There are 23 footballers that attract the attention, although for everything to work there are many people behind the lights. In the case of La Rojita, the expedition is 45 people (including the players). That is to say, there are 22 staff members (technicians, doctors, physios, communication …) in charge of the internationals only worrying about what happens on the pitch.
Among them, the work of Guille Ramos and Iván Serrano, the two utilleros of the Selection, stands out. His work is no small matter: La Rojita has brought 1,300 kilos of luggage to Slovenia. Clothing, medical equipment, training, physiotherapy, ergogenic aids … To these usual instruments we must now add several hundred masks.
Transporting it is the task of Guille (in the Federation since 2007, it is his third Under-21 European Championship) and Iván (since 2017, he has made his debut in this category). “Our mission is that everything is in its place and on time”, they say. They always arrive first to training so that when the players appear on the field, everything is ready. When it ends, they are also the last to leave. “The objective is to make their day to day easier,” they explain.
They do not draw tactics on the board, although they are essential. “They are part of our family. They make our lives easier and we value them very much ”, says Brahim, one of the stars of this Selection. They are long hours together, confessions, jokes … Generations go by and there are many footballers who maintain contact with Guille, Iván and so many other people who do a hidden job in the National Team so that everything works. Days, weeks and even months together, away from home and family, make them all a small family in which each one contributes their little grain of sand for the common goal: lift the European Champions Cup.