Iker in a tux (plus reflections on the World Cup)

Iker is on the cover of today’s Marca, decked out in a tux (see how good you can look Iker, when someone else dresses you?) with the best accessory ever, la bambina!  Inside, he looks back at his experience during the World Cup, from the first game to the last.  I love his answers, and how sincere he is (he even says so himself).  And Iker also toasts everyone for the new year, which I will do as well!  Hope you all have a great start to 2011 and that it’s full of unforgettable moments!

Q:  2010 is ending.  Are you going to miss it?

A:  Everyone will, not just me.  July 11 is an unforgettable memory, but I’m convinced that we’re going to have some more fairly good years.  There are things that are forthcoming that will be fabulous and I hope we will surpass what we achieved this year.

Q:  The image of you lifting up the World Cup is the most reproduced picture as the year ends.  What do you feel each time you see it?

A:  It was an enormous privilege to be the first one to lift up that longed-for Cup.  It was a well-deserved prize for a team that was so competitive, brilliant and worthy, both on and off the field, and which always had confidence in its possibilities.  Spain had to be world champions; there was no other option.

Q:  Even the king had a picture of him with you and Del Bosque during his Christmas discourse.  What was your reaction to that?

A:  He had a nice gesture towards us when we won the Eurocopa, and these are things that we are grateful for.  Es muy futbolero.  There’s no better way to end this year than by remembering this moment.

Q:  What were you thinking about when you walked onto the stage at Soccer City and was waiting for Blatter to hand you the Cup?

A:  I thought about all the players that have suited up for the national team.  This is the truth, I’m not saying it to sound good.  I remember crying as a kid after the bad results, such as the elbow from Tassotti to Luis Enrique, the goal that Julio Salinas missed against Pagliuca, or the elimination during the group stage in the 1998 World Cup.  As a Spaniard and the fan that I have been, I suffered a lot, which is why in that moment I thought about how much we Spaniards have suffered and the relief that we were now feeling.

Q:  It’s true, children right now are growing with the success of the national team.

A:  They don’t know how privileged they are.  I would have liked to see Spain win a World Cup when I was eight or nine.  It wasn’t to be back then, but right now there is a generation of children that have had many happy experiences and that will regard football differently than us.

Q:  Did the World Cup end in one stroke all that fatalismo that always accompanied the team?

A:  Yes.  A lot of nonsense and stupid things have been said for many years about the team and the footballers that formed it, and this triumph put an end to all that.  We tried to change and correct this so that Spain could be a reference and be in the top four in every World Cup.

Q:  It’s said that you were convinced more than anyone that you were going to win the World Cup.

A:  The veterans had the role of trying to encourage the rest, but I think that everyone saw it clearly.  In any case, while I may have been one of those who was the most convinced that we would reach the final, I was also one of the most nervous ones.

Q:  Do you feel responsible for the invasion of national pride after we won the World Cup?

A:  I feel like I participated in achieving something that the entire world thought impossible.  I would like for people to remember this with affection in ten years time.  We’re still not conscious of how difficult it is to win a Eurocopa and a World Cup in two years.  The day we no longer have it and I hope it won’t be like that, we’ll miss it.

Q:  Was the World Cup the moment in which you most had to carry out your duties as captain?

A:  On the national team, yes, because those were difficult weeks for everyone in South Africa.  But the press conference I gave with Puyi after we were eliminated from the Confederations Cup was also a delicate situation.  The two things don’t have anything to do with each other, but that loss against the U.S was worse than the one against Switzerland.

Q:  But that loss against Switzerland was a real blow.

A:  Yes, yes, it was.  I heard a lot of things, such as that we played horribly.  I asked myself, “but what game did they see?”  That day, the only occasion that Switzerland had was the one that ended in the goal whereas we created infinite possibilities.  Games like that, you lose one out of 10.  It was similar to the one against the U.S.

Q:  Was the serenity of Del Bosque a key to the comeback?

A:  Yes, because it wasn’t easy.  It was all about, “What problem is there?  What is happening here?  Busquets is not needed, too many changes…”  I remember el míster getting us together, making us watch the game and telling us, “What can I say to you all?  You were in charge of the game, you had goal occasions, you were very good defensively… I can only tell you to continue like this.  If we lose, we’ll do it playing our style, the one that brought us here.”  [I love Vicente del Bosque.]

Q:  But you must have had doubts.

A:  Doubts, no.  Look for a synonym for “cagazo” and use it for the interview so it doesn’t sound so bad (laughs).  I have never been so nervous in my life as I was the day we faced Honduras.  Against Honduras!  And the same with Chile.  The first 15 minutes, when Mark González failed on a clear occasion, I felt like dying.  Those two games were dramatic.  If we had one more bad day, we’d be going home.  With the hope we had, it would have been a real blow to us.

Q:  But you were all aware that this was the opportunity of your lives.

A:  Yes, yes.  There wasn’t another one.  It was this World Cup.  Torres, who had been operated on months before, said that he would do everything possible to be in South Africa because he knew that this was THE World Cup.  Others may come, but the first one was going to be this one.

Q:  There were difficult moments throughout the tournament, especially for you, for a non-sports related issue – your relationship with Sara Carbonero.  Did you feel that you had a target on your back?

A:  Yes, yes, yes, I felt that.  I have no problems in saying that because I’m a sincere person.  They were looking for morbo and bringing up things that weren’t at all related.  It was something that caused me a lot of regret because it was something illogical.

Q:  You can send everyone a Christmas message like the one from “The Times” accusing you of harming the team for your relationship with Sara.

A:  No, I don’t have to say anything.  Time will see justice served and so we don’t have to talk anymore about this.  Good always triumphs.

Q:  How did the “conjura in the cricket club” change history, before the last and decisive group stage game against Chile?

A:  It’s something that we’ve always done, it’s just that on this occasion, people found out about it.  On days before games, we all get together in a room and behind the doctor’s back we eat croissants, rolls, chocolate…. From the time that I’ve been on this team, we’ve never had so many players together in one room to talk, to comment on anecdotes… it was a moment in which I said to myself, “there’s something here, something is brewing here.”

Q:  Then you won against Portugal and were in the quarterfinals once more.  It was no longer a curse after the Eurocopa.

A:  We faced Paraguay.  In theory, it wasn’t such a strong rival, but it was one of those days where things don’t go well, when you don’t have a good feeling, and you know you’re going to suffer.  And that’s how it was.  It was a tricky team, and to add to that, the referee was a disaster.

Q:  The team eliminated Paraguay, Germany and qualified for the final.  Arbeloa said you shocked him by telling him on the way to the stadium that “estoy cagao.”  Did you really have such a bad time?  [Wasn’t this before the Chilean game?]

A:  (Laughs).  But that’s a good thing.  I don’t like it when I’m calm.  When you’re nervous, preoccupied and unsettled, you pay more attention to things.  But it wasn’t just before the final, it was before all of the games.  The day I was most relaxed was the day against Switzerland, and we lost.

Q:  Who was the last person you called before playing in the final?

A:  I spoke with my girlfriend, which I always do.

Q:  How do you remember that mythical stop you made against Robben?

A:  Well, it was an unexpected play.  A lot of things went through my head.  I thought he was going to race past me and that I wouldn’t have time to take away the ball.  If I had gone out too early, we wouldn’t be here doing this interview.  Or who knows (laughs).

Q:  Iniesta scored and you couldn’t go to celebrate with the others in la famosa piña…

A:  It wasn’t the time to go anywhere.  I ran, I jumped up, I fell to the ground, I cried, Busquets came to hug me…  It was the moment.  I also had a personal moment, when I thought about how I was going to be the first one to lift up the World Cup.

Q:  And then Webb blew the whistle for the final.  What a wonderful sound, no?

A:  I can’t even begin to tell you how much.  I picked up the ball, Puyi came, then Arbeloa, and I entered into a state of shock and started crying… so I don’t remember it well.  I do remember that Arbeloa took the ball away from me and I told him to return it to me because I wanted to keep it.  I also thought about everyone who had suffered and everything we had gone through.

Q:  Do you remember who sent the first congratulations that you received?

A:  No, because I had messages on my mobile even from people that I didn’t know.  Even today, when I’m out on the street, people come up to me and thank me.  But something I really like is the fact that now you can go to whichever field to play and the rival fans applaud you.  For example, Iniesta received an ovation from Espanyol.  That’s something that touches me.

Q:  The final is remembered for two moments.  The moment in which you lifted up the Cup, and the moment when you kissed your girlfriend.  That was the icing on the cake for an incredible night.

A:  Well, it was also to shut some people up.

Q:  Then it was back to Spain.  How do you remember the welcome in Madrid?

A:  It was four or five times better than that of the Eurocopa.  Whenever I go past Gran Vía, Moncloa or the cuesta de San Vicente now, I always think about what we lived through.  I have those images saved in my mind and seeing them is wonderful.

Q:  When you were a kid, the finals of grand events were for other national teams.  Was it a goal for you to change history?

A:  Yes, they always talked Brazil, Germany and not much else.  Let’s see if people start talking about Spain from now on.

Q:  What did Del Bosque bring to the team?

A:  Serenity and tranquility.

Q:  There are people who say that Vicente reflects the spirit of the group more than Luis.

A:  Luis is a 10 and Vicente is a 10.  The group was appreciative that Del Bosque made clear from the beginning that he came to continue something that the previous míster had begun constructing, that he wasn’t going to tear anything apart.  The proof is there.  He did add three or four finishing touches.

Q:  What was the key moment for you of the World Cup?

A:  I had the most anxiety in the group stage.  I couldn’t sleep and so I could only think about how we might have to go home.  Getting to the round of 16 was a liberation for everyone.  We said to ourselves, now the good times will begin, which we will really enjoy.

Q:  You said before that as a kid you even got upset when you lost at chapas (a bottle cap game).  I don’t even want to imagine what would have happened if you had lost in the final of the World Cup.  Have you ever put yourself in the Netherlands’ shoes?

A:  Yes, yes, I’ve done that.  But I knew that if we made it to the final, it was to win it.  I never imagined myself leaving South Africa without the Cup.  Leaving there as the runner-up would have marked me for the rest of my life.  I still remember the penalties against Korea… to the point that I don’t even want to see anything relating to that World Cup.  So imagine what it would have been like to lose the final in South Africa.

Q:  You’ve won the World Cup and also the respect of rivals.

A:  Yes, now everyone wants to beat us and they all come out 200% against us.

Q:  Is there any danger of Spain becoming complacent by all the success?

A:  The only risk is that after the next Eurocopa, there will be three or four players leaving due to age.

Q:  You’re not talking about yourself, are you?

A:  We goalkeepers usually stick around for longer, but it’s clear that there’s always competition and pressure.  Luckily, I think I still have three or four years at the highest level.

Q:  The style of play was another source of pride.  The team won while playing like angels.  Xavi said that Germany’s coach Löw told him after the semifinal that “you all are the best team I’ve seen in my life.”

A:  Our style of play since 2008 has been fantastic.  The only stain was the Confederations Cup, but anyone can have a bad day.  But in general terms, I think we’re bordering on perfection.  I give a 10 to the play of Spain.

Q:  For you, the Three Kings came on July 11.  Have you asked for anything else?

A:  It’s true, they came a bit early.  But yes, I’ve asked for health for me on the personal level, and to concentrate a bit more on my club this year on the professional level.

Q:  Make a toast to the fans for the year that is ending.

A:  I hope that 2010 is a year that you remember and that you’ve enjoyed, that you won’t ever get tired of seeing images from the World Cup, and that what happened to France won’t happen to us.  They won a doblete like we did and 10 years later they fell apart.  You have to know that sometimes you win and other times you lose.

Some production notes: the photo shoot and interview took place yesterday, lasted for three hours, and was carried out at the Hotel “El antiguo convento de Boadilla.”  Iker arrived accompanied by his manager Carlo Cutropía, and Óscar Ribot, Real Madrid’s head of press.  Iker joked around with the production team between photos, and talked about his “performance” at the Africa charity game, saying that he was completely out of breath and couldn’t get back to the goal.  Iker said he won’t be going back to Navalacruz for the new year, and in any case, his cousin told him it was snowing a lot so he might not even make it if he goes.  The tuxedo was provided by Hugo Boss, and the RFEF ceded the trophy for the report.  Iker asked if the grapes that he posed with had been washed, which made everyone laugh.  The day ended at the restaurant El Acebo, which of course was just made famous as it was the scene of the Inocente joke on Arbeloa and Albiol.  The restaurant has an “Iker corner” which is full of photos, newspaper articles, shirts and other memorabilia of Iker, including a miniature World Cup.