On David Ospina

By: Martha | July 9th, 2008

Colombian football is the only game on earth in which I have an actual, legitimate source — a friend of mine played there for years, was in the national team setup, and is still in close contact with a lot of his former coaches. And he was a keeper, and coaches keepers now. So, I texted him yesterday to get his thoughts on a certain teenager.

Me: What do you know about David Ospina? Good kid? Good keeper?
Mr. Colombia: GREAT keeper.
Me: Will he move to France ok? Is his head together?
Mr. Colombia: Very mature, he’s more than ready.

Awesome. The thing about the maturity is all I needed to hear, really, but my friend isn’t the only one praising the kid: No less an Atlético Nacional and Colombian football icon than Víctor Aristizábal has hailed Ospina as the only logical successor to his status as “idol” of Nacional fans. That’s an amazing thing to say about a player who’s been at the club for two seasons, whatever his age, but from his debut as a 17-year-old in a February, 2006 loss to Cucata, Ospina has grown into one of the greatest keepers in Nacional history — no mean feat at the most popular and, at least internationally, the most successful team in Colombia.

Ospina was only 17 when Nacional won the Colombian league, making him the youngest keeper ever to do so, and his performances for his team earned him a call to the senior national side. Thanks to a red card to the first-choice keeper, he made his full international debut before his 18th birthday, and has a total of 10 caps already.

Oh, and he’s also apparently a legitimately good kid. The adoration and genuine good wishes coming from Nacional fans and in the Colombian football press make you wonder if he’s actually human; one paper described him as “[a] great professional footballer and better person.” Wow. That’s pretty high praise for a teenager with the sort of status he’s achieved, and makes it hard not to drool at the prospect of what’s ahead.

Ok, so he’s young — won’t turn 20 until the end of August — but so what? Hugo Lloris was a regular as a teenager, and that’s worked out just fine, both for him and for Nice. The language issue will be a challenge, but everything points to Ospina being fully equipped to handle anything that’s thrown at him, on and off the pitch. (Plus, he’s already spoken his first French: “je suis fier d’être Nissart.” Awwwww.) And he’s got time — Letizi is a capable keeper, so there’s no hurry. Ospina can take over when he’s ready.

Yeah. I’m excited. Really, really excited.