MADRID, 24 Jul. (EUROPA PRESS) –
The midfielder of the Spanish team Aitana Bonmatí confesses that she “hopes” that the Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) will give the internationals “the support” they deserve and that she decided to send the email renouncing being called up because she felt that certain changes had to be made “in order to be able to” win big tournaments.
“During the season, and I can only speak for myself, I had a few meetings with the federation. Both parties agreed and accepted that some things had to change for me to return. I hope that the federation will give us the support we deserve, so in the end I decided to play this World Cup,” Bonmatí recounts in a column in ‘The Players Voice’.
For the Catalan it was “very difficult” to be one of those who requested not to be called up if there were no changes. “You lose matches, money, sponsors, everything. They ‘kill’ you in the press. But I wanted to participate. I felt that the RFEF had to invest more in us, that certain changes had to be made if we wanted to win big tournaments, which is what we want to do, if not, what for?”, he remarks.
Now, with the World Cup already underway, he prefers not to think about this matter “for now.” “I’m just very excited about this tournament. And I’m confident I’ve made the right decision,” says the midfielder.
“Australia and New Zealand are incredible places, but we’re not here on vacation. Our team is different now, in the 2019 World Cup we lacked experience, this time we have a group of players who have won everything with Barça,” warns the Catalan.
In this sense, the Blaugrana footballer believes that “when you know yourself from the club, it’s easier.” “And since Barça has grown so much, it’s logical that the team will also improve. At Barça we’ve done a lot of physical work and we’ve built a much stronger mentality. Without this, winning the World Cup is impossible,” she warns.
Regarding the Champions League final, he does not hide that his mind “went back to the final of the previous year” lost to Olympique de Lyon when Wolfsburg quickly took the lead. “My first reaction was: ‘No! Not again!’ But it only lasted a second”, remarks the international who knew that “there was a lot of time left” and that from then on they dominated “completely” and created “one occasion after another”. “We missed, and we missed, and we missed, but I was sure the goal would come soon and then they scored out of nowhere,” she says.
“Even so, when I went into the dressing room at half-time, all I saw was positivity. We had learned what we did wrong against Lyon and we all agreed to be confident, keep calm and keep playing. That’s why we won 3-2,” Bonmatí celebrates.
The midfielder admits that “playing for Barça is very intense” and that her objective is to “keep winning”. “I love this pressure, the feeling that you can’t fail, that you have to demand the best of yourself every day. It has become part of who I am,” she emphasizes. “I’m going to give 200 percent to help the team in this World Cup. And as always, I’ll go out and play the football I learned from Xavi and Iniesta, it’s the way I like the most,” she added.
“SOMETIMES I THINK THIS WORLD IS SHIT”
The one from Sant Pere de Ribes expresses in this column ten things about her to get to know her better, among which are her admiration for Pep Guardiola whom she follows “wherever he works” and whose years at the helm of FC Barcelona “belong to the legend”, that in his first steps at Barça he saw “zero” opportunities to reach the first team and that he even thought of going to the United States.
He also remembers the more than 90,000 spectators who went to the Camp Nou to see them against Real Madrid in the second leg of the Champions League quarterfinals. “When we came out of the changing room tunnel, we realized that this was real. I got goosebumps when we got in line to listen to the Champions League anthem. I looked up and around me, this time I also felt vertigo,” he confesses.
Finally, she highlights her love of traveling because it is her “favorite way of disconnecting” and her role in helping the most disadvantaged as a UNHCR collaborator. “Sometimes I think that this world is shit. So many people have to leave their homes accidentally because of the war and they arrive in places like Spain and Italy without money, without friends and without speaking the language. Honestly, it breaks my heart,” he laments.
“Tragedies like this make me realize how privileged I am. Last year I started working with UNHCR, which organizes trainings in Barcelona for refugee women in order to provide them with a support network here and help them integrate. I always ask my teammates for any spare boots and clothing they may have. It’s not going to fix the world, but I think it has improved quite a few lives. That means a lot to me,” she says.