Spain captain follows big brother's lead

Sumber Uefa The gift of defending seemingly runs in the Torrejón family. With older brother Marc already an established defender in the Primera División for RCD Espanyol, Marta Torrejón is following closely in his footsteps. The 18-year-old centre-back is captaining Spain at the UEFA European Women's Under-19 Championship in France and - despite her side losing their first two matches - she has been turning in the kind of strong, composed displays that are fast becoming a family trademark. Born in Barcelona, Torrejón grew up in a football-crazed environment and does not believe it is a coincidence that both she and her brother are succeeding in the sport. "The whole family are sports enthusiasts and they all love football," explained Torrejón, who not only plays in the same position as her 22-year-old sibling but is also on the books of Espanyol's women's team. "Even my parents like the game and I have uncles who are coaches. I started playing at the age of four and when I was seven I joined in with the boys. I only started playing with girls when I was 14." Early exit Torrejón flourished in the girls' game and was soon representing her country, taking the captain's armband for the first time during last year's European WU19 Championship campaign. Spain bowed out in the group stage in Iceland and have not fared any better in the Loire Valley, losing their opening matches to France (1-0) and Norway (2-1). "We're all very upset," Torrejón said. "It's not something we want to believe but we have to because it's happened. It's a shame because we came here with high hopes. Unfortunately we made a poor start against France and though we improved against Norway it wasn't enough to win." 'A great honour' Thursday's premature elimination has hit the Spanish players hard, although Torrejón has been doing her best to raise spirits as one of her many duties as skipper. "It's a great honour to captain my country and I enjoy the extra responsibility," she said. "As captain, I always try to do my best, listen to the management and try to keep the team as united as possible. We've got a really good group this year, with lots of technical players, but we've probably not been physical enough." With one game still to play against Italy on Sunday, Torrejón is determined to restore some pride, saying: "We have to be lively and try to get some points on the board before we leave. We're all young and have lots to look forward to in the future, so it's important we hold our heads up high and give a good account of ourselves."