this is a spain post...
To celebrate the historical win of Spain in the semifinals of the World Cup against Germany on Wednesday, I bring you some Spain-related things that I found all over the internet. Some of you might have seen them already but I want to have them in my journal for posterity. ;)
The first two are excerpts/summaries from the book Los secretos de la roja, which I will have to get my hands on as soon as my Spanish is better. It seems to tell all the interesting and inspirational tidbits about the Spanish team during the Euro 2008 and the Confed Cup 2009 and their path to the World Cup 2010, and every bit I read about it makes me love the team more. Don't believe me? Read for yourself!
1. "Mofeta, Pelopo y Virus": The nicknames of the Spanish national team.
The third chapter of the book talks about the nicknames that the players in the Spanish squad have given to each other. The nicknames seem to have come about in three ways: from the actions of the person being nicknamed, from the physical appearance of the person being nicknamed, and from general immaturity on the part of the nicknamer. Keep reading to see what cartoon character Dani Güiza was named after, what animal Iker apparently resembles, and what body part inspired Xavi and Albiol’s names. And did you know that Xabi is nicknamed after a TV character and Fernando Llorente after a playing card?
Everyone has one!
- Dani Güiza was nicknamed Virus. Xavi laughs upon recalling the origin of the nickname: “I looked at him and looked at him, and I said, this guy looks like someone, but I can’t think of who. One day, we got on the Internet and then I suddenly realized, he looked just like Virus, one of the characters on the animated series Érase una vez… el hombre! (That’s what the book says, but I think the proper title is Érase una vez el cuerpo humano). From that point on, we called him that and Dani not only did not get mad, he laughed each time.”
- Xavi is Pelopo: Xavi: “my friend Miguel Ángel started calling me that when we played together in the cantera of Barça.” Miguel Ángel: “Pelopo is a reference to the hair on a part of the body that you can imagine… you know, pelo-po, de po… [note: the po... stands for a five letter word that is Spanish for a certain part of the male anatomy.] It was an affectionate nickname that we used in my neighborhood. It resulted from some stupid thing that we did and it’s still used now.”
- Iker is Mofeta (skunk), another nickname chosen by Xavi, from when they played on the youth national teams. Xavi: “Iker was a bit less refined before, and at times he would just break wind. Now he’s a serious and responsible guy who doesn’t do those things anymore.” Iker rebuts, laughing: “I wasn’t like that; what happened is that Xavi always thought it was me who was behind everything.”
- Arbeloa is Empanao or Tostadas, because he’s very absentminded.
- Capdevila is Garrincha, a name given to him by Pepe, but just because he wore the number 11. Xavi said it’s one of his pending tasks to find a nickname that suits Joan. But Capdevila, a big joker, said, “they should call me Brad Pitt, Balón de Oro, Crack, Zidane…” His teammates say he’s a great person, that helps the group to cohere and that he never stops kidding around.
- Cazorla is Zlatan: he and Capdevila would play football on Play together. Joan: “Santi always chose to be Inter and I was Manchester. He almost always beat me, because I’m a disaster, and he would talk about Ibrahimovic’s goals all day. That’s why I started calling him Zlatan.” Cazorla: “Joan played against me with 20 different teams, but he never beat me.” In 2007, when Spain played Sweden, Capdevila exchanged his shirt with Ibra, and gave it to Cazorla as a gift upon return to Villarreal. Others call Cazorla “Enano” (midget) or “Alf” (like the alien from the TV show). Reina baptized him as “Alevín” (kid) in Colón.
- Albiol is Chori, because he was as tall and thin as a chorizo (a Spanish sausage).
- Marchena is el Padre, courtesy of Sergio: “he spends the entire day giving out advice.” At first Marchena didn’t like the nickname, but it had staying power.
- Xabi is called Dexter by Pepe, for his resemblance to Michael C. Hall, the actor who plays Dexter in Dexter. Raúl Martínez, the physiotherapist, had the series and gave it to Xabi to watch. [So that's where Xabi's addiction to Dexter comes from!]
- Pepe was at first Gordo (fat one), the work of Torres and Villa. He was also called Falete (click on the link, there’s no way I can accurately describe Falete in words). Pepe had originally called Sergio García that, for his resemblance to the singer, and Torres liked that so much that he turned around and started calling Pepe that.
- Torres is Ratita (rat) because of a hairstyle he had years ago, according to Juanito. And when they played Formula 1 on Play, Fernando named his team “Rata Humana.”
- David Silva is Pony or Enano due to his height.
- Sergio is sometimes Gitano (gypsy).
- Mata is Pichonín, an affectionate term used in Asturias and chosen for him by Villa. But when he and Villa first met each other, they called each other Guaje (kid in Asturias). Villa is commonly known as el Guaje.
- Llorente is Floris - in his town, the seven of gold (coins) playing card is known as Florón, and Joseba Exteberría started calling him that when they played cards. It eventually became Floris, and was picked up by his national team teammates.
- Iniesta is Andrew, the only thing Xavi dared to call him, because he’s so “timid that you can’t nickname him anything,” according to Albiol.
(source)
2. The Cyber Café of Room 422.
Room 422
- Room 422 refers to the room of Joan Capdevila. It was their first day at the hotel in Neustift, Austria: “when I entered the room for the first time, I thought they had given me the wrong one. I thought it was Iker’s room, and since my last name begins with the same letter as his, they got confused.” (The captains usually get the biggest rooms during the camps.) So he went back down to reception, and it was confirmed that 422 was indeed his room.
- After that, he went to find Santi Cazorla to see if all the rooms were like his. He saw that Santi’s room was much smaller. And Santi stared open-mouthed at Joan’s room and declared, “we’re going to play pochita here at night!”
- The room was the size of an apartment: it had an enormous salon, three bedrooms and two bathrooms. There were a total of six beds.
- Joan’s room became known as “el Cíber” and became the place to be for the components of the team. A visit was practically mandatory after every game, where the guys would analyze and re-analyze the games. They also talked about life, cars, girls…
- It started with the guys playing pocha, and then others joined in to take advantage of the wi-fi connection: Silva, Navarro, Sergio, Juanito. They would use the connection to surf the Internet, chat, talk with friends and families. Silva said he was one of the regulars.
- Sergio: “we could be there just hanging out until two or three in the morning. Without realizing it, at least 10 of the players would get together. I brought my laptop with music to add to the ambiance.”
- Pepe: “it showed the union that we had. We also talked a lot about what worried us. We had a hard time being away from our families for so long, and so we would help each other out. I remember fondly what a good time we had.”
- Even the players that didn’t play cards would stop by once in a while to chat. Palop: “there was a spectacular ambiance.” Marcos Senna: “sometimes I would just go in to see what was going on.”
- After a while, Capdevila had a problem falling asleep. He confided to Cazorla that he would hear noises, and have to fasten the deadbolt because he thought someone was trying to get into the room. Santi was so worried that one night he decided to sleep over. He borrowed a bathrobe and went to sleep in the bed next to Joan’s. He didn’t hear one noise the entire night.
- In the end, with so many people moving in and out, the battery of the electronic lock on the door gave out and had to be replaced. And the day after Spain won the Eurocopa, when Joan went upstairs to rest, he found that the lock was completely destroyed, because someone had tried to enter and since it was locked, forced their way in.
Pepe’s room
- After pocha on days before games, the six players would go to Pepe’s room for their nightly Cola Cao, a ritual that Pepe had started in Aarhus against Denmark. They would drink a glass of Cola Cao and sometimes have a muffin while talking. Pepe: “it was an excuse to unite us even more, if that was possible. It brought us luck and we decided to keep on doing it. While we had our Cola Cao, we talked about the game and our lives, and we got to know each other better along the way.”
- Pepe also had hidden in his room a lot of foodstuff prohibited by the team doctor: lomo, jamón. “Sometimes I would go down to the kitchen to get freshly baked bread, and anyone who was smart would follow me. It got boring eating the same thing over and over again.”
The videogamers
- Fernando Torres’ room in Austria (327) was for the videogame lovers. These were el niño, Arbeloa, Albiol and de la Red. They would have football tournaments. Albiol: “de la Red is the biggest clown when he wins.”
- during the Confederations Cup, with Rubén out, the group added Busquets, Piqué and Sergio Ramos. They started playing Virtual Tennis in Albiol’s room. According to Mata, you could hear the noise from far away. Busquets: “It was like a Madrid-Barça game… when the tournament started, it was Piqué and me against Ramos, but during the Confederations Cup, Albiol signed with Madrid. Arbeloa was still at Liverpool, but days later he would also sign with Madrid… But say what you will, Gerard and I won.”
- Sergio Ramos: “I think the best players in tennis are Arbeloa, Albiol and Busi. I was there learning, but in football I always come in first.”
Pocha
- Pocha is one of the principal pastimes of the internationals. Pepe Reina: “there were days when we would leave the dining room running to choose the seats and start playing as soon as possible.” They would play every day after eating.
- Iker, Pepe and Villa had played pocha together during the 2006 World Cup, but this time around, in Euro 2008, they no longer had their card partners Albelda, Cañizares, Pablo, Antonio López and Pernía there anymore. So Capdevila offered his room and his person, and Pepe recruited Santi Cazorla and Sergio García.
- these players required a serious dedication to the game. Xabi Alonso: “I like cards and I play once in a while. But I didn’t want to get involved, because I don’t always feel like playing, and if you don’t go, they pressure you and pressure you…”
- Pepe said he, Villa and Iker were the best, and the others were fighting for fourth or fifth place. But Sergio García said he thinks he and Pepe were the ones that took home the most money. Meanwhile, Villa claims that it was Iker, and Iker says it was Pepe and Villa.
- No one liked losing: Capdevila: “Iker insults you and is a bad loser.” Villa: “Cazorla is really annoying when he loses. No one can stand him then.” Iker: “the one that complains the most is Cazorla.”
- Juanito, an observer of the games: “Villa is really annoying. While he plays, he makes jokes, but he’s really bad at it. I know those are the same jokes that Joaquín tells in the locker room of Valencia, because he’s told them to me before.”
- Pepe is the treasurer, and responsible for keeping track of the games. He writes down who loses and wins money, and before the camp is over, debts have to be paid. Iker says Pepe is reliable, but Capdevila says he suspects Pepe of cheating…
- It was the last week of the Eurocopa competition, and Joan Capdevila announced, “I’m not playing anymore.” Iker Casillas, Pepe, Villa, Santi Cazorla and Sergio García tried to change his mind and tell him to stick it out until the end, but Joan wouldn’t budge. It turned out he had lost a lot of money in these games, which led to his drastic decision. It was a secret how much exactly, but one of those five partners said, “it was €1,000, but you didn’t hear it from me.” And after an arduous discussion, Joan acceded to the author’s request to publish the amount.
- So during the Confederations Cup, Joan was replaced by Fernando Llorente: “Cazorla and I were not on the same level as the others, but we tried our best.” Mata also joined in, but soon felt that it would be better if he gave it up: “I would watch them play once in a while during the Confederations Cup. One day I decided to try my hand, but that was the last time. They’re at a whole other level.”
- The other guys have been trying to get Joan to come back. Pepe: “we miss him a lot, because, thanks to him, Villa and I have won enough to pay for the communions of our daughters.”
Poker/Rummikub
- After giving up pocha, Joan joined the poker players: Riera, Xabi Alonso, Pablo Hernández, Piqué, Sergio Ramos, and sometimes even Pepe during the Confederations Cup. Joan: “one night when I was playing, I got a phone call and I told Xavi to play a pair of hands for me. When I returned, he had lost €50… a disaster.”
- The Rummikub players in the Confederations Cup were Mata, Marchena, Xavi, Diego López and sometimes Sergio Busquets. They would get together in Sergio Ramos’ room and play while listening to music on his iPod.
Other activities
- Marchena preferred to stay in his room and read - he brought a lot of books with him and read quite a few.
- Marcos Senna preferred to watch movies, and he liked to fall asleep watching.
- Xabi Alonso would drop by 422 once in a while, but other days he would watch a movie or read.
- Cesc preferred sleeping - he would take a pill after games and go to sleep.
- Puyol did not enter room 422 once: “I don’t go to those types of things (laughs). I had enough work with organizing the porra.”
- Iniesta preferred watching TV series - he watched Grey’s Anatomy and Prison Break.
- Xavi always had an excuse not to go to 422, despite many invitations. He had a secret - some friends of his were staying at a nearby hotel, and every night they would get together. A member of the security staff would lend a hand by giving them a room until midnight so that they could talk or play poker. But he says despite not hanging out with his teammates, he made sure to know what had happened every night, so that he could make fun of people the next day.
- On more than one occasion, Raúl Albiol, Álvaro Arbeloa and Rubén de la Red sneaked down to the kitchen to steal chocolate and get muffins as snacks. Albiol: “Since the team kept on winning, we kept this up. One night we took enough Nocilla for one month. We ran upstairs with bulging pockets towards our rooms, hoping no one would catch us.” Sergio Ramos heard about this, and joined in: “I did it out of superstition. It brought us luck. We asked for some mini-croissants, and even if you didn’t feel like eating it, you would still take a bite…”
(source)
3. "La Mesa de Triana", Actimel and Empanadas
Seating arrangements
- Xavi, Puyol, Iniesta, Cesc, Fernando Navarro and Sergio García made up one of the tables in the hotel in Austria. Because Cesc loved strawberry Actimel (a yogurt-type drink) so much, the other guys would conspire to make sure that he couldn’t get one. But in the end, they felt bad and would give him one, according to Puyol. Puyol also founded the group “Sushi-Team” during the Eurocopa for those who loved Japanese food. At times, Xavi, Cesc, Iniesta and Xabi would join. Xabi: I like Japanese food, but Puyol is obsessed with it. Once in a while, I’ll tell him, let’s have pork chops but there was no way of changing his mind… it was agony.
- another table was made up of Reina, Fernando Torres, Iker, Arbeloa, de la Red and Güiza. Pepe: “it was a laid back table and people knew how to enjoy the food. Arbeloa would talk to everyone from his seat by shouting. You could hear him anywhere in the dining room and we asked him to lower the volume a bit.”
- a third table had Capdevila, Marcos Senna, Cazorla, Villa and Xabi Alonso. Xabi says, “Marcos and I were mere spectators, because the other three never stopped talking. Villa talks so much!” Senna says, “Capdevila was the greediest one, and Villa ate the least.”
- the last table was made up of Albiol, Palop, Silva, Sergio Ramos, Juanito and Marchena. Juanito and Marchena: “we weren’t allowed to have eggs or onions in our salads, but Sergio always managed to smuggle some in.” Sergio, Juanito and Marchena were three ex-members of the “mesa de Triana” (Triana is a neighborhood of Sevilla), which was born during the 2006 World Cup. At that time, Joaquín, Reyes, Reina and Torres were also members. They were all from Andalucía with the exception of Fernando (Pepe’s dad is from Córdoba), and to distinguish themselves from the rest, they all wore a pin of the RFEF logotype. But one day, they almost broke up: they locked Juanito and Joaquín in the locker room, took the key, put it inside a bottle and threw it out the window. There was no way of getting it back, and Juanito and Joaquín spent a cold half hour in the showers. So Joaquín and Juanito went to eat after that without the pin to show their anger. That night, the rest of them appeared at the table with the word “perdón” (sorry) written on their foreheads, and all was forgiven.
Other anecdotes
- at the conclusion of training sessions, the goalkeepers had the tradition of competing on penalty kicks. The two losing goalkeepers each have to give €50 to the winning goalkeeper (maybe that’s what Pepe meant when he said that Palop had cleaned him out of €500). Iker says that “Pepito” is really good with penalties to the point where he’s almost sick (mentally), and it’s better that he doesn’t win, because then you don’t hear about anything else for the rest of the day.
- Cazorla on Pepe: “he creates a good atmosphere. He’s happy, he tells jokes, and he knows when you make light of the situation and when to be serious. When he talks, people listen because he’s charismatic.”
- Villa on Torres: “it’s a lie to say that I don’t get along with Fernando Torres. We debuted the same day on the sub-21 team, in a game against Andorra. We’ve always had a great relationship, which perhaps got stronger during the Eurocopa thanks to Pepe. When we had free days, my family, Pepe’s, Fernando’s and sometimes Silva’s would get together to eat. My wife Patricia became good friends with Olalla, Fernando’s then-girlfriend. My wife loved her name and we named our second daughter after her.”
- Xabi Alonso on Güiza: “Dani is unparalleled when one of his phrases or jokes is needed to break the tension… these types of persons are necessary.” Senna: “all groups need someone like Dani. Even when he’s not talking, he brings us happiness.” Cesc: “I laughed a lot with him. He was never in his room, and wherever you’d go, you’d find Dani. I asked myself if he slept at night.”
- If there were to be a casting of absentminded types done with the players, three of them would immediately be picked: Arbeloa, Cesc and Llorente. On the first day of the Eurocopa training camp, Arbeloa arrived in a taxi that had taken him to Las Rozas from the airport. He paid the fare, got out of the car, and started talking to the press. But he forgot one thing: his suitcase. He was able to get in contact with the taxi company, which returned his suitcase to him.
- Xavi on Cesc: “we were in Serbia, and everyone was on the bus waiting to go to the airport to return to Spain. But we didn’t leave, and it was already past the time in which we were supposed to start off. A couple of minutes later, Cesc got on the bus. He had fallen asleep.” Cesc has also been known to forget to wear his game shirt under his warm-up suit while on the bench: “in Brussels, Torres was injured and del Bosque sent Güiza to go warm up. He suddenly changed his mind and told me to get up. I then realized I had forgotten to put my shirt on, and the substitution had to be delayed.”
- Llorente, who is described as a very good and good-natured person by his teammates, is also absentminded: in the Confederations Cup, on a day when there was no training session, he lay down to take a nap and arrived ten minutes late for lunch. “I broke out in a cold sweat when I looked at my watch…”
- Arbeloa and Albiol have become really good friends. They live in the same neighborhood in Madrid, and spent New Year’s Eve 2009 together. Albiol even lent Arbeloa a contact lens at halftime of a game after Arbeloa lost one during the first half.
(source)
4. "Paraguay vs España desde Iker Casillas": Iker Casillas' view of Paraguay vs Spain.
If only I understood what Iker is saying. ;)
5. "Alemania vs España desde Iker Casillas": Iker Casillas' view of Germany vs Spain.
*rawr*
6. Entrevistas a Javi Martínez & Fernando Llorente
Again, I don't understand everything, but I get the general idea, and I just can't get over the way these two grin all the time. ;) I wish that they had played more in the World Cup, but fortunately they're both very young still and have a lot more World Cups ahead of them. :D
All in all, it is impossible (for me) not to love this team.
The first two are excerpts/summaries from the book Los secretos de la roja, which I will have to get my hands on as soon as my Spanish is better. It seems to tell all the interesting and inspirational tidbits about the Spanish team during the Euro 2008 and the Confed Cup 2009 and their path to the World Cup 2010, and every bit I read about it makes me love the team more. Don't believe me? Read for yourself!
1. "Mofeta, Pelopo y Virus": The nicknames of the Spanish national team.
The third chapter of the book talks about the nicknames that the players in the Spanish squad have given to each other. The nicknames seem to have come about in three ways: from the actions of the person being nicknamed, from the physical appearance of the person being nicknamed, and from general immaturity on the part of the nicknamer. Keep reading to see what cartoon character Dani Güiza was named after, what animal Iker apparently resembles, and what body part inspired Xavi and Albiol’s names. And did you know that Xabi is nicknamed after a TV character and Fernando Llorente after a playing card?
Everyone has one!
- Dani Güiza was nicknamed Virus. Xavi laughs upon recalling the origin of the nickname: “I looked at him and looked at him, and I said, this guy looks like someone, but I can’t think of who. One day, we got on the Internet and then I suddenly realized, he looked just like Virus, one of the characters on the animated series Érase una vez… el hombre! (That’s what the book says, but I think the proper title is Érase una vez el cuerpo humano). From that point on, we called him that and Dani not only did not get mad, he laughed each time.”
- Xavi is Pelopo: Xavi: “my friend Miguel Ángel started calling me that when we played together in the cantera of Barça.” Miguel Ángel: “Pelopo is a reference to the hair on a part of the body that you can imagine… you know, pelo-po, de po… [note: the po... stands for a five letter word that is Spanish for a certain part of the male anatomy.] It was an affectionate nickname that we used in my neighborhood. It resulted from some stupid thing that we did and it’s still used now.”
- Iker is Mofeta (skunk), another nickname chosen by Xavi, from when they played on the youth national teams. Xavi: “Iker was a bit less refined before, and at times he would just break wind. Now he’s a serious and responsible guy who doesn’t do those things anymore.” Iker rebuts, laughing: “I wasn’t like that; what happened is that Xavi always thought it was me who was behind everything.”
- Arbeloa is Empanao or Tostadas, because he’s very absentminded.
- Capdevila is Garrincha, a name given to him by Pepe, but just because he wore the number 11. Xavi said it’s one of his pending tasks to find a nickname that suits Joan. But Capdevila, a big joker, said, “they should call me Brad Pitt, Balón de Oro, Crack, Zidane…” His teammates say he’s a great person, that helps the group to cohere and that he never stops kidding around.
- Cazorla is Zlatan: he and Capdevila would play football on Play together. Joan: “Santi always chose to be Inter and I was Manchester. He almost always beat me, because I’m a disaster, and he would talk about Ibrahimovic’s goals all day. That’s why I started calling him Zlatan.” Cazorla: “Joan played against me with 20 different teams, but he never beat me.” In 2007, when Spain played Sweden, Capdevila exchanged his shirt with Ibra, and gave it to Cazorla as a gift upon return to Villarreal. Others call Cazorla “Enano” (midget) or “Alf” (like the alien from the TV show). Reina baptized him as “Alevín” (kid) in Colón.
- Albiol is Chori, because he was as tall and thin as a chorizo (a Spanish sausage).
- Marchena is el Padre, courtesy of Sergio: “he spends the entire day giving out advice.” At first Marchena didn’t like the nickname, but it had staying power.
- Xabi is called Dexter by Pepe, for his resemblance to Michael C. Hall, the actor who plays Dexter in Dexter. Raúl Martínez, the physiotherapist, had the series and gave it to Xabi to watch. [So that's where Xabi's addiction to Dexter comes from!]
- Pepe was at first Gordo (fat one), the work of Torres and Villa. He was also called Falete (click on the link, there’s no way I can accurately describe Falete in words). Pepe had originally called Sergio García that, for his resemblance to the singer, and Torres liked that so much that he turned around and started calling Pepe that.
- Torres is Ratita (rat) because of a hairstyle he had years ago, according to Juanito. And when they played Formula 1 on Play, Fernando named his team “Rata Humana.”
- David Silva is Pony or Enano due to his height.
- Sergio is sometimes Gitano (gypsy).
- Mata is Pichonín, an affectionate term used in Asturias and chosen for him by Villa. But when he and Villa first met each other, they called each other Guaje (kid in Asturias). Villa is commonly known as el Guaje.
- Llorente is Floris - in his town, the seven of gold (coins) playing card is known as Florón, and Joseba Exteberría started calling him that when they played cards. It eventually became Floris, and was picked up by his national team teammates.
- Iniesta is Andrew, the only thing Xavi dared to call him, because he’s so “timid that you can’t nickname him anything,” according to Albiol.
(source)
2. The Cyber Café of Room 422.
Room 422
- Room 422 refers to the room of Joan Capdevila. It was their first day at the hotel in Neustift, Austria: “when I entered the room for the first time, I thought they had given me the wrong one. I thought it was Iker’s room, and since my last name begins with the same letter as his, they got confused.” (The captains usually get the biggest rooms during the camps.) So he went back down to reception, and it was confirmed that 422 was indeed his room.
- After that, he went to find Santi Cazorla to see if all the rooms were like his. He saw that Santi’s room was much smaller. And Santi stared open-mouthed at Joan’s room and declared, “we’re going to play pochita here at night!”
- The room was the size of an apartment: it had an enormous salon, three bedrooms and two bathrooms. There were a total of six beds.
- Joan’s room became known as “el Cíber” and became the place to be for the components of the team. A visit was practically mandatory after every game, where the guys would analyze and re-analyze the games. They also talked about life, cars, girls…
- It started with the guys playing pocha, and then others joined in to take advantage of the wi-fi connection: Silva, Navarro, Sergio, Juanito. They would use the connection to surf the Internet, chat, talk with friends and families. Silva said he was one of the regulars.
- Sergio: “we could be there just hanging out until two or three in the morning. Without realizing it, at least 10 of the players would get together. I brought my laptop with music to add to the ambiance.”
- Pepe: “it showed the union that we had. We also talked a lot about what worried us. We had a hard time being away from our families for so long, and so we would help each other out. I remember fondly what a good time we had.”
- Even the players that didn’t play cards would stop by once in a while to chat. Palop: “there was a spectacular ambiance.” Marcos Senna: “sometimes I would just go in to see what was going on.”
- After a while, Capdevila had a problem falling asleep. He confided to Cazorla that he would hear noises, and have to fasten the deadbolt because he thought someone was trying to get into the room. Santi was so worried that one night he decided to sleep over. He borrowed a bathrobe and went to sleep in the bed next to Joan’s. He didn’t hear one noise the entire night.
- In the end, with so many people moving in and out, the battery of the electronic lock on the door gave out and had to be replaced. And the day after Spain won the Eurocopa, when Joan went upstairs to rest, he found that the lock was completely destroyed, because someone had tried to enter and since it was locked, forced their way in.
Pepe’s room
- After pocha on days before games, the six players would go to Pepe’s room for their nightly Cola Cao, a ritual that Pepe had started in Aarhus against Denmark. They would drink a glass of Cola Cao and sometimes have a muffin while talking. Pepe: “it was an excuse to unite us even more, if that was possible. It brought us luck and we decided to keep on doing it. While we had our Cola Cao, we talked about the game and our lives, and we got to know each other better along the way.”
- Pepe also had hidden in his room a lot of foodstuff prohibited by the team doctor: lomo, jamón. “Sometimes I would go down to the kitchen to get freshly baked bread, and anyone who was smart would follow me. It got boring eating the same thing over and over again.”
The videogamers
- Fernando Torres’ room in Austria (327) was for the videogame lovers. These were el niño, Arbeloa, Albiol and de la Red. They would have football tournaments. Albiol: “de la Red is the biggest clown when he wins.”
- during the Confederations Cup, with Rubén out, the group added Busquets, Piqué and Sergio Ramos. They started playing Virtual Tennis in Albiol’s room. According to Mata, you could hear the noise from far away. Busquets: “It was like a Madrid-Barça game… when the tournament started, it was Piqué and me against Ramos, but during the Confederations Cup, Albiol signed with Madrid. Arbeloa was still at Liverpool, but days later he would also sign with Madrid… But say what you will, Gerard and I won.”
- Sergio Ramos: “I think the best players in tennis are Arbeloa, Albiol and Busi. I was there learning, but in football I always come in first.”
Pocha
- Pocha is one of the principal pastimes of the internationals. Pepe Reina: “there were days when we would leave the dining room running to choose the seats and start playing as soon as possible.” They would play every day after eating.
- Iker, Pepe and Villa had played pocha together during the 2006 World Cup, but this time around, in Euro 2008, they no longer had their card partners Albelda, Cañizares, Pablo, Antonio López and Pernía there anymore. So Capdevila offered his room and his person, and Pepe recruited Santi Cazorla and Sergio García.
- these players required a serious dedication to the game. Xabi Alonso: “I like cards and I play once in a while. But I didn’t want to get involved, because I don’t always feel like playing, and if you don’t go, they pressure you and pressure you…”
- Pepe said he, Villa and Iker were the best, and the others were fighting for fourth or fifth place. But Sergio García said he thinks he and Pepe were the ones that took home the most money. Meanwhile, Villa claims that it was Iker, and Iker says it was Pepe and Villa.
- No one liked losing: Capdevila: “Iker insults you and is a bad loser.” Villa: “Cazorla is really annoying when he loses. No one can stand him then.” Iker: “the one that complains the most is Cazorla.”
- Juanito, an observer of the games: “Villa is really annoying. While he plays, he makes jokes, but he’s really bad at it. I know those are the same jokes that Joaquín tells in the locker room of Valencia, because he’s told them to me before.”
- Pepe is the treasurer, and responsible for keeping track of the games. He writes down who loses and wins money, and before the camp is over, debts have to be paid. Iker says Pepe is reliable, but Capdevila says he suspects Pepe of cheating…
- It was the last week of the Eurocopa competition, and Joan Capdevila announced, “I’m not playing anymore.” Iker Casillas, Pepe, Villa, Santi Cazorla and Sergio García tried to change his mind and tell him to stick it out until the end, but Joan wouldn’t budge. It turned out he had lost a lot of money in these games, which led to his drastic decision. It was a secret how much exactly, but one of those five partners said, “it was €1,000, but you didn’t hear it from me.” And after an arduous discussion, Joan acceded to the author’s request to publish the amount.
- So during the Confederations Cup, Joan was replaced by Fernando Llorente: “Cazorla and I were not on the same level as the others, but we tried our best.” Mata also joined in, but soon felt that it would be better if he gave it up: “I would watch them play once in a while during the Confederations Cup. One day I decided to try my hand, but that was the last time. They’re at a whole other level.”
- The other guys have been trying to get Joan to come back. Pepe: “we miss him a lot, because, thanks to him, Villa and I have won enough to pay for the communions of our daughters.”
Poker/Rummikub
- After giving up pocha, Joan joined the poker players: Riera, Xabi Alonso, Pablo Hernández, Piqué, Sergio Ramos, and sometimes even Pepe during the Confederations Cup. Joan: “one night when I was playing, I got a phone call and I told Xavi to play a pair of hands for me. When I returned, he had lost €50… a disaster.”
- The Rummikub players in the Confederations Cup were Mata, Marchena, Xavi, Diego López and sometimes Sergio Busquets. They would get together in Sergio Ramos’ room and play while listening to music on his iPod.
Other activities
- Marchena preferred to stay in his room and read - he brought a lot of books with him and read quite a few.
- Marcos Senna preferred to watch movies, and he liked to fall asleep watching.
- Xabi Alonso would drop by 422 once in a while, but other days he would watch a movie or read.
- Cesc preferred sleeping - he would take a pill after games and go to sleep.
- Puyol did not enter room 422 once: “I don’t go to those types of things (laughs). I had enough work with organizing the porra.”
- Iniesta preferred watching TV series - he watched Grey’s Anatomy and Prison Break.
- Xavi always had an excuse not to go to 422, despite many invitations. He had a secret - some friends of his were staying at a nearby hotel, and every night they would get together. A member of the security staff would lend a hand by giving them a room until midnight so that they could talk or play poker. But he says despite not hanging out with his teammates, he made sure to know what had happened every night, so that he could make fun of people the next day.
- On more than one occasion, Raúl Albiol, Álvaro Arbeloa and Rubén de la Red sneaked down to the kitchen to steal chocolate and get muffins as snacks. Albiol: “Since the team kept on winning, we kept this up. One night we took enough Nocilla for one month. We ran upstairs with bulging pockets towards our rooms, hoping no one would catch us.” Sergio Ramos heard about this, and joined in: “I did it out of superstition. It brought us luck. We asked for some mini-croissants, and even if you didn’t feel like eating it, you would still take a bite…”
(source)
3. "La Mesa de Triana", Actimel and Empanadas
Seating arrangements
- Xavi, Puyol, Iniesta, Cesc, Fernando Navarro and Sergio García made up one of the tables in the hotel in Austria. Because Cesc loved strawberry Actimel (a yogurt-type drink) so much, the other guys would conspire to make sure that he couldn’t get one. But in the end, they felt bad and would give him one, according to Puyol. Puyol also founded the group “Sushi-Team” during the Eurocopa for those who loved Japanese food. At times, Xavi, Cesc, Iniesta and Xabi would join. Xabi: I like Japanese food, but Puyol is obsessed with it. Once in a while, I’ll tell him, let’s have pork chops but there was no way of changing his mind… it was agony.
- another table was made up of Reina, Fernando Torres, Iker, Arbeloa, de la Red and Güiza. Pepe: “it was a laid back table and people knew how to enjoy the food. Arbeloa would talk to everyone from his seat by shouting. You could hear him anywhere in the dining room and we asked him to lower the volume a bit.”
- a third table had Capdevila, Marcos Senna, Cazorla, Villa and Xabi Alonso. Xabi says, “Marcos and I were mere spectators, because the other three never stopped talking. Villa talks so much!” Senna says, “Capdevila was the greediest one, and Villa ate the least.”
- the last table was made up of Albiol, Palop, Silva, Sergio Ramos, Juanito and Marchena. Juanito and Marchena: “we weren’t allowed to have eggs or onions in our salads, but Sergio always managed to smuggle some in.” Sergio, Juanito and Marchena were three ex-members of the “mesa de Triana” (Triana is a neighborhood of Sevilla), which was born during the 2006 World Cup. At that time, Joaquín, Reyes, Reina and Torres were also members. They were all from Andalucía with the exception of Fernando (Pepe’s dad is from Córdoba), and to distinguish themselves from the rest, they all wore a pin of the RFEF logotype. But one day, they almost broke up: they locked Juanito and Joaquín in the locker room, took the key, put it inside a bottle and threw it out the window. There was no way of getting it back, and Juanito and Joaquín spent a cold half hour in the showers. So Joaquín and Juanito went to eat after that without the pin to show their anger. That night, the rest of them appeared at the table with the word “perdón” (sorry) written on their foreheads, and all was forgiven.
Other anecdotes
- at the conclusion of training sessions, the goalkeepers had the tradition of competing on penalty kicks. The two losing goalkeepers each have to give €50 to the winning goalkeeper (maybe that’s what Pepe meant when he said that Palop had cleaned him out of €500). Iker says that “Pepito” is really good with penalties to the point where he’s almost sick (mentally), and it’s better that he doesn’t win, because then you don’t hear about anything else for the rest of the day.
- Cazorla on Pepe: “he creates a good atmosphere. He’s happy, he tells jokes, and he knows when you make light of the situation and when to be serious. When he talks, people listen because he’s charismatic.”
- Villa on Torres: “it’s a lie to say that I don’t get along with Fernando Torres. We debuted the same day on the sub-21 team, in a game against Andorra. We’ve always had a great relationship, which perhaps got stronger during the Eurocopa thanks to Pepe. When we had free days, my family, Pepe’s, Fernando’s and sometimes Silva’s would get together to eat. My wife Patricia became good friends with Olalla, Fernando’s then-girlfriend. My wife loved her name and we named our second daughter after her.”
- Xabi Alonso on Güiza: “Dani is unparalleled when one of his phrases or jokes is needed to break the tension… these types of persons are necessary.” Senna: “all groups need someone like Dani. Even when he’s not talking, he brings us happiness.” Cesc: “I laughed a lot with him. He was never in his room, and wherever you’d go, you’d find Dani. I asked myself if he slept at night.”
- If there were to be a casting of absentminded types done with the players, three of them would immediately be picked: Arbeloa, Cesc and Llorente. On the first day of the Eurocopa training camp, Arbeloa arrived in a taxi that had taken him to Las Rozas from the airport. He paid the fare, got out of the car, and started talking to the press. But he forgot one thing: his suitcase. He was able to get in contact with the taxi company, which returned his suitcase to him.
- Xavi on Cesc: “we were in Serbia, and everyone was on the bus waiting to go to the airport to return to Spain. But we didn’t leave, and it was already past the time in which we were supposed to start off. A couple of minutes later, Cesc got on the bus. He had fallen asleep.” Cesc has also been known to forget to wear his game shirt under his warm-up suit while on the bench: “in Brussels, Torres was injured and del Bosque sent Güiza to go warm up. He suddenly changed his mind and told me to get up. I then realized I had forgotten to put my shirt on, and the substitution had to be delayed.”
- Llorente, who is described as a very good and good-natured person by his teammates, is also absentminded: in the Confederations Cup, on a day when there was no training session, he lay down to take a nap and arrived ten minutes late for lunch. “I broke out in a cold sweat when I looked at my watch…”
- Arbeloa and Albiol have become really good friends. They live in the same neighborhood in Madrid, and spent New Year’s Eve 2009 together. Albiol even lent Arbeloa a contact lens at halftime of a game after Arbeloa lost one during the first half.
(source)
4. "Paraguay vs España desde Iker Casillas": Iker Casillas' view of Paraguay vs Spain.
Click to view
If only I understood what Iker is saying. ;)
5. "Alemania vs España desde Iker Casillas": Iker Casillas' view of Germany vs Spain.
*rawr*
6. Entrevistas a Javi Martínez & Fernando Llorente
Again, I don't understand everything, but I get the general idea, and I just can't get over the way these two grin all the time. ;) I wish that they had played more in the World Cup, but fortunately they're both very young still and have a lot more World Cups ahead of them. :D
All in all, it is impossible (for me) not to love this team.