"It was already difficult without a mask, so imagine without a mask."
A
veteran journalist
speaks
, with many years behind the Spanish team, and talks about how even for someone like him
this Monday it was almost impossible to recognize many of those who were reaching the concentration of the absolute Spanish team
.
Things get more complicated, of course, because you cannot access it as usual, and you have to follow everything through the images that the Federation serves.
In those offered yesterday it is difficult to know who
Eric García, Ferrán Torres, Mikel Merino, Dani Olmo or Óscar Rodríguez is
(for some it would be difficult even without a mask), although it is easy to recognize the true protagonist.
Luis Enrique Martínez
returns to his position as coach 17 months later and is the absolute monopolist of all the lights.
We are eager to hear him at the press conference that he will offer on Wednesday
before the game against Germany
, but the same message always emanates from within the concentration.
"Is happy.
He is friendly, affectionate, smiling ... »
, explain some employees of the Federation, who these days have joked with the Asturian about the almost
60 masks (the pre-list reached that number) that they had to prepare
to give the final list in the video last Thursday.
According to those who deal with him regularly,
the death of his daughter
, in August last year, is something he carries inside.
Facing the outside, he shows his best face, both during the periods of time he spends in the
apartment that the Federation has rented very close to the Ciudad del Fútbol
and when this summer he has cycled up the toughest mountain
passes in
Asturias
or when he spends time at his house in
Casteldefells
.
«The bike thing is crazy.
He has almost the same body fat index as the players
.
He is fine, fibrous, "says an assistant who has only directed seven games for Spain, between September 2018 and March 2019, with a balance of five wins and two losses.
SUPPORTING THE YOUNG TEAM
In Las Rozas they join the willful optimism transmitted by the coach.
"If tomorrow were the European Championship, this would be my team," he
said at the press conference where he announced a call that is very revolutionary, although it maintains other strongholds such as Busquets or Ramos, untouchable for the moment (outside the goal).
And, apparently, he really means it.
Despite the
discouragement that prevails in the majority of the Spanish fans at the lack of pedigree
of the majority of internationals, he is enthusiastic about the youngsters because, they say,
"he is a sick of performance, and no one beats those who are here at performance"
.
It is a way of seeing it.
All the voices insist on a word that, placed next to the name of Luis Enrique, squeaks for those who are not intimate with him.
"You can't get an idea of how nice he is," they
insist, and that sympathy finds habitat in the bubble that the Federation has created to keep the
coronavirus
out of the team
.
All employees passed a PCR on Friday and another yesterday to prevent anyone from getting infected at the concentration.
Inside Las Rozas, a lot of gel, a lot of distance and masks for almost everything that is not training.
Germany awaits Thursday.
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