Thanks to failure, Barcelona kid Riqui Puig could have been a tennis player

The 21-year-old could have ended up being a tennis star but he wasn't quite good at it but Instead, he joined a local football side at the age of 8.

"I used to really like playing tennis and golf, and at age eight I started to play tennis - my mother got me into it," Riqui Puig told the media while on the international duty with Spain U21, as quoted by Marca.

However, Puig failed to become the next Rafa Nadal as he recalled: "And I remember one day that I was losing 6-2, 4-1 and my dad looked at me and told me and said: 'What are we doing here?'

"And in around two months or so I signed up to the team in the area, Jabac Terrasa, and at 14 years old Barcelona called me, and Espanyol."

Puig joined La Masia in 2013 but it wasn't easy for him.

The starlet added: "And my dad told me that there is this offer and that sometimes you will be in the stands and not playing at all. And that I could be training for the whole week and in the end, they could say that I won't play. For a kid of 12 or 14 years of age, it's very tough."

Riqui has already provided 3 assists in 15 first-team appearances for Barca. He has been promoted to the senior team just recently.