That saturday June 26th the battle of eighth between Spain and Portugal. It started over the phone. Cristiano Ronaldo opened the hostilities. Sergio Ramos received a brief that day text message on your mobile from his then partner, the Madeira crack: “Don't get too excited..”. The reply The Seville central defender did not wait. “Don't get your hopes up, machine.”
CR7 and SR15 (With Spain Sergio already used number 15 in homage to Antonio Puerta) they already had a great relationship after a campaign of colleagues in Madrid, but the following Tuesday in Cape Town it they obviously saw just “like rivals“. “I would have liked find them later, but crossing comes like this and we will give everything to eliminate Portugal. I feel sorry for Pepe and Cristiano Ronaldo, but we will do peace in Madrid, when Spain returns from the World Cup “, said the defender, that that 2010 World Cup he played right back. That phrase was a statement from Ramos to Ace made at 20:00 on that June 26 while Juan Flor made the cover photo.
We had to stand guard to do an interview and a special photo to Ramos. Finally, there was no interview, but Sergio confirmed to us while posing the information we had that Cristiano had sent him an SMS and what he had answered. In 2010 still Whatsapp was not used and the players communicated by SMS or by Messenger on the Blackberry. The instant correspondence of CR7 and SR15 was a good story like being covered with the special photo.
On the morning of that June 26, 2010, Del Bosque had appeared at a press conference as every day after the games and acknowledged that he had suffered to classify after the defeat against Switzerland in the debut, but they came out strengthened for the rest of the championship. Xabi Alonso was doubtful for the match against Portugal for a ankle sprain and it sounded Javi martinez as a possible substitute. And that day JJ Santos wrote an I Say for Ace titled “It can be the World Cup Iniesta“
The morning of that June 26, the press bus received a stone in the middle of the return trip from Pretoria to Potchefstroom. The rock, the size of a fist, broke the front window of the bus and it scared enough to the special envoys who were awake during the 184-kilometer road trip that separated the stadium where the match against Chile was held and the Spanish headquarters. Everything was in a scare. Except for that incident and a theft in some hotel, magnified by be the victims Special envoys South Africa was a safe and welcoming country in 2010 where, as FIFA wanted, football expanded in another corner of the planet with the first world Cup which was held in Africa.