Atletico youngsters De Gea, Dominguez to come of age (News Feature)

By Duncan Shaw May 11, 2010, 5:01 GMT

Madrid - The stars of Atletico Madrid are strikers Diego Forlan and Sergio Aguero, plus wingers Simao and Jose Antonio Reyes.

These are the players whose goals have taken Atletico to two finals this spring: the Europa League final against Fulham in Hamburg on Wednesday, and the Spanish King's Cup final against Sevilla in Barcelona on May 19.

Another man who has received massive media attention and praise is Quique Sanchez Flores, the coach who has transformed the red-and-whites since taking over a troubled team in November.

But there are two other individuals who deserve to be mentioned as part of Atletico's Renaissance: youngsters David de Gea and Alvaro Dominguez.

Both of them are 'madrilenos' born and bred, both joined Atletico's youth scheme at the age of 12. They are the pride and joy of the Atletico fans, who have been desperate for the club to turn out its own youngsters since idol Fernando Torres left for Liverpool in 2007.

Both of them are keen to come of age in Hamburg on Wednesday.

Neither of them was supposed to be first-choice this season, but both of them have turned out to be important players, largely due to the confidence of coach Quique in them.

Aged just 19, De Gea is one of the youngest goalkeepers ever to play in a European final.

'It will be an important test for me,' said the blond teenager. 'I know that it will be a difficult match and that I will have a lot of work to do. But we are much more solid in defence than a few months ago.'

De Gea actually started the season as third-choice goalkeeper, behind fellow youngsters Sergio Asenjo and Roberto.

But Asenjo - an expensive signing from Valladolid - made a shaky, nervous start at the Estadio Calderon and was soon replaced by coach Abel Resino by Roberto.

But Roberto then suffered a couple of untimely injuries, and De Gea was suddenly thrust into the breach. He won over the fans in his October league debut against Zaragoza, a tight 2-1 win, by saving a penalty.

Roberto then returned from injury but looked as shaky as Asenjo. Therefore, one of the first decisions taken by Quique - who replaced Abel as coach in November - was to have De Gea as first-choice in all competitions.

De Gea has done quite well in La Liga, in which Atletico will finish in midtable. He has reserved his best performances for the King's Cup and the Europa League, and his sharp saves and steady performances have helped the 'Matress Makers' into both finals.

Sports daily Marca praised him for a 'excellent display' away to Liverpool in the semi-finals, and commented that 'he surely has a very bright future.'

So has Dominguez, 21 next Sunday and always a year ahead of De Gea in the Atletico youth teams.

The same as De Gea, Dominguez started the season with little hope of becoming a first-team regular.

But the Atletico defence was a shambles in the autumn, with centre-backs Pablo Ibanez and Luis Perea leaking goals alarmingly.

Another of Quique's early decisions was to bring in Dominguez for Pablo, and it has been another decision that he has not regretted.

Despite his youth, Dominguez looks like a centre-half of the old school: tall, strong in the air and in the tackle, not a great distributor of the ball but with a no-nonsense approach to the job.

It is no coincidence at all that the Atletico defence, as De Gea said, has improved markedly since Dominguez was brought in by Quique - as Fulham will probably discover on Wednesday.