Monday 13th July 2011:
“Listen lad’s, we’re dominating this game, they shouldn’t have scored 2,
We just need to sharpen up in defence and we’ll be fine, especially if our front men keep linking up like they are, you look like the real deal out there, I think even Xavi and Iniesta would be proud to be playing football like that!”
Here I was, me; Alejandro Cruz. Giving a team talk to the best young talent that Spain had produced;
The likes of Bojan, Canales and Azpilicueta all sat there, listening. Waiting for me to motivate them for the second half.
“we’re going to go narrower than we already are, that should close the gaps down where they seem to be breaking. Carlos, you and Juanpe need to watch Sturridge and Carroll closely, especially Sturridge, he’s quick and he’s a good finisher. Look out for the long ball up to Carroll to flick on to Sturridge. That’s how the English play, Kick and rush...”
I’d been in this job for just over two years, taking over after the first game of qualifying because the previous coach had a serious heart condition. Since then we’d won every single game, qualifying for the Championships with ease. We scored 29 throughout the group stages and playoffs, conceding just 4. We got here by beating a strong Croatia side 6-1 on aggregate.
*bell rings*
“There it is lads, you know what you have to do!
Only 3 points is acceptable here!
You want to show the world that you’ve got what it takes don’t you!?
well you have to beat the best in the world! And that’s what England are”
well you have to beat the best in the world! And that’s what England are”
My vice captain Cesar Azpilicuta piped up
“WE’RE SPAIN! WE ARE THE BEST IN THE WORLD
VIVA LA ESPANAAAAAAAA!”
And with a deafening roar from the players to show they were ready,
We made our way back out onto the pitch....
Monday 13th July: Part 2:
“Listen lads, a draw isn’t a bad result. If we can sort ourselves out at the back..”
the defence looked up at me slightly annoyed, I wasn’t annoyed at them, it wasn’t their fault at all,
the defence looked up at me slightly annoyed, I wasn’t annoyed at them, it wasn’t their fault at all,
I got my tactics wrong, I under-estimated the opposition and we paid for it
“...and keep it tight against Turkey, whilst still looking as good as we do up top, then we should score an easy 3 points against Turkey on Thursday...”
Was I right in saying this to the lads? No game is ever easy. But I was sure that the game against Turkey would be a **** sight easier than this one. Provided that the young Turks don’t get up to the same tricks the senior team do...
“...and with France in the last game, I think a draw will be enough, but I know we can win both of our games and go through to the next round comfortably. Anyway, I’ll stop going on now, well played, keep you’re heads up, and ****** off now...
Don’t forget you’re curfews 10pm, we’ve got some light training tomorrow to recover and I want you at the training pitch at 10AM tomorrow looking fresh and sharp!”
When I told them that they had a slight lie in they all looked fairly pleased, I wasn’t worried about any of them missing curfew, well. All but one. Yago of Juventus. I knew he liked a bit of a party lifestyle. He’d got a reputation back in Italy for being a talented young player, with the ego to match. He often caused trouble which is why he was languishing in the reserves when we all knew he could easily play for the first team. And after all, this was only the second time he’d been included in the squad.
I’d had no choice but to pick him, after the likes of Javi Martinez and Pedro had become unable to play for us due to be too old, this was frustrating. Both had become key figures for us during qualifying and it came as a blow when Pepe [my assistant] had told me they were ineligible to play. As far as i knew, you could name 3 players older than 21 in you’re squad, and those two were definite in my team, both so solid during qualifying, with bagging goals.
I had a quick chat with Pepe after the game, talking about how the match played out and where we thought we needed to improve. We both agreed that the defence needed sorting out, and we would work on shuring up the back line in training before the Turkey game. After talking about the game, we had a brief chat about how life was at home and so on. I’d become good friends with Pepe, he was a man I could trust both with footballing issues and personal issues. Our families also seemed to get on, which made it even better. Pepe would turn out to be a very usefully ally in the future...