Conexión Samanta – part III

In the third part of Conexión Samanta, Samanta goes to Las Rozas for the tribute to the world champions, and then travels with the team to Lisbon, to see how they prepare for the game against Portugal.

I think my favorite parts are the ones in which the boys tease each other (you know, when they make noises like schoolchildren).  And Raúl Albiol’s facial expressions.  They’re priceless.  Xavi approves.

Las Rozas – the tribute

SV:  The national team is getting back together again, and they’re going to play a game in Lisbon in three days.  And everything starts here, at the Football City, with the tribute to the world champions.

SV:  Who are you excited to see today?

Sergio Ramos:  All my teammates, the players that formed part of La Roja.

SV:  Is it a pre-warm-up?

SR:  More or less.

SV:  Joan, how’s your baby?

Joan Capdevila:  Very good, very good, perfect.

SV:  Are you sought after today?

JC:  Me, no, it’s the cracks.

SV:  You know that it’s full of people in there.

Xabi Alonso:  Yes, yes.

SV:  From all different decades.

XA:  Yes, yes, yes.

SV:  And what are they going to say to you when they see you?

XA:  I suppose congratulations, it’s been a while since we’ve all gotten together.

SV:  Are you a bit envious?

Julen Guerrero:  Of course, everyone would like to be in their place, but it happened to them and we have to congratulate them, they were great.

Fernando Llorente:  What’s up?

SV:  Good morning!

FL  How are you?

SV:  Good, good.  And you?

FL:  Very good.

SV:  And the car?

FL:  Good, good, perfect.

SV:  Are you going to liven up the gala today?

Pepe Reina:  No, no.

José Antonio Camacho:  This generation of players has nothing to do with previous generations.  They’re the best, and that’s why they’ve been nominated for everything.

SV:  VDB is in the first row, surrounded by all the players from the Spanish national team, all those behind them, some 400 persons, are all those who have played for Spain, are preparing now for the photo.

Las Rozas – training session

Fans:  ¡Guapo! Cesc, come here!  We came here from Alicante to see Ramos.  (And Piqué!)  We traveled 500 km and left at 8 in the morning.  And now here we are, freezing…. Let’s see if they notice us.

With Puyol:  all of my friends are going to be jealous of me!  [And Puyol doesn’t know which camera to look into.]

At the hotel in Madrid

SV:  Hey Pepe, what’s the plan now?

Pepe Reina:  To rest.  Are you having dinner with us?

SV:  I would be thrilled if you invited me.

PR:  They won’t let us.

SV:  How are you?

Cesc Fàbregas:  Very good.

SV:  What are you carrying?  Your shoes in your hands?

CF:  Yes, my shoes.  There wasn’t any more space.

SV:  Ok, see you later.

CF:  A pleasure, bye!

SV:  Do you know where you are going to sit?

Carlos Marchena:  I’ll sit over there, where I always sit.

SV:  Are you all tired?

Santi Cazorla:  I’m good now.  We’ll rest until the trip tomorrow.  To Portugal.

SV:  What time will you all go to sleep?

SC:  Well, not very later, that’s for sure.  I usually go to sleep around midnight.

FL:  You’re not at dinner?

SV:  Are you the last one?

FL:  Clearly.

SV:  How come you’re always the last one?  Or is it just today?  What are you having for dinner?

FL:  A bit of everything, a buffet.

SV:  Is it good?

FL:  Yes.

SV:  Bon appétit.

On the plane and at the Lisbon airport

SV:  Are you aware of the sheer number of people that you and the national team attracts?

VDB:  It’s the team, not me.  At the end of the day, the true protagonists are the boys, the ones who play.

SV:  But you’re the one guiding them.

VDB:  We have some rules to follow but in the end it’s them who do everything.

SV:  How was the flight?

Fernando Torres:  Good, and you?

SV:  Iker.

Iker Casillas:  Hello.

SV:  I like your headphones.

CF:  Thanks.

SV:  Very discreet, no?

CF:  Yes.

SV:  What are you listening to?

SR:  What am I listening to?  Flamenco.

SV:  You always listen to flamenco?

SR:  Always.

SV:  I’m going to give you the camera.

JC:  What a responsibility!

Gerard Piqué:  Focus on the pimple!

David Villa

SV:  Villa!  I’m exhausted.

David Villa:  What are you doing?

SV:  Following you.  Are you listening to music?

DV:  Yes, disco music.

SV:  And when you go out, what do you do, where do you go?

DV:  I don’t go out a lot, I take care of myself.

JC:  How do you turn this on and off?

SV:  Close the screen.

DV:  We don’t really go outside of the hotel.  We arrive, we play and we return.

SV:  You’re not going to have time for any tourism?

DV:  If we have any free time, we’ll use it to rest.

Pepe!  You talk for a bit.

Pepe Reina

SV:  Do you feel nostalgic [in England]?

PR:  We’re very happy there  because we like it and people love us, but Spain is… better than anywhere else.

SV:  When would you like to come home?

PR:  I don’t have that… necessity…

SV:  And your family?  Do they have a hard time when they have to go abroad?

PR:  I have two daughters and my wife is pregnant again… and what you’re going to teach them is impressive.  The people there are very affectionate.

SV:  And now they’re getting on the bus.  Fernando, have you all made bets [on the outcome of the game]?

FL:  0-2.

JC:  0-4 would be good [well, he sort of got it right].

At the hotel

Reporters:  The photo I would like to take tomorrow would be the entire team celebrating for me.

Iniesta and Ronaldo giving each other a kiss.

SV:  In any moment, you could be signing autographs, no?

VDB:  It’s alright, the people are very affectionate.

SV:  Have you regretted something, and said to yourself, I shouldn’t have said that?

VDB:  Of course, a lot of times.  But the best thing to make sure you won’t say something you’ll regret is to stay silent.

SV:  What’s on the schedule now?

VDB:  We’re going to eat, train and prepare for tomorrow.

With Javier Arbizu

JA:  I’m going to take this out now… I’ve been working with the Spanish national team for almost 20 years.  This year was my fifth World Cup .  It’s a very difficult limitation for a cook.  You can’t use a lot of things, such as egg yolks, we can only use egg whites.  Grilled vegetables, grilled bacalao, tortilla from organic corn.  On game days, we have the same tradition:  salad, spaghetti, and chicken breast.  And yogurt and fruit, and then it’s off to the field.  Sergio Ramos, on the eve of the game, in other words, tonight, says we’re going to have salmon.  That’s the tradition for him.

In the hotel

SV:  You always eat at the same time?  [Whose dream is it to be in that elevator, and have it get stuck and stay unrescued for hours?]

IC:  Around 13:30, 14h.

SV:  And you always eat the same thing?

IC:  Dr. Hambre doesn’t allow us more.

SV:  Dr. Hambre?  That’s what you call the chef?  [They call the national team doctor “Dr. Hambre” (Dr. Hunger).]

PR:  Do you remember when you were filming “21 Días” [a show Samanta had previously worked for] and talking about the…

[I love how much like teenagers these guys are.]

SV:  Let’s see what the rooms are like [rest of team makes noises].

[The players have rooms on the same floor, but don’t share rooms.]

With Cesc and Piqué

SV:  What’s that about?

CF:  He’s embarrassed to be filmed.

CF:  Film Piqué!

SV:  Hello!

CF:  You’re so handsome!

SV:  Tell me what you usually do around this time.

CF:  The truth is nothing, we take it easy and we rest.  We talk with our families and friends, watch a movie…

SV:  And Piqué hides his face in the bathroom?

CF:  Getting caught on camera embarrasses him.  He gets embarrassed.

SV:  Who’s the funnest one on the national team?

CF:  I don’t know.  It’s not Piqué.

SV:  Not Piqué?

CF:  The camera is intimidating.

SV:  Well, we’ll give it to Piqué then.  You can turn it like this… And you see yourself and you can film.

GP:  No, I pass.

SV:  What do you usually play in your rooms?

GP:  Male nurses and female nurses.

SV:  What do you have in there?

CF:  I have my toilet bag, this is for relaxing, it’s a Compex.  It uses currents to help you relax.  Stickers, plugs, wires… you put it on your skin, it sends out a current to help you relax, it’s great.  I have problems with my hip and it works well for that.

SV:  What are you going to do now?

CF:  Sleep, rest.

On the team bus

[Capdevila films the team on the bus as they head to their last training session.]

SC:  Wave, padre, please.

Someone:  What a character.

Xavi Hernández:  Eh, I’m in the video, eh?

JC:  Yes, I’m filming you.

XH:  Good, máquina, good.

SC:  As you can see, there’s a lively atmosphere here.  Film Iker.

Álvaro Arbeloa:  Film him like that, with his mobile, he spends the entire day on his mobile, that idiot.

JC:  Don’t turn to the side because then we won’t be able to see anything other than your nose.

SC:  Then put the camera in front.  What do you think about the things they’re saying about Milan?  [Capdevila could end his career by playing with AC Milan.]

JC:  I’m not going to talk about that.

And there we have Víctor talking on the phone… You can see everyone doing their own thing.

Raúl Albiol:  For who?  Samanta?  Who’s Samanta?

SC:  She’s the one from “21 Días.”

RA:  So now you’re working for her?

JC:  I don’t have much of a football career left…

RA:  I don’t know who she is.

SC:  Say something Chori.

RA:  What do you want me to say?  You say something.

AA:  I don’t have anything to say, idiot [imbécil appears to be his favorite word].

JC:  Here we have the Zipi and Zape of the national team.  Zipi and Zape.

AA:  He’s Zipi and I’m Zape.

RA:  Film this one, Vicente from “Mujeres, Hombres y Viceversa” [a show on Telecinco].

JC:  Oliver, there’s Oliver!  The watch of the Guaje Villa… I think he bought that in the flea market over there…

SC:  Is it fake?  I think it’s fake…

JC:  Recite the nine times table now while you’re passing by.

DV:  I can screw up your recording with one sentence.  [Boys being boys, no?]

JC:  Don’t threaten me.

Training session

[Last training session before La Roja takes on Portugal.]

Falcon handler:  Victoria is the mascot, or the living symbol of Benfica.  She flew for the first time inside the stadium in 2003, when José Antonio Camacho was coach.

Back at the hotel

Piqué and Villa

SV:  Now the players have some free time.  That’s Piqué.  Tape what you want.

GP:  I’m going to film El Guaje.  I’m going to get a good shot of him.  Look at the…  But it gets all blurry when I use the zoom!

DV:  The most handsome guy in the Liga, but he has something wrong up here…

GP:  Look at El Guaje’s pimple.  The headline of Interviu (a magazine) two months ago was that “even the ugly ones sell” and then there was El Guaje’s ugly mug.

DV:  Give me the camera.

GP:  It’s better that this doesn’t come out, because then El Guaje will lose… he won’t be able to sell Skip anymore or even floor cleaner.

DV:  I’m not superstitious in the bad sense, but for good things.  I put on one boot on before the other, same with the socks, I always listen to the same music, the one you heard.

SV:  Do you ever watch yourself on TV?

DV:  Yes, sometimes.

SV:  And you like it?

DV:  Normally you get a bit embarrassed.  It’s not the same to talk as to see yourself talk.

SV:  Do you read the news?

DV:  Yes, it’s important to know what’s going on.

SV:  Would you like to be a sports journalist one day?

DV:  I don’t know.  I don’t think about the future since I love this profession so much.

SV:  How old are you?

DV:  28.

SV:  Well you have some time left.

DV:  Ten more years, easily.

SV:  Ten more years?  That’s optimism.

Xavi

SV:  How many autographs have you signed?

XH:  There’s always shirts to sign with the national team, Barcelona as well… they ask you to sign their skin, their hands, their arms… I tell them it’s going to get erased, but…

SV:  Vicente told me that one day you all were trying out some corners, and you said, míster, in Barcelona we do things like this…

XH:  Vicente is a very humane and humble person and he always asks what we do in Barcelona, or Madrid, or Valencia.  And since I’m in charge of taking the corners, we always talk about what to do.

SV:  And did it help?

XH:  Yes, it helped.  Remember, it was a corner that helped us get into the finals in the semifinal game of the World Cup.  Puyol’s goal.

Fernando Llorente

SV:  There’s Llorente, with some friends.

Where’s the Playstation?

FL:  I didn’t bring it.  I never bring it to the concentraciones.  We usually play cards here, but not right now because a friend from Portugal has come to visit me.  We lived in the same student residence in Derio.

SV:  What’s Llorente really like?

Fernando’s friend:  He’s very humble, very cool.

SV:  Is he very different than he was seven years ago?

FF:  No.

FL:  He said before that I seem older now.

SV:  Did he already have the reputation of being the handsome one back then?

FF:  All the girls were asking for his autograph…

FL:  He brought me a gift from Portugal and I brought him my shirt.

FF:  Champions. Of the world.

SV:  Where is everyone?  Not a lot of them came down.

FL:  They’re upstairs, normally we don’t come down, except when we have visitors.  Some of them are receiving treatment from the fisios, and others are relaxing and watching TV.

Everyone:  See you later.