MADRID, 28 Jun. (EUROPA PRESS) –
The winger Athenea del Castillo is clear that being able to play with the World Cup in Australia and New Zealand “is a very exciting challenge” on a personal level that can help her in learning that she lives “every day” to be a better footballer, while He does not hide that the competition to enter the final list helps everyone to bring out his “best version” and that in the national team he has to adopt a role a little different from that of Real Madrid because Jorge Vilda asks him for “more overflow”.
“I see myself the same as a year ago. In the end, each and every one of us competes for a position, to be among those 23 and it is true that I already have experience in the Eurocup, but neither at an absolute level nor in lower categories I have played a World Cup and for me it is a very exciting challenge”, said Athenea del Castillo in an interview with Europa Press.
The Cantabrian is clear that “it is still the same” as a year ago. “Athenea continues to do the same things she did before and, above all, she continues to learn every day. I think that is the most important thing, luckily both here and at my club I have great players and great professionals who help me in everything I do” he warned.
The winger was one of the revulsive in the last EURO and now seems to be more consolidated in the starting eleven. In this sense, she stressed his ability to adapt “to what the coach decides at all times.” “And above all, being able to adapt to everything that comes your way and regardless of whether you start or not, you have to contribute,” he commented.
“If the coach decides that I have to contribute from minute one, I will do it, just like if I have to leave for 30 minutes or if I don’t have to participate. Nothing happens, there are 22 other players available for the coach to decide,” he added. From the Castle.
The Real Madrid player does not hide the fact that the offensive front of the team “has many varieties and many possibilities” for Jorge Vilda to choose. “I think it’s good to have that competition to be able to bring out both your best version yourself and make the one next to you also bring out hers so that we can both be better footballers,” she explained.
“In the end, Salma (Paralluelo), Mariona (Caldentey), Marta (Cardona) and Eva (Navarro) have our characteristics and it will be what the coach and the team need to face the rival. We are all very eager and above all with a lot of illusion”, expressed on some of his ‘rivals’ in the attack.
Del Castillo does recognize that the ‘Red’ and Real Madrid “are slightly different models”, but insists that she must “adapt to everything and thus be a better player”. “It is true that at Real Madrid we have played a lot with lanes this year and that I have had to adapt to being 15 or 20 meters further back than normal and I still couldn’t do as many duels as I would like because I received more back and I had to help more in defensive tasks”, he pointed out.
“Jorge, it is true that he asks you more one on one, more overflows and attacking in your position, so to speak, in three quarters of the field where it is truly decisive. Here, especially the wing players, we are very decisive in those meters and the coach exploits that virtue to be able to achieve it”, he stressed about what the coach is asking of him.
The international also makes it clear that they are going to the World Cup “with a lot of ambition, with a lot of desire.” “We are preparing very well for everything that comes, I think we are ambitious to be able to achieve something big,” said the one from Solares, who expects “very, very competitive” matches in the first phase against Japan, Costa Rica and Zambia.
“I think that all the teams that have the level to be there are going to make things very difficult for you. We have to start right now with Panama, which is what we have closest and go game by game so that from there we can get good feelings and trying to do my best,” he said.
“I NEEDED TO DISCONNECT A FEW DAYS AFTER THE COPA DE LA REINA”
In addition, regarding the importance of being first in the group for a possible better crossing in the round of 16, he considered that “we must not look to the future” because “you never know” if that match will be easier for this reason. “We have to prepare well for all the games that come to us, go game by game and try to do our best and get good results,” she said.
The start of the concentration came three weeks after ending the campaign with Real Madrid, with the defeat in the final of the Copa de la Reina against Atlético de Madrid, after a match in which they came to dominate 2-0 with a lack of a few minutes and ended up seeing how their rival equalized with a goal in 96 and then took the title on penalties.
“I needed to disconnect for a few days because it was very hard for me not to achieve the goal, we wanted to win the first title with the Real Madrid shirt and I spent several nights without sleep, it was that dream I had since I was little. This is going to make me stronger for that in the future we know the mistakes we have made and not make them again in those matches”, acknowledged the Cantabrian.
The Real Madrid player knows that the World Cup is “far away”, but she has no doubt that the people will support them “a lot” and she hopes that this will increase the necessary fans for the team, something that has not yet been achieved in terms of the number of fans . “I always see that people support us, that they are with us from home and that they can come to the stadiums. We all want the best for the team and little by little we have to try to play a good role so that people continue to get hooked every day a little more for us,” she said.
The Real Madrid player also gave value to the agreement with the RFEF to have the family close in this World Cup so far away. “I will be lucky to have my closest relatives if I go and it will be a plus for everyone. In my day to day I am lucky that my father can come to my games from Santander and that is very important for me, also my boy who usually comes a lot”, he indicated.
“WE ARE ALL HERE FOR THE SAME GOAL”
The team could once again count on Alexia Putellas, “the best player in the world” at this event, who missed the last Euro Cup due to a serious knee injury days after her debut. “You see what Alexia does and very few people do it, if not anyone. And we are lucky to be able to learn from her, that she is with us and that she continues to show the player she is. For us it is a very big plus to be able to have both her and Jenni (Beautiful)”, stressed the striker, who sees the Ballon d’Or winner as “very ambitious” like the rest of the group.
Finally, regarding what happened with the group of 15 players who resigned at the end of last September to come with the national team due to existing conditions and of which three (Aitana Bonmatí, Mariona Caldentey and Ona Batlle) have returned to this list, he recalled that “all” have “the same goal, to be on the list of 23 to play in a World Cup.” “And from there, we are a group of very good people and we are going to fight for the same goal until the end,” she reflected.
“The environment is good, it is a very healthy work environment and above all with a lot of competitiveness,” said Del Castillo, who was not affected “much” by everything that happened since then because she does not usually “read what is on or what is said”. “Yes, it affected my family a little more, but we have to move forward, we are all here for the same goal,” she said.