Raúl de Tomás comes into the conversation with AS with a smile from ear to ear and her usual slicked-back hair, which shines from the fixative and the autumn sun that shines on Las Rozas. The Madrid striker shows your joy for your first call to the Selection absolute. He has joined the group very quickly due to the great atmosphere that reigns in the concentration of La Ciudad del Fútbol de Las Rozas and because knows many colleagues a lot from the Madrid quarry as Morata, Sarabia and Carvajal. RDT dreams of debuting and putting Spain in the World Cup. And he recognizes that he also dreams of return to Real Madrid.
Congratulations on your call! The national top scorer deserved to reach the Absolute. His call has been almost by popular request.
Thank you! I am grateful to everyone who supports my football and also grateful to the coach for giving me the opportunity and to all the people who have trusted me during all these years. I am very proud to be here because every footballer wants to be with his national team and I have fulfilled that wish.
Do you remember how old you were the last time you were international with Spain in the lower categories?
He was 19 years old, he went with one more category. The last game I was in, which I didn’t get to play, was against France. There were Rafinha, Jesé and important players. In France I remember Pogba was there.
How well have you joined this group, in which everyone emphasizes that there is a very good atmosphere?
They have received me very well and it is easier that way. It is difficult for me to take the first step, I am a bit shy, but if they make it easier for you like the players and the coaching staff do here, then you integrate very quickly.
Can you be shy in life and not in the area?
You can be shy, yes. I am it. In the area I have to remove my shyness because otherwise I cannot dedicate myself to this.
In this Selection there are many from the Real Madrid quarry, do you notice that connection of the Sports City?
Yes, it shows. When we arrived at the concentration we remembered that stage of the Madrid youth squad. We were even together at school, at the SEK in Villanueva de la Cañada, where we from the quarry lived and studied. I was at the SEK with Pablo Sarabia and Álvaro Morata.
Does this Selection have the DNA of La Fábrica madridista with Carvajal, Morata, Sarabia, RdT…?
Yes that’s how it is. Exactly. We are many boys who were small to fulfill a dream and now we are here together in the National Team.
Spain risks its life in these two games, has been in the last eleven World Cups and cannot be left out. Does the repechage go through your head?
No, we are considering going to the playoffs. We are going to go to Greece to win and then to Seville to beat Sweden. We have to be in the World Cup and we are going to leave everything to Greece and Sweden to qualify first in the group.
“I am very proud. I have fulfilled my wish to be with the National Team”
The National Team has a style that requires the striker to press and run back and forth. Has Luis Enrique explained it to you yet?
We have worked on it just this morning. I have to adapt to what the coach asks of me. I’ll get it fast. The pressure will be different from what I practice in my club, but that’s what we’re here for, to do what the coach asks. I’m going to do what Luis Enrique says.
In which club have you played in a way more similar to that of Spain, with that way of putting pressure from the forwards? Is it hard for you to press like nine?
Each coach plays in one way. It is not that it costs me to press, but the forward has to finish plays and sometimes it is difficult for him to recover. Sometimes you decide not to press because you want to be fresh for the next play. But you have to do what the coach says and I am physically prepared to be able to go back and forth.
The other day all Cornellà shouted “Here is RdT”, that has to excite.
Of course it thrills that they chant your name. I think of my family that is in the stadium and it is nice for any player who recognizes you and chooses your name. I am very grateful to Espanyol. Since I arrived I felt very good and very comfortable. If they make things easier for me, I know that I’m going to work and that’s how it has been since I arrived at Espanyol. I arrived in a difficult situation and I am grateful to the fans because they have made it much easier for me.
“I’ll pick up the style quickly. I’m going to do what Luis Enrique asks me to do”
Raúl de Tomás was going to be the 9 Real Madrid, at what point did that go wrong? Do you regret something?
When we are young we make mistakes, we believe things that we are not, we want to go faster than we have to go. Now, when I see boys of 16, 17 and 18 years old, I wonder if I was like that. I think they are wrong and maybe I was wrong at that age. It is a period that you have to go through to learn and when you are 27 years old you realize that you should not have done certain things. The problem would be doing those things at 27 years old. I don’t regret it, but I did learn from the mistakes I made, which didn’t help me to play for Real Madrid. But I had the opportunity to be there and decided to go out to play.
Could you return to Real Madrid?
I focus on the day to day and you never know. I have grown up since I was little in Madrid, since I was 8 years old and you never know.
Are you still dreaming of succeeding at Madrid, succeeding at the Bernabéu?
A good question (laughs). Sure I would. It is an illusion to return to Madrid because I grew up there, from the age of eight I entered through the door of the Real Madrid Sports City. Everyone has that dream of going back to where you grew up. Why not? You never know.
Who did you turn to to learn? Cristiano, Benzema, in both?
I have seen them both and I have seen Zidane, who was my idol as a child. I did not play in his position, but I really liked the class he had, how he played football, how he associated. Zidane was like Benzema, but in the center of the field. I have noticed many players because the important thing is to learn from everyone and take things from each one.
The Qatar 2022 World Cup is a year from now. Do you see yourself on the definitive list?
Right now I see it far away. I have to focus on today, on being called up for the first time. Train with the team, adapt, try to do my best in these two games if I have the opportunity to play. I wish I could be in the World Cup because it’s my dream since I was little.
Is it compatible with Morata?
Of course I am compatible with Álvaro. The coach has to decide, but I can play with Morata.
Will you wear the Spain RdT shirt?
Yes.
Why did you decide to wear RdT on your shirt?
I was with a friend in the car and he asked me what I was going to wear on my shirt when I arrived at Rayo Vallecano. And I told him the usual: ‘R. From Tomás’ and he told me that with that name he was not going to buy the shirt. And he proposed to me to put RdT. And I thought it sounded good and since then I’ve been wearing RdT on my shirt.