Sa David Raya ya sanya hannu a wasan sa'a ta farko a filin Moss Rose — gidan kulob ɗin National League mai suna Macclesfield Town — a watan Satumba 2014, tunanin cewa zai taka rawar gani a wata rana a ƙarshen gasar Champions League ya zama kamar almara. Ƴan kallo dubu ɗaya da ɗari biyar ne kaɗai suke wurin yammacin kwanan nan, yayin da ƙungiyarsa Southport ta sha kashi da ƙwallo uku, halibi, kuma gwarzon dake aiki mai shekaru 19 ya tashi ba tare da komai ba.

Duk da haka, a ranar Asabar, Raya zai tsaya ƙofar Arsenal ya fuskanci masu riƙe da kofin Paris St-Germain a Budapest, yana fatan lashe lakabi na farko na Champions League a tarihin kulob ɗin. Yana da shekaru 30, yana shirye ya zama ƴan wasa na uku kawai a tarihi da suka yi wannan tafiya daga ƙananan gasar zuwa ƙarshen Champions League.

Kungiya ta musamman

Waɗanda suka cimma wannan nasara tukuna sun kasance beki mai dama Steve Finnan — wanda ya ɗauke kofin 2005 tare da Liverpool bayan ya wakilci Welling United a National League — da kuma beki tsakiya Chris Smalling, wanda ya taka leda wa Maidstone kafin ya zauna a benci a matsayin wanda ba a yi amfani da shi ba a wasan ƙarshe na 2011 da Manchester United ya sha kashi a hannun Barcelona.

Hanyar Raya ba ta bambanta ba wajen mamaki. Har zuwa lokacin da yake ɗan shekara 16, yana wasa a ƙungiyar matasa ta Cornella, kulob ɗin Ɗigiri na Uku da ke kewaye da Barcelona, inda ba ma shi ne farkon zaɓi ba. Ƙungiyar da ta haɗa Cornella da Blackburn Rovers ta kawo shi Lancashire a shekarar 2012 — kakar da Blackburn suka sauka daga Premier League — kawai ya samu kansa na huɗu a cikin jerin masu tsaron gida bayan Paul Robinson, Jake Kean, da Simon Eastwood.

Ilimin gasar ƙasa

Da damar yin wasa ta farko ta ci gaba da zama nesa a Blackburn, Raya ya yanke shawarar ɗan jaruntaka ta sauka ɗarajoji uku ƙari don shiga Southport mai gwagwarmaya a Ɗigiri na Biyar a matsayin aro na watanni huɗu. Paul Carden, tsohon mataimakin kocin Southport, yana tuna wani ƴan wasa mai himma, wanda halin da yake ciki bai yi masa dadi ba, amma ya ki yin gudu daga kalubale.