Soccer and religion: "Listen to your God and you will not be alone".Vicente del Bosque (Salamanca, 1950), former footballer and winner of five Spanish League titles and four Spanish Cups with Real Madrid, and former coach and trainer of the Spanish national soccer team, which he led to win the 2010 World Cup in South Africa and the 2012 European Championship, is a legend of the Spanish national soccer team. sport Spanish.
Last week, Del Bosque presented, at the CEU Angel Herrera Awards, the award corresponding to the "Ethics and Values" category to Pau Gasol, another Spanish sports legend, an extraordinary basketball player who played 18 seasons in the NBA, where he was twice champion, and another 3 with FC Barcelona. The other person to receive this award was Mexican producer and actor Eduardo Verástegui.
Del Bosque was awarded by FIFA as the best world's best coach at 2012and from athlete to athlete, he presented the award to Agustí Gasol, father of Pau Gasol, who entered the CEU event via streaming.
The only eight world champion teams in soccer are Brazil (5), Germany (4) and Italy (4), Argentina (3), France (2) and Uruguay (2), England (1) and Spain (1).
A few days later, far from the hustle and bustle, Omnes spoke briefly with this illustrious and reserved Salamanca native. We chatted about the background of the sport, his family (they have a son, Alvaro, with Down syndrome), and finally, his hometown, Salamanca.
Sport and society: How do you value Pau Gasol's reference?
-The sport that I have practiced, soccer, does a great service to society, we cannot forget that a million boys and girls play soccer every weekend, more than a million federated. This means that sport is of great importance, especially soccer, in which a million families, including parents, grandparents, etc., follow their children. What is needed is for them to take advantage of soccer to become better, better kids.
I think the award we are giving to Pau Gasol's father is very well deserved, because he is an example of what an athlete should be. Besides, it is a discreet family, with two magnificent sons (he also refers to Marc, NBA player for 13 consecutive years), it is an absolutely deserved award.
You led the Spanish national team to victory in the 2010 World Cup in South Africa. I don't know if the team spirit you instilled has been emphasized enough. Even though there were great individuals, Iniesta, Casillas, Xavi and others, that victory belonged to everyone...
-No doubt about it. Individuals are part of a team, and what we have to do is convince those very good players that they will be much better and more recognized if we are a team. That is fundamental. And even more so in a Spanish national team where each one comes from his father and mother, a different family, but the truth is that they behaved excellently.
Any comments on this historic world championship?
-We had inherited a group of very good players from Luis Aragonés, from 2008, and we were able to put together a good combination, and then the European Championship. It was a very good moment for Spanish soccer. Without going into details, we saw good sporting examples for everyone.
You talk about the educational power of sport. Educating in admitting defeat, knowing how to win and how to lose, fair play, sportsmanship... Are we losing that, or are we making progress?
-I think we are aware that as footballers, they not only have the obligation to do their best, but also to be a good reference for everyone, for all young people. It's normal to see good things, but there are also uncomfortable situations, or at least situations that don't benefit anyone.
For example, that player who is substituted and instead of shaking hands with the player who is about to enter and wishing him the best, he leaves in a bad mood, and gives an example of a bad teammate. These are details... Or that mania of trying to cheat the referee to get a better performance. We put the referees in a situation like the one we are living: with the referee's discomfort and making his task more difficult every day.
Let's go with a family theme. You are the parents of three children. Some values you and your wife have tried to instill in your children..
-We have treated the three of them equally. Both Álvaro, who is the middle child, and the oldest, and then the youngest, we have tried to give them the best example. We are delighted with the school they have gone to. I'm not saying they have always been good students, but I think they are good kids, which is the most important thing.
Álvaro, the middle child, was born with Down syndrome. How old is he now? There are parents and siblings of girls and boys with this syndrome who claim to learn a lot from them.
-Alvaro is 33 now, he will be 34 next year, and the truth is that he is a sweetheart in every way (he repeats it twice). We wouldn't know how to live without him. Surely he has been the best thing that has happened to us in our lives. He is a neat, clean, prudent boy. He has all the virtues a boy can have.
Congratulations.
-Thank you.
Any message you would like to convey. The million members is relevant, it is a lot of people, a lot of families.
-The importance that soccer has in Spanish society. We are not only moved by the professionals we see, but also by the kids, most of whom will never become footballers. Sport, soccer, is a great tool for their education. No doubt about it.
A comment out of program. Happy with Unionistas de Salamanca?
-Yes, the truth is that I have a bit of a contradiction there, because all our lives we have been..., my father was one of the oldest members of the Unión Deportiva Salamanca club, of the original (Salamanca CF UDS). But well, there are people there who have done a good job, and I would like to unite the two teams into one. Things are the way they happen, and maybe it has been good for soccer in Salamanca.
