Camacho, to Roberto Carlos: “At seven I am not going to call to train, but at eight I will”

José Antonio Camacho has granted an interview to the Idolos YouTube channel, in which he has left several headlines from his time as national coach and at Real Madrid. The coach has been resounding when it comes to remembering the controversial elimination of the National Team in the 2002 World Cup: “I believe that the lineman of the Korea-Spain of 2002 was bought. I did not have the necessary conditions. He had never called such a game in his life. You could see that this man was quite touched. When we got to training the day before the game against Korea, there was a military man waiting for us at the door. “

The former coach continues to narrate how that defeat was conceived: “In that World Cup, the sensations were great and they were nipped in the bud. The day before the game, in training, they asked us how we wanted the field. I told the field judge that I wanted the grass to be so high so that they would cut it short. When we got to training the day before, there was a military man waiting for us at the door and He started to bother saying that we all had to present the credentials. A soldier alone“.

He also wanted to remember how the personal treatment they gave to Korea and Spain was different: “At that time I was very calm. I was in extra time, with my players gathered and they started to grab my shoulder. It was the famous lineman who told me that I couldn't give the orders to my players. I stare and Guus Hiddink was talking to his players, to the Koreans, without anyone messing around. However, they didn't even want us to get together. “

The Madrid of the galactics

Camacho has reviewed in Idols practically his entire career. In it, of course, it was his turn to recall the time at Real Madrid, with world stars in charge: “I thought that Madrid needed a change and I thought they were taking me to do it. I saw that it was going to be very difficult to change it. We did a slightly complicated tour to Japan, then we had to do a preliminary for the Champions League and somehow I saw that I couldn't get the performance for which they had signed me. Many times you have to pay the duck and well, you have to call attention sometimes and say that I'm leaving. Unfortunately, the equipment did not work. “

Although the coach acknowledges having a great squad, he did want to justify himself by revealing that there are players who were below the level they had shown throughout their careers: “There were great players worldwide like we had, but one thing is when players are rewarded by being in your team like Cristiano Ronaldo, Modric. I had three or four players who were Ballons d'Or, not that they were going to be that year and that is important. It is one thing to have a footballer who wins the Ballon d'Or or who is among the candidates, that means that he has had a great season, that he is in ideal shape. The footballers that I had at that time, some had been Ballons d'Or, but they were at the moment of form where they were not going up but precisely the opposite, going down“.

In addition to results, Camacho made people talk about his tense relationship with the dressing room. Now, so many years later, he has no qualms about leaving a message for those who did not pay much attention to his instructions: “They may have felt it touch their noses while training. I don't touch anyone's nose if we win, but you have to win the games. The least I have to give my players when there is a game is that they know something about the rival. As galactic as they are, I will have to tell you how the opposing team plays. “

Controversy with Roberto Carlos

In his day, Roberto Carlos narrated how the galacticos orchestrated the march of José Antonio Camacho in an express way. The coach had words of memory about the figure of the Brazilian side and the controversy they had: “At seven in the morning I'm not going to call a footballer to train, but at eight I will. It has its logic, in the month of August, what time are you going to train in the morning? In July or August, if you do two sessions, you have to do one at nine in the morning. If you start at that time, you need to get up at eight to have breakfast and not have it in the throat later. To Roberto Carlos, precisely, I have always said in the time I have been with him: 'Roberto, you don't even need to train. You have physical conditions, my son, that you come from a month of vacation, you play a game and as if you had not been on vacation. But others don't. Others need physical conditioning to be able to play 15 minutes. “

More topics: Cristiano, the VAR …

In the extensive interview granted to Ídolos, Camacho entered to assess other issues that concern him and matters of the most rigorous current affairs. For example, it was contrary to VAR, at least with the application that is being given today: “It comes to improve, but it is not doing so much. In slow motion, if they put a hand on you it looks like they are killing you. Before making so much use of these things, it would be necessary to work on them more. The referee on the cameras should tell things a little faster to whoever is on the field. “

Referees aside, the coach recalled how he saw Cristiano Ronaldo for the first time, when he was still playing in his native country: “When I arrived at Benfica to coach, a week later I had to play against Sporting Lisbon. Five minutes later to start the game I tell Pepe Carcelén: 'Have you seen those two boys there? ' One was Cristiano Ronaldo and the other was Quaresma, one for one band and one for the other. I liked Quaresma much more in that game. “