yes, they do get along!

And El País has done it again, with another quality football article!  (Yes, it’s Luis Martín again.  Can he retire and leave me his job?).  This time, they got Víctor Valdés and Pepe Reina together for a little chat.  There’s not much talk about the national team but it’s quite adorable, especially when they’re reminiscing about their childhood together at Barcelona, so that’s why I translated most of it.

Reina: When I arrived, you were already there.  I remember because your dad had a red Montero.

Valdés: Yes.  It was the first training session of the infantiles team.  We came to Barça together, on the same day.

R: Aug. 25, 1995.

V: Yes, the end of August 1995.  That’s it.  But before, you didn’t have to pass a test?  I remember an earlier training session with Jordi Castell.

R: Yes, of course.  I trained for several days, but I didn’t meet you until Aug. 28.

V: That was the first year that we shared a team, the infantil A with Rojo.  In the middle of the season, Asensi came.

R: Ruano, Creus were there…

V: Rial…

R: And The Bat, who had those big ears… what was his name?  He played in Mérida.  He was left-footed…

V: The small one?  The one that had a lot of character?  Corvo!

R: Yes, Corvo.

V: That’s right!  You and I went to the Luis Vives together.  Neither of us were good students, but you got better grades.

R: I don’t remember that.  But the part about us being bad students, I do.  And Óscar Sanjuán was there too, he studied a lot.

V: Yes, we copied everything from him.  We were a disaster… And then there was another one, I won’t say his name…

R: Shhh! He was on the cadet team, he had repeated the class three times and never passed.  What a phenomenon!

R: I remember that we played ping-pong a lot.

V: Yes, we played some rounds.  But studying… we studied very little.

El País: You both knew by the age of 12 that you wanted to be goalkeepers.  Why?

V: My father liked goalkeepers and so we always talked about them, but I never felt pressure to play in the goal.  It was just that I liked it.

R: I never had any pressure either.  It wasn’t an obligation.  I wanted to be a player, but immediately we realized that I was more suited to be a goalkeeper.  I thought it was fun.  It turned out nicely for us.

V: I remember those days when all the goalkeepers trained together – those from the cadets, juveniles, even Barça C.

R: I remember it too.  With Ruiz, Rubén, Felip…

V: Arnau was already on the B team.  We followed closely the older ones.

R: Yes, of course.  They always gave us gloves!  They took care of us.  We never lacked anything in Barcelona.  We always had clean clothes in the locker.  The facilities were enormous.

V: The older goalkeepers treated us very well.  I always try to do that now.  It doesn’t hurt to give away gloves.

R: Me too.  Whenever a kid is called up to train with us, he always takes something away with him.

V: I always have a special feeling with the kids that want to become goalkeepers.  You don’t see them as you would anyone else.

R: It’s clear that we’re like a trade union, a union of pure and strong goalkeepers.  The position of goalkeeper is the most unrewarding one that there is, and since we experienced it all before, when we see a kid that wants to be a goalkeeper, we inevitably feel a pull towards him…

V: Without a doubt.

– some talk about what it’s like to be a goalkeeper –

V: I remember training with Castell, who passed on to me tranquility and confidence.  He was like a sporting father to me.  I learned a lot.  It was during those years when if someone shot high, you couldn’t reach it.  Frustrating.

R: You spent the entire game thinking, “don’t shoot above me!”  Castell was an important figure, the predecessor of Ochotorena for me or Unzue for you, no?

V: Yes.  We learned a lot from him.  I have a great memory… it was during the time when we took turns, no?  In infantil A, in the cadets… but you always graduated to the next team before me.

R: I went from juvenil A to B.  You went to C.

V: Yes.  I got to the first team later on.  You debuted before.

R: Shhh!  Don’t say anymore!  What a debut…

V: You debuted at the hands of Serra Ferrer.

R: Yes, in Balaídos, against Celta.  I was sitting there calmly on the bench and Dutruel got injured during a corner.  I had to go out running.  What a mess!  Everything went super quickly: I warmed up for three minutes, put on the shirt, the gloves.  And the míster: “come on, Pepe!  Let’s go!”  I was nervous and he made me even more nervous… There was one minute left before the end of the first half.  During the halftime, I got ready with Hoek, the goalkeeping coach.  We were losing 3-1 and we ended 3-3.  I didn’t have your luck.  I was only there for two years.  You’re on your eighth year?

V: Yes.

R: That’s a lot.  That’s commendable.

V: Your situation is the one that’s commendable.  In that moment, leaving Barça had to be hard and you managed to come out on top again.

R: Yes, it was hard, but it became the best decision I ever made.  They told me that they weren’t counting on me.  The opportunity with Villarreal came up and what appeared to be a step backwards in the end became two steps forward.  I wouldn’t change anything about my career, but what I learned with Barça affected my career.  And I’m very grateful for that.

V: Van Gaal told me in the preseason, “you have the opportunity to win a spot.”  So I worked with Bonano and Enke (may he rest in peace).  He put me in in a friendly against Newcastle and after the game, told me me that I was going to play.  I played my first game against Legia Warszawa.

– some more talk about playing for Barcelona –

R: In that time, you had long hair…

V: Yes.  And you did too!

R: Of course.  I had a center part, and I used gel.

V: You were very vain.  I wasn’t at all.  My sweatsuit was like a second skin, I never took it off.  You were more concerned about your appearance.

El País: Was it then that you two had a disagreement?

R: We never fought.  And close contact leads to affection.  I have a lot of affection for you.  We both wanted to play more minutes, but we were 15 years old.  And we alternated on the infantil A and cadet A teams.  Then, we were separated.  But people have said that you didn’t join the national team because I vetoed your selection, as if I could decide like the coach.  That’s ridiculous.  Please!

V: You now that I never believed it.  I don’t remember having a problem with you.  There was a rivalry on the team, but nothing more than that.  But they said that about the vetoing and worse things too.  They also said some things about me that have nothing to do with reality.  In addition, in Spain the quality of the goalkeepers is spectacular.  I always said that if Del Bosque didn’t call me up, it was because there were six or seven other great goalkeepers, as good or better than me, in the same situation…

R: Yes, now it’s us and Casillas, but there are a lot more.  You don’t know how many there are, and who will come.  But as long as things are working out like that… Spain is a country full of great goalkeepers because there’s a goalkeeping culture and it’s worked from that foundation.

V: And there will be more.  I’ve been told that in the footballing base of Barça there are four goalkeeping coaches.

R: As long as they keep working like that, goalkeepers will keep coming out.  In Spain, there is more of a goalkeeping culture, we understand much more, than in England.  That’s why they have the problems they have, because they don’t work from the foundation.  I think each country has its way of doing things.

V: Without a doubt.  There’s a German type, a school that I like a lot.  Then the South American one, Italian, ours… It’s what you said, about the system they use on the youth teams.  In every generation, there was always a Spaniard among the three best goalkeepers in the world: Iribar, Arconada, Zubi, and now, it’s obviously Iker…

R: Iker is a monster.

V: Yes, he’s a monster.  He has a gift, but he doesn’t rely just on that.  Iker has worked to get to where he is, although clearly, he’s had luck in certain moments, which we all need.

R: You know what type of luck a goalkeeper needs?  One where no one shoots at him.  Sometimes I’m asked about what type of save a goalkeeper dreams of.  I dream of one where no one shoots at me.  That’s the best save.

V: For me, the best save is one that means something.  A great save has to be useful.

R: You know what I’m saying?  Our best save is still to come.  I have another: “mi mejor parada son mis hijos.”

V: That’s what goalscorers say.

R: I don’t care!  Cliches are great!