I spent two weeks in the Dominican Republic speaking about Junior Firpo - they worship the Leeds United man
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The pristine sandy beaches, the clear turquoise waters, the beautifully tall palm trees dancing in the breeze, the gleeful natives dancing with them: there are many reasons to visit the Dominican Republic, but football is not one of them.
I decided on a two-week trip to the Dominican Republic for all the obvious reasons but ended up spending a lot of the time talking about football anyway. They love football. They watch the Premier League and support a lot of the ‘big’ teams, as you’d expect. They also had Luton Town vs West Brom on in the airport on Friday - not exactly an advert for the Championship, admittedly.
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Hide AdThey love their national team, and they love Junior Firpo. In fact, they almost worship him. Since making the switch from Spain, for whom he made a handful of youth appearances but never looked close to a senior call-up, Firpo has gone from zero to hero at international level.
Upon revealing to various hotel staff members that I was from Leeds, the response was almost inevitable. ‘Ah Leeds United? Junior Firpo!’. Marcelo Bielsa was mentioned on occasion but it was almost always Junior Firpo. They absolutely love Firpo. They love how proud he is to represent them, they love how he stood up to Concacaf over the state of pitches in the region and, like a lot of Leeds fans, they just love how fun he is.
After those brief and somewhat broken conversations, Firpo’s status in the Dominican Republic came to resemble what Leeds fans often felt - and still feel - about the likes of Bielsa and his marquee signing, Raphinha. It was bordering on disbelief that someone of his quality would pick them. A gratefulness that they get to watch him do this thing in their shirt.
Subscribe to Inside Elland Road now in time to receive Graham Smyth’s exclusive interview with Junior Firpo later this week
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Hide AdFirpo was born in Santo Domingo, the capital of the Dominican Republic, but left for Spain early on. He developed through the Spanish academy system and broke into professional football at Real Betis. He spent five years there before earning a big-money move to Barcelona. He also played four times for Spain’s Under-21s.
But his decision to represent the Dominican Republic was about family and making history. In an exclusive interview with the YEP’s chief football writer Graham Smyth, which will be published in this week’s Inside Elland Road newsletter, the 28-year-old went into great detail regarding that switch and his emerging status as the main man of a whole nation.
A left-back by trade, Firpo has adopted a role similar to that of the best kid in the school team, operating in just about every position and popping up wherever he can carry the game on his shoulders. Three goals in two 5-0 wins over Antigua and Barbuda last month - one being a ludicrous panenka penalty - came from left wing-back and right-wing. Websites suggesting he was leading the line were quickly dismissed as incorrect until the No.3 shirt was seen doing exactly that.
And Firpo is leading his nation towards history. They have never qualified for a major international tournament in 65 years as a FIFA registered nation. That unwanted record could end this month.
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Hide AdFew will be looking at the November international break with excitement, but Firpo is. Avoid defeat at home to Dominica and then Bermuda later this month, and Los Quisqueyanos will top Concacaf Nations League B to book their place at next year’s Gold Cup - North America’s equivalent of the European Championships.
Do that, and the Dominican Republic’s love for Junior Firpo will only grow. There might even be a Leeds United Supporters group over there soon.