Manchester United's Juan Mata: 'Luck, it's key for every footballer's career'
Juan Mata Even without a Premier League winners' medal, there are few who can match Juan Mata's trophy haul. The Manchester United midfielder has won the Champions League with Chelsea, the Europa League with United, as well as the World Cup and European Championship with Spain. There were, though, moments in his early career when his future in football looked like might pan out differently. He left home at 15 to join Real Madrid's academy. At 19, he left the Bernabeu to start again at Valencia. "To be honest, I was never expecting to be in a World Cup final, a Euro final, a Champions League final, a Europa League final," the 29-year-old told ESPN FC in an exclusive interview. "I've done much more than I dreamt and that's incredible. When I signed for Valencia, it wasn't the best moment of my football career because in the beginning I was not playing a lot. "But I remained calm and I knew that if I trained well and played as I k...