Pau Cubarsi says young footballers should be able to seek mental health support without stigma, and clubs share responsibility with players for making that support part of the game. “When someone feels the need to speak up because they're having a hard time, they shouldn't be judged,” the 19-year-old Spain defender told Reuters. “They need to feel comfortable saying, 'I'm going through a tough time, and that's OK'.”
Cubarsi said a club psychologist helped him after he joined Barcelona's senior team, and he has occasionally sought therapy. He called looking after mental health “the most important thing,” saying professional support can help players examine their thoughts and identify areas to work on before problems emerge. Permission to speak matters. So does whether the institutions shaping a young player's working life offer help before a crisis.
Support Without Stigma
Pressure can help players improve, Cubarsi said, but he warned that young athletes shouldn't become fixated on errors. “I think the pressure does actually help you improve every day, but you mustn't get obsessed with mistakes or with things that perhaps haven't gone your way,” he said. His account recognizes both sides of the professional demand: pressure comes with the work, while players still need space to recognize difficulty and ask for help without being judged.
Cubarsi's own path shows what's at stake. He made his Barcelona debut at 16 in January 2024 and earned his first Spain cap two months later. He played every minute of Spain's World Cup-winning campaign, anchoring a defence that conceded only once and restricted Lionel Messi's Argentina to no shots on target in the final. The tournament named him its best young player, and he is the favourite for the Golden Boy award.
A Career Isn't a Deadline
Cubarsi cautioned young players not to treat an early breakthrough as the only route to success. “The key is that if, at 16, for example, you're not being given opportunities, you shouldn't get angry or get stuck in a rut, but keep fighting, keep believing in yourself,” he said. A player at 20 is still young, he added, and should be ready when an opportunity comes.
His World Cup award, he said, should spur further effort, not mark the end. “It's not something to rest on your laurels over, but rather to realise that you can also achieve great things individually and that you have to keep fighting,” he said. The message speaks to individuals navigating a system where opportunities arrive on someone else's timetable. Cubarsi also says clubs have work to do.
Clubs Set the Conditions
Matches often come every three days. Cubarsi said rest, diet, gym work and time with physiotherapists all form part of a young player's work. “Sometimes, as we're still growing, such a heavy match schedule can take its toll a bit, but you also have to listen to your body and keep working at it,” he said. Football remains a job even when players enjoy it, he stressed, and professionalism carries on outside training and matches.
Asked about the schedule, Cubarsi called for more recovery time, but said it shouldn't become an excuse. He urged every club to create a structured development plan for young players: “to work with them, to look after them and, above all, to help them improve.” Clubs organize the match calendar, recovery time and support that growing players need. The club psychologist who helped Cubarsi offers one example; he wants clubs to make development and care a plan, not leave each young player to shoulder it alone.