How are you, Kiko?
Happy, happy and looking forward to Saturday to get that long-awaited gold medal again …
When you won in '92 … Were you aware that you were making history?
Yes, especially me who had just won the promotion with Cádiz. Others came from winning the European Cup like Pep Guardiola or Chapi. But everything that surrounded that final was special: 90,000 people at the Camp Nou, the arrival of the King, Fermín Cacho winning the medal in 1,500 and everyone stood up. We were aware that it was something special, what we did not know is that 29 years later another gold medal would not have been harvested, with the pieces of equipment that we have had. I particularly, coming from where I came, knew it was one of the most important chapters of my life.
He always says that in that tournament the goal was very big …
I've always been more about assisting than scoring … Then it happened to me with Schmeichel, at the Sánchez Pizjuán against Denmark playing the United States World Cup … I stayed hand in hand and I would swear that behind Schmeichel there was a goal, but I didn't see it, I saw her as if she were roller hockey. However, in those six or seven games that we played, I saw the goal bigger than ever, I had that month that any scorer who has the facility to define catches. It happened to me in the final: the goalkeeper came to jump, there were two players at the posts and I only saw the net. I thought 'How easy! I just have to put it there with the inside up. ' That month it was a sensation that month to see the goal bigger than ever.
Was that tournament your safe conduct to the elite?
Yes. I remember that that summer I couldn't go to any beach, it seemed like, I don't know … Someone who had scored 50 goals. Everybody told me they had seen it, all of them awaiting that match. That goal meant many people enjoyed one of the happiest nights of their lives … It was a summer in which it looked like Rod Stewart or Bruce Springsteen, he couldn't go to the beaches. I missed going with the medal for Valdelagrana Beach! (Laughs)
In that final he had special support …
La Peña Ford Escort! There were 15 friends, in the morning, from Jerez. I have been calling them since the morning because one of them got lost near Albacete. They made me a banner, I was very excited because they were my lifelong friends. They made the round trip Jerez-Barcelona in a day and a half. The story at each dinner is the protagonist, although each year it is told in a different way. In the medal photo there will always be the 15 with the banner, my friends with whom I played in the neighborhood … Me telling them to be careful on the return trip. That photo and that of my parents is very beautiful …
Have you found the medal yet?
There was an urban legend! That my mother had sold it, but not in the end (laughs). There is a pilgrimage, when family or friends go they will take a picture with the medal, my mother has it. It has the Virgen del Rocío and then my medal next to it …
Does this De la Fuente team look like Luis Enrique's?
Yes, the feeling is that a lot of importance is placed on possession and creativity, but also on conviction. We have to remember that at that time we played with five backwards, but we were very strong inside: SuperLopez, Abelardo and Solozábal were there. On the Lasa and Ferrer lanes, as organizer the computer Pep Guardiola, the passion and arrival of Luis Enrique, Amavisca, Berges … And above Alfonsito and me. We had possession and judgment. In Under-21 and Under-23 that team is one of the best that Spain has had.
Was that system made by Clemente or Miera?
No way! Urban legend. If that happened, they could make a fictional series … Vicente Miera was in command there, who came with the handicap of some health problems. We had a very nice union. And then the psychologist Jesus, we were very reluctant but what a job he did. It was a breakthrough. On the first dates he would take reflex, put on the trumpet. In the first session someone hit a head butt… Luis Enrique told it in a documentary, which led us to the field to scream. You can not imagine! But for me… Jesus was a discovery, an essential type.
The players say that until they arrived at the Villa they did not really experience the Olympic atmosphere. How was it in your case?
The first game we beat Colombia gave us a lot of life, which came from being the South American champion, eliminating Brazil and Argentina. That was a push, but the truth is that we could not live the Olympic spirit, being able to greet and take pictures with the people of your team, play ping-pong … That impregnates you with that Olympic spirit. Although I am also one of those who thinks that not being in the Olympic Village came from a category, because at 20 or 21 years old you can imagine XXL hormones (laughs). It was after celebrating the medal that we were in the Olympic Village, but we could not live the experience. Yes we did it at the inauguration, but it was in the background. What makes the difference today is being with your colleagues from other sports. If you are not in the Villa you have not lived that spirit.
De la Fuente says that it was a humility cure for all …
Totally. We are that we could not live together. It is clear that it is a humility cure, the pity is that it is ephemeral and we are not aware on a day-to-day basis. It is good to share talks with people from other sports, with less transcendence, I hope that Olympic spirit would remain impregnated for life, that would mean that they have more possibilities to go further. Anyone who has any doubts, live with these athletes, see their preparation and their financial remuneration … It can make these players say in the future “what am I going to complain about?”
Do you think these Games have brought the players closer to the people?
Totally. We with Fermín Cacho, always be on the lookout for those in water polo… You end up getting impregnated, it becomes a pineapple. On top of that, living with them… I'm sure that now, having met them, you are pending not only at the Games, but afterwards. It is a warning, a touch of humility, and then that each one manages it as they want.
Luis de la Fuente is the great architect of everything. Do you see him ready for the Absolute?
I see it prepared! More than prepared, trained. When you have to arrive, if you arrive, you are prepared. You just have to see their numbers and talk to the players. He has the personality, the conviction and it would not weigh him down. He knows how to manage changing rooms, he is trained for what they throw at him.
What would you have done if you were asked to chain the Eurocup and the Games?
Go! But in many moments you have to have a cool head when it comes to making numbers about what may happen in the nearest future. For example, at the beginning of September there are important qualifying games for the World Cup, maybe any injury to Pedri, for example, which is essential, can affect you. Sometimes you have to have peace of mind, but if you ask the player, he will go head first to live such an experience. What happened these days, no matter how many World Cups and Euro Cups they go to, they will not repeat the sensations that you have living with other athletes from your country.
How do you see Pedri?
As long as he does a quarter of what he did in the European Championship … At 18 we want him to pass, to dribble, to score … You have to go calmly, he is in training and has taken three more steps than normal. You have to see where Xavi, Iniesta were at their age …
Is there anything you have never told about those Games?
No… What I had the feeling from the beginning of regret for not having lived 10 or 15 days in the Villa. We, if it is not for the inauguration and for the final at the Camp Nou … If it is not for that the Olympic spirit, living with other colleagues … I would have liked to have lived it. What we play then is almost a U-23 World Cup, except for the medal and playing in front of 90,000 people. Winning it at the Camp Nou did change everything.
What message do you send to people about this Olympics?
That they are pending, that they leave the umbrella but not the tinto de verano, and that they send energy to the kids who are going to need them. Let the little details fall on the side of Luis de la Fuente's boys.