Antonio Valencia: From the Amazon to Old Trafford

For Antonio Valencia, however, it represents a fittingly unlikely route for a player whose career has been anything but conventional to date. Now starting his 10th year at Old Trafford, the Ecuadorian is a fixture at right-back and a regular captain of one of the world’s biggest teams; a far cry from his starting point.

Born in Nueva Loja, capital of the Sucumbíos Province of Ecuador’s Amazon Region, Antonio and his five brothers would scour their city and its surrounding villages in search of glass bottles for their father’s bottle deposit centre. He would also help his mother sell bags of fruit juice on matchdays outside the Estadio Carlos Vernaza, the local football stadium.

Initially…