“Gentlemen, we have a date with History. We are going to arrive first.” Luis de la Fuente dressed up the final of the World Cup, as it could not be otherwise, and the whole of Spain shouted with all their soul the goal by Ferran like his squad, who raised the trophy to the sky of New York and little else. While the country did not sleep, this team started the celebration as the world champion in slow motion. Some jumps on the grass, shouts of ‘champions, champions’, a little beer in the locker room and a little dance with Laporte as DJ while the trophy went from hand to hand, from photo to photo. And everyone had their replica.
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“We are still assimilating it. I had no emotion at all when the referee blew the whistle. It was like, what have we achieved?, I couldn’t believe it. When we get to Spain we will realize the madness we have done,” said Unai Simón, Golden Glove of the World Cup, with only one goal conceded, the goalkeeper who touched the ball more with his feet than with his gloves.
The great feat that has made this generation eternal was barely felt in the guts of Metlife in New York. They posed with the Cup, cut the net of the goal where Ferran scored, and everyday scenes of victories in this unforgettable tournament were lived. Rodrigo looked for his partner in the stands after finishing a difficult year and being, as Guardiola predicted, the MVP of the World Cup. “Listen to Guardiola, he knows a lot”, he shouted in the mixed zone while leaving towards the bus with the trophy on his back. Cubarsí and Lamine joked like teenagers and friends. Gavi was lifting everyone’s spirits, without remembering the scuffle with Paredes. Even Merino joked putting a beer on his cheek with which he took the ball from Messi and left him stunned.
In the locker room party, of course, but moderate. Champagne shower with a giant bottle shaken by Joan Garcia and more photos, because what all the players wanted was to return to Spain on a plane they took almost immediately. Before, a quick dinner. Lamine posing lighting a cigar and Marcos Llorente opening a more than 2,000 euro bottle of wine to celebrate Ferran’s goal. All in an intimacy broken by Borja Iglesias when at 9:45 p.m. he left towards the bus with a giant speaker that stirred the commotion that led to, on the bus, singing Bad Bunny and his NUEVAYol.
Everyone was loaded with a replica in a special case similar to the one Carlos Alcaraz opened before the match to reveal the original cup, and also a Lego one. Bags with shirts, pants, boots… everything that could end up in a museum. Maybe not so much the huge glasses Jeremy Pino wore, or Lamine’s, who accompanied them with the sparkling necklaces from his birthday, copied by Nico. That yes, the medal, for his mother, so she doesn’t miss out.
Cucurella was also not unnoticed, the most promising in the Madrid celebrations, who was Club World Cup champion a year ago in this same stadium and who has a pending debt: to tattoo the face of Luis de la Fuente. “Now on the plane I will ask for advice on where, because it has to be a visible place so it can be seen,” joked the fullback, whom Real Madrid quickly congratulated on their social networks. His signing has meant having a world champion. Like the first one Extremadura will have. Pedro Porro recalled yesterday, already wearing the shirt with two stars, that he was able to fulfill his grandfather’s wish: “He told me ‘bring it home, son’, and I can’t wait to call him because he will be very happy.”
While the parade of players was heading to the bus among cameras and microphones, the entire coaching staff and Luis de la Fuente were coming out through a side door, with a broad smile for the job well done but with the same prudence. He said he was “proud” to “accompany” an incredible generation that he knows how to understand and praise, as he said with Ferran. “Those who work every day, things come out for them,” acknowledged the coach.
“The coach is a phenomenon. He has known how to manage the feelings of everyone, those who play the most and those who play the least,” acknowledged Unai Simón. The match, which sometimes dominates the wills of the coaches, was given so that two footballers like Martín Zubimendi and Éric García would not be at the World Cup without debuting. The only ones who were left without minutes were Víctor Muñoz, Grimaldo and the goalkeepers Raya and Joan García. Their moment will come in a voracious team that, as the coach says, always wants more.
So much so that, according to Luis de la Fuente, there was a veteran who asked him at the end of the match what was left to win. “Well, the September match,” the coach replied. It will be against England, at Wembley, but before that, party.
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