Kirian Rodríguez's story of overcoming: from beating cancer to playing at the Bernabéu

A little over a year ago, Kirian Rodríguez (Santa Cruz de Tenerife, 1996) was forced to leave the playing fields for a while. The UD Las Palmas player announced on August 2 of last year, in a press conference, that he suffered from Hodgkin's lymphoma, a type of cancer that develops in the lymphatic system.. At that moment all his efforts were focused exclusively on his recovery, to be able to return to playing football as soon as possible.. He didn't want drama, just put an end to speculation about his state of health.. “The fight begins, I want them to see me strong and not come to me with messages of sorrow,” he said in said appearance.

One of the messages he received was from his former coach Pepe Mel, who did not hesitate to encourage him by saying: “You will fight and you will win.”. The coach tells EL MUNDO that they have been together for almost four years, so “the love and affection is always there”. Although Mel left the Las Palmas bench a few months before the player announced his illness, the coach acknowledges that he has always been aware of the state of his former pupil's health.. “Not only through him, but through the doctors and the club's coaching staff,” says the Madrid native.. The footballer was discharged in January of this year, but it was not until the end of April when he returned to the field of play.. He arrived just to help the team achieve promotion to the First Division.

He has been in the lower categories of the Canary Islands team. His arrival to the first team occurred with Pepe Mel on the bench. The coach arrived in Las Palmas in 2019 with the duty of creating a team for the future. It was then when he noticed the Tenerife player. What caught the coach's attention was that “technically he is brilliant, he sees the last pass very well and he can reach the area and score.”

There began a magnificent relationship between the two.. In fact, Kirian went so far as to say in an interview: “Pepe has helped me a lot as a footballer.”. When asking the coach about these words, he acknowledges that what he has contributed to has been helping him “make things simpler, to not complicate things and to reach areas where he is harmful.”

First goal in First Division

As damaging as it has been this weekend against Granada. The footballer scored the only goal of the game that gave Las Palmas the three points, in their first victory in the League this season, something that he surely hopes to repeat this afternoon at the Santiago Bernabéu. It was his first goal in the First Division and a demonstration that he is now 100% recovered.. Furthermore, at the end of the game, knowing that it was the team's first victory, the fans did not stop chanting his name, which brought tears to his eyes with emotion.. “I'm from the island opposite, I'm from Tenerife, there is maximum rivalry and look: these are my people,” he said after the meeting.

Although he was moved, those who know him say that he is a “very vital, optimistic person who always has a smile on his face.”. Without a doubt, characteristics that will have helped him cope with the months away from the playing fields.. It is also known that the footballer is quite lazy and that he likes to poke people, according to what one of his coaches in the reserve team, Juan Manuel Rodríguez, tells this newspaper.. He also reveals that he is a young man with a strong character, with fixed ideas, very convinced of what he wants and very analytical.

“I told him I had played as a 9”

Kirian left his homeland, Tenerife, when Las Palmas captured him. Despite the rivalry that exists between the two island clubs, he adapted perfectly to his team. The work done with Juan Manuel, in the subsidiary, also had a lot of impact on him. “In several interviews he has recalled an anecdote that stuck with him while he was with me.. One day he played a magnificent game and I told him that he had played 9. So, I let him know that anything other than repeating that note would be because he didn't want to, not because he couldn't, and that stuck with him,” says his former youth coach.

However, it has not been a bed of roses. In addition to the health circumstance, Kirian has also had to live through moments in which he has had to stay on the bench, and in which he has had to learn from the mistakes he has made.. “That is the experience that makes him who he is now. He has been smart enough to learn from all that and be better,” Mel concludes.