Don't say goal, say Jenni Hermoso (Madrid, 1990). The Madrid forward, a great star of the highest category after winning the last two pichichis, analyzes the preview of the first Real Madrid-Barça in the history of Spanish women's football. The attacker of Barça, current League champion, and ex of Athletics will be the great threat to Real Madrid in its debut in women's football. With the illusion contained, that of Carabanchel he shuns the role of favorites and assures in an interview with AS that “motivation is maximum”.
How are you handling this situation?
We are lucky that we have several changing rooms and we can divide into groups of eight or nine to shower. We get along well. You have to live because the virus is there and it will not go away, but you have to have a strong hand with the protocols. At Barça, for example, we were in a real bubble because we would go out a few times to buy and we didn't meet anyone outside the team. It was what he played if we wanted to play. It can happen to anyone to get infected, but you have to be very careful. I also tell you that you have to live, otherwise it is impossible to endure psychologically well the entire League like this.
The League returns after seven months. How do you deal with it?
Go figure. Since March, which was the last game … We have been lucky enough to play in the Champions League, but it has been heavy. We've been through like three preseason this summer. There is a lot of desire to return to the League and to the routine.
He returns home, but without the warmth of his people …
It is a shame that the first Madrid-Barça is played without fans. We imagined it as a great date and, in my case, with my whole family supporting me in the stands.
As a Madrilenian, did you miss Real Madrid Femenino as a child?
When I was little I would have imagined few things that exist in women's football today, but it is true that Atleti and Barça had their women's teams and Real Madrid, which is one of the best clubs in the world, did not have the yours. It shocked a lot. Now, I see his arrival very positive for the category, which will give him a plus. And, whatever it takes to add to women's football, it will be welcome.
Jenni Hermoso, with the new Barça kit for 2020-21
Atleti, Barça … do you see yourself in white in the future?
In football nothing is known. Today I am very happy at Barça. It is in the club where I want to be and I am here to fight for all possible titles. My dream is to win a Champions League and hopefully it will be with Barça.
As for the Champions League, did the defeat in the semifinals hurt a lot?
We have learned a lot and we left there with a good taste in our mouths. Barça is getting closer and closer. They eliminated us this year in the semifinals, but we had very good feelings. The team saw that it was capable of going to the final and winning it. So we pursue that goal with great enthusiasm.
What do you think of calling Madrid-Barça women's Classic?
In the end they are based on comparisons with the male. But in the feminine the great rivalry is the Atleti-Barça. But hey, calling it Classic or not are things alien to us.
Do they look favorites?
No. It will be a unique match in which the one with the most grit will win. The luck we have is that we are a consolidated group. We have been playing together for many years, including also in the National Team. Real Madrid is a new team, which has been created to be there on the table. It is also the first game with the Madrid shield and they have extra motivation.
Does that 9-1 motivate Tacon a year ago?
Each party is a world. We really enjoyed 9-1 because it was the debut at Johan Cruyff, but everything has changed. It is not the same scenario and it is not the same rival. Many signings have also arrived, almost all from our League who know us very well. It will not be easy, but the motivation is maximum.
Who wants to not have a good day at Real Madrid?
Jakobsson, who has a differential game. But the team has other pillars. For me, Ivana Andrés is one of the best defenders in the league. I have always said that she is one of the players that I have the hardest time to face.
How do you expect this new League to be?
I hope the League is played in its entirety. Having seen what we have seen, we do not know what could happen tomorrow … We do not know how the competition will hold up with everything that is happening. Therefore, we have to go thinking about the day to day. In the long term, we have nothing clear.
Is the promise made by the Government of a professional women's league an illusion?
A lot of news has come out that they want to do it, but it doesn't come. Talking about it is fine, but until it is official and we are a professional League I don't even dare to value it. Today, the reality is that it is not a professional league. And it is a necessary step. Now it only remains to be achieved. For now we are not going to jump for joy, but hopefully it will be as soon as possible.
Jenni Hermoso, with the new Barça kit for 2020-21
VICTOR SALGADO
What it does seem is that the League is more stable, at least contractually …
Yes. Especially for the life of the player. Anyone who really wants to do this has a backing on paper. It is a great achievement to have this agreement. There will be points that we will have to change little by little, but the first thing we have achieved. And, little by little we will get a really worthy and 100% professional agreement.
The problem of the agreement was solved, but not that of the television conflicts. It's maddening, isn't it?
Yes. It is a war that seems to have no end and we are the great victims. They are conflicts that are totally alien to our football and that we still do not understand. Somehow a solution has to be found. If we have to stand, we will. We have been around for a long time and it is not something that helps us. They are battles alien to us.
On a sporting level, do you feel pressure to maintain the goalscoring level of recent years?
The lead is always on everyone's lips, score or not. I don't set any goals for myself. I have not done it for several years because it has already happened to me that I became overwhelmed in achieving that purpose. The only thing I want is to go out on the field and enjoy and if I enjoy the game it is good and there will be goals (laughs). The individual objective is that my goals help the team to continue growing and win titles.
Did you imagine being one of the top scorers in the European Leagues?
I never imagined it. I always say it and it seems like it's a joke, but I had never been a scorer to score so many goals. I was more passive, giving assists and key passes, but there came a time at Barça that I was in the right place and I swelled to score goals. The Barça player is very combinative and gives many passes that only leave her to push her. I never would have imagined being up on the scorers table for so long.
What do you think when you look back?
I think a lot about my niece. She is going to be 10 years old and she loves football and I see myself very much reflected in her. I really enjoyed playing with my friends in the park and at school and I never imagined that I could dedicate myself to this profession. I think a lot about all those girls who come and that everything that is going to come will be much more beautiful and they will enjoy much more. I keep working so that this is the case and that in the future girls like my niece have a decent job that is to be a footballer.
He has made a bet on the future by launching his own personal brand. How did that idea come about?
The idea came from my friend Edgar, from Solo Cracks, who suggested that I put out products with a social background. The aim is to also help women's football with this brand. Doing things actively will also help me for the future, when I leave football.