Jesus Estrada, a young man who grew up in NPH Guatemala and who in 2025 will begin studying Physical Education at a university in Chimaltenango, had a very high fever, so once the final match was over, which Guatemala lost, he went straight to sleep.
Carlos, one of the uncles at NPH Guatemala, literally got Jesus out of bed: “Jesus, Jesus, get up, you’re going to Spain, you won one of the scholarships”; like a spring, Jesus got out of bed, put on a jacket, a scarf and ran to the field amidst the applause of more than 500 young people and children who were waiting for him.
“I wanted to play the final against Honduras, I was finally able to do it, but it was very difficult for me because I had a fever, I felt very unwell the whole match, I wanted to represent NPH Guatemala very well and that’s why I held out until the last minute. It was difficult, but I wanted to do it and that’s why I did it,” recalls Jesus.
Jesus was born in Guatemala City, has seven brothers and one of them grew up with him in NPH, plays as a goalkeeper and admires Keylor Navas, a famous Costa Rican goalkeeper, who for years was the star of Real Madrid.
“I am a fan of Real Madrid, but I am happy to go to Barcelona to be at the Marcet Foundation campus, and maybe I will end up at Barcelona F.C.”, says Jesus smiling.
For Jesus, as for the more than 500 young people who were present during the soccer tournament in Guatemala in November 2024, this has been one of the best experiences of his life.
“During the tournament I met many people, I now have friends in several countries, during that week we participated in fantastic activities, it has really been a great experience. It was also very nice to play in mixed teams, to play with girls both in our team and against girls from other countries. We were always able to play well with them.” Jesus shared with us.
NPH Guatemala has a woman, Jessica, as the soccer team coach; Jesus shared that she is very demanding with the whole team, very strict and demands a lot of discipline.
Remembering that game of the final of the soccer tournament in Guatemala, Jesus says: “I tell all the young people of NPH to always fight for their dreams, you have to succeed in what you want and to achieve it there is no obstacle, no matter how big, that prevents us from achieving what we really want.”