How is it going? How are you living this global COVID crisis?
-We really are very lucky, we are very careful both here and at the club. They test us every week. I tell my colleagues that we are in a bubble apart from society. It is not the reality that they have us so controlled. Outside of that we are also people, we have to go shopping and fulfill our daily obligations. Wishing for the end to come, although life as we had contemplated it before is going to take a long time to come.
It is hard to be away from home, from family …
Those of us who are away from home is a bit harder. Unless we can see each other even though we can't hug much. Personally, I am afraid of leisure, getting into places where there are many people. I have friends in Madrid and I have not seen them for almost three months. And since July without going home, without seeing mine. It is in everyone's hands that this situation is reversed and as an athlete I feel obliged.
“I am afraid of leisure, getting into places where there are many people. I feel obliged”
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In the end, it is an example and reference in society …
We are not as much as we would like, to have an impact on society, but we are the reflection in many girls as a reference. If we set the example, we have to be proud.
A key appointment with the Selection arrives, how is it? Are there extra nerves?
The team is very calm, we depend on us. It is key to get the ticket to the Euro, but neither nervousness, nor anguish nor anxiety. We have learned over time to compete and to live with that responsibility, to leave this shield where it deserves. What there is is desire.
And on the horizon is Euro 2022 …
I do not want to look further, we have one more year to prepare. What enters into my plans is to be there 100% and achieve something with the National Team, we are prepared. You can mark a before and after.
More than 10 titles in your career, great clubs, what is left for you to achieve in football?
Winning an important tournament, a Euro or a World Cup, is the thorn in my career and what I want to achieve. We are on the way to do it.
She started at the extreme and now she has become a great winger …
If I have learned something, it is that you have to reinvent yourself, in sport and in life, that marks my career. My position is from the green forward, what I want is to play. You have to adapt to any position.
Real Madrid came into your life when you least expected it, how was it to sign for the white club?
Being in the national team is important and it gave me a bonus, I came from a couple of not very good years at Levante, for some things or for others I did not end up feeling comfortable and Real Madrid arrived. We reached an agreement quickly, the negotiations were very easy, we both wanted to meet on the way.
“We have not been very good for two years at Levante and Real Madrid arrived. We reached an agreement quickly, the negotiations were very easy”
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What is the real goal of the team?
It is a team that has just been born, with many signings and little by little we are being able to grease the machinery, so that it rolls as it should. We did not set any objectives, it is the first year, we are going to go little by little, getting to know each other and forming a good base. In the future things will turn out. If we have a goal that can distort reality.
What is your trick to continue 100% so many years?
In recent years everything has improved. The facilities, training, the gym and nutrition part. That invisible part that is behind the games is the most important thing. Take care of yourself and be in good shape, because we go through hard times. Outsiders see us as invincible, but we have our ups and downs. It is impossible to always perform 100%. This is like life, you have to have the balance between all things.
Neither Amanda nor Vicky have entered this call … have you thought at that time?
Yes, obviously, it is more and more expensive to be in the National Team, the young women are pushing hard. I'm one of the veterans and you have to be realistic. Perhaps my moment of goodbye is closer than far, but I am going to do everything to continue as long as possible. I would love to reach 100 games and play that Euro, but football is moments and factors that we cannot control. I can get injured, the coach can stop trusting me, have lows … it is clear that one day it will end, so you have to enjoy every moment as if it were your last.
Due to the COVID crisis, the Euro has been postponed for a year, what was your first impression?
The first impression was ‘ostras’ because you really want to play it now. But then I coldly mentioned it to Jorge and colleagues, it will be better. We have much more time to prepare, we are on an upward line and we will get there better.
If you had to go back, what would you repeat and what not?
I would repeat everything, life is trial error. You have to go through the good and bad times to make yourself strong. Those decisions are what have made me this Marta Corredera today.