Brighton & Hove Albion’s Julio Enciso impressed for Paraguay in their World Cup qualifiers against Uruguay and Brazil earlier this month.
Paraguay struggled at the Copa América in the summer, where they were knocked out in the group stage. They lost all three games but the forward managed to score a goal in the process.
La Nación state the Brighton player ‘wanted to get away’ from the national team, before Gustavo Alfaro was appointed as the new manager in August.
The outlet has also interviewed the 20-year-old, where he revealed he was disappointed with some of the comments aimed towards him. They state he ‘hit rock bottom’ at one point.
“Things were said about me that already started to hurt me. That I’m a real sellout, that I wasn’t good for the national team,” he said.
“Many times, you lose focus of why you are playing football. There were nights I spent crying. Things were said about me that are not real. The people who know me, who are close to me, know the kind of person I am.”
A ‘strange dream’ made the Brighton attacker reconsider his decision to quit the national team because he had made a promise to his grandfather.
“My grandfather appeared to me [in his dream] and said: ‘You’re really going to quit?’. I promised my grandfather that one day I was going to be a great player, to be recognised by people,” Enciso explained.
“That’s what he wanted the most. To be able to play for the national team, to be in a World Cup. He’s always watching me.”
Another outlet, Versus, also had a chat with the South American. A few weeks ago, Alfaro took charge of the Paraguay national team.
The outlet claims he has had a positive impact on the squad and Enciso is delighted with the manager’s appointment.
“I have no words to express what the ‘teacher’ is like, what he represents, what he made us feel. I’m going to talk about myself mainly, I felt something incredible,” he added.
“I felt like that important player with him. I was able to implement that of helping the team, of ‘sprinting’ back, of helping the team again.”
Enciso also has a new manager, Fabian Hürzeler, at Brighton this season. He’s made four appearances for the Seagulls so far.
