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Rafa Marquez Talks About His Time at Barcelona

By Laieke Abebe

Barcelona's Mexican defender Rafa Marquez shoots against Racing de Santander during a Spanish League football match against Racing de Santander at the Camp Nou Stadium in Barcelona , on February 20, 2010. AFP PHOTO / JOSEP LAGO (Photo credit should read JOSEP LAGO/AFP/Getty Images)
Barcelona's Mexican defender Rafa Marquez shoots against Racing de Santander during a Spanish League football match against Racing de Santander at the Camp Nou Stadium in Barcelona , on February 20, 2010. AFP PHOTO / JOSEP LAGO (Photo credit should read JOSEP LAGO/AFP/Getty Images) /
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Former Barcelona defender Rafa Marquez expressed his feelings about the decisions he made with the club in an interview.

Rafa Marquez is one of the best defenders to come through FC Barcelona in the 21st century. He provided very great moments in the clubs history. The Mexican-Born defender was a key contributor to 12 trophies for the club. However, he did express some regrets about the team that gave him 242 appearances over 7 season. In an interview with Marca on Monday, Marquez spoke about how he left Spain. He admitted a few things that he regrets about the timing of his departure.

“I realized that I’d left to early. In the moment I thought that it was a good idea to go to the USA and ease down a little bit. But when I was there I wanted and could have played at a more competitive level. The truth is I regret it,” the Mexican center back said. He left Barca at age 31 to join the New York Red Bulls of the MLS.

Marquez went on to say that the time he had with Barcelona gave him “the best memories of my career. I had the most beautiful years in a wonderful city which always treated me with a lot of affection. They were seven incredible years at one of the most important institutions in the world.” Despite the great moments for Rafa Marquez, his time in Spain wasn’t always the easiest.

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“The first days [at the club] I was thinking that I was in a dream, I could not believe that I was there,” he said. “My life had undergone a radical change. I was next to Ronaldinho, Xavi, and Puyol so it was hard to adapt. After that I was aware that if I was there, there was a reason for that and the good times began.” To Marquez, it seems difficult to adjust to how big of a club Barca is. With all of the legends that have come through the club from the past and present, its easy to get caught up in the spotlight.

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Overall, it seems that Marquez really wishes that he stayed with Barca. When he left as a 31-year-old, he still had plenty of years left in him. Currently, he’s the captain of the Liga MX team Atlas. He is still the captain of the Mexican national team. When asked if he could potentially comeback to Barcelona in a different role he said, “It’s in my plans, I would be delighted to return to Barcelona if they would consider it.” It would be nice to see him back at Barcelona after his contributions as a player.

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