A Moroccan teenager has been rescued after travelling from Ceuta to Jerez while hidden beneath the coach of the Real Valladolid football team.

The boy endured a 45-minute ferry crossing to Algeciras followed by more than an hour on the road before his cries for help were heard by midfielder Ivan Alejo.

The footballer alerted his teammates after realising that somebody was trapped in the lower structure of the vehicle, near the wheel axle.

The coach stopped at the Cuadrejon service station on the AP-4 near Jerez shortly after midnight, where the exhausted teenager was brought to safety.

Club doctor Alberto Lopez Moreno attended to him while an ambulance and the Guardia Civil were called.

Players and staff gave the boy food, water and clothing as officers began the relevant procedures.

No member of the travelling party spoke Arabic, meaning they initially communicated with him using a translation app.

The teenager reportedly asked to be taken to the migrant reception centre in Algeciras.

The boy had apparently climbed beneath the coach at the port in Ceuta after Valladolid’s match against AD Ceuta on Sunday.

He remained hidden as the vehicle was loaded onto the ferry and crossed the Strait of Gibraltar before continuing north from Algeciras.

He had travelled more than 100km in the extremely dangerous position by the time he was discovered near Jerez, according to news agency EFE.

The teenager began calling for help after realising that he was running out of strength.

Guardia Civil information cited by Spanish media described him as being found in the coach’s lower luggage area, while sources from Valladolid said he had been concealed around the wheel axle.

The club’s sporting director, Victor Orta, said he was ‘proud’ of the humane and compassionate response of the players, whose quick intervention may have saved the boy’s life.

Once he had received medical assistance and been placed in the care of the authorities, the Valladolid party continued its overnight journey.

The team arrived home at around 8am on Monday following its draw in Ceuta.