってシュートを受けていたんだそうだ。
２つめはアーセナルに入団した時について。0-0に載っていた記事。

Arsenal keeper Manuel Almunia has revealed he broke off his honeymoon to complete his transfer to Arsenal. The Spaniard replaced Jens Lehmann after two games this season and has shown the sort of committment that earned him the move in the first place.
He told the Daily Express: "When I got married, I travelled to London virtually straight from my wedding. I was on a boat just off Naples when my agent rang and told me I had to take a flight to London to London in two hours for a medical. I told my wife we had to leave so we packed quickly and I told the taxi driver I would pay him anything if he got me to the airport in 20 minutes. After that it was like being in a movie like Speed, racing through the streets - it was scary for both of us. But we just made it and I did my fitness tests with Tony Colbert when I arrived. I was on my own in the gym with nobody ekse at the training ground - just Tony and my agent sitting next to me giving me encouragement but it all went well and here I am."

そうか、ハネムーンをブチってフィットネステストに来てくれたんですね。こういうエピソードを聞くと、ちょっと見る目も変わるかな。
実力が上がって、「昔はいろいろあったけど、代表に呼ばれるようになって今やアーセナルで古参の１人ですね」と呼ばれるくらいになるまでなってくれるといいね。