Puyol: “I told Xavi, you put it that I either score a goal or a German enters the goal”

Carles Puyol (La Pobla de Segur, 4/13/78), with 100 internationalities in tow, feels proud and does not hide it from having been part of La Roja de oro. Due to an inopportune knee injury, he lost Euro 2012 and cannot boast of the trilogy of titles, but he also feels part of that victory that he witnessed with his friend Villa, also injured, from the rostrum of the Kiev stadium.

-Let's start where we have to start. July 7, 2010. 10 pm in Spain. Puyol's goal to Germany. A climactic moment.

– Culminating, culminating was Andresito's goal in the final … What I do recognize is that the match against Germany, a very great team, was the best we did in the entire World Cup and I was lucky to score the goal with a prepared play that we had rehearsed the day before when we were analyzing Germany. I saw how they defended and with Barcelona with Pep we had already made that play against Athletic and it had not gone so well because my shot went to the crossbar, but I knew that we could hurt them if two make the screen and put it as they put it Xavi, who is always up to the task. Against Madrid we had made another similar one but the ball came from another side, from behind, Pique made the screen for me. It was not the same move.

-Come, count …

-Well, nothing, I proposed in the talk. The 'mister' told us ok and we did it. I think if we had not succeeded in that action, there would have been another because we were superior.

-How much percent does Xavi have on the play?

– In the center one hundred percent; in the goal I think we are half, fifty percent for each one.

-Is it true that when you were out on the pitch after the break, did you tell Xavi to put it on as he had put one on Capdevilla in the first half?

– Nerd. We had prepared this play, but I did not have to finish. I said to put it on and Sergio Ramos to finish it off, it is going very well upside down and those of us who had to make the screen were Gerard (Piqué) and myself. All corners, in the first part, we shot short. I saw that we could harm them that way. At the end of the first part I told Xavi why they were shooting all the corners in short. We are going to put them on top and you will see how it will work. So he says to me, don't worry that the first corner I have put it there. I told him you put it that I enter the race and either I score a goal or a German enters the goal. Don't worry, something will happen here. Luckily we scored the goal.

– and then why the ball goes towards you if it had to be for Sergio?

-Because then I was angry and I told them I'll come in and you'll see how it will go well, or something like that. We change positions. The one who really believed in that play was me. He was the one who had done it with Barcelona. Sergio has his way of attacking and we already know all the results he gave. Anyway, we believed that this was the goal-scoring formula.

-You arrived at the World Cup determined that it was your last matches with the National Team, whatever they were.

-Yes, I had thought that my stage was over and I had practically decided. As soon as the final was over, I don't know if we already had the Cup or it was just before picking it up, the 'mister' took me and said “now you can't go you have to reach 100 matches”. That in a moment of euphoria, we had just become world champions, who remembered that he was in 99 games, made me think, reflect and decided to stay, although then I started with the ordeal of injuries and I was able to reach just 100, but not enjoy great competitions. It was just a phrase, but it came to me. If you had told me a week later I think it would not have had the same effect. But when you told me just being champions … That someone remembers this, it was my turn. It came to me and made me change.

-Did you never regret continuing despite not reaching 2012?

-Nerd. Not at all. The group was fantastic and we had a tour as demonstrated. We were champions of Europe and I was fine. What happens is that one with age has to be dosed and everyone knows my way of understanding football, of training and playing. It has to be one hundred percent. And since you cannot leave the club, you leave the national team, as other players have done. I lengthened it and do not regret it at all.

-Playing 100 games is not bad either.

-More than with the 100 games, I keep what I have been lucky enough to experience. Being champion of Europe and the world is fantastic. If he had only played 50 but had been champion, it would be great too. In the end it is not so much the matches but what you have experienced in those matches and I have been very lucky. Not reaching the European Championship was hard.

It was a season in which I was very well. It came from the previous summer that he had had an operation. I recovered perfectly and in the month of May we saw that he had a free body in the knee and it was dangerous to continue playing because you can damage your meniscus. We decided that I had to have surgery and I missed the Cup final with Barça and the Euro Cup. I was in the final with the 'Guaje' Villa, who was also injured. We live it and celebrate it with them. It was hard not being able to be downstairs but as we were so superior upstairs we really enjoyed ourselves.

-That end was the icing on the cake.

-A great match. Beating Italy 4-0 is not easy. And winning all three trophies is within the reach of very few. Then it has not been won but I think the Selection has good players, a great coach and will give us joy again. I don't think it's impossible to win again. It is not necessary to put from the outside the pressure that they have to win. So it's more complicated. They have to make their way and they can do it. Winning the three titles in a row is not easy, but they are going to wage war for sure. I have no doubt that they will compete with it.

–He has so much faith in Luis Enrique.

-I think that Spanish players have a lot of quality and talent, they already know the way. There are players who are there and know how it is done and in the 'coach' I trust one hundred percent. I was not lucky to be with him at Barça as a player, but I know him perfectly, he is like a brother to me, I know the great job he did at Barça and he will surely do it for the National Team.

– Without injuries how far Puyol would have gone …

-Maybe I'd be playing. I loved to play, train, take care of myself, live this profession that is the best there is. I would have played four or five years safer. It was six years ago on May 15 that I announced my withdrawal.

– In the 2014 World Cup in Brazil, he had the honor of being the person who returned the World Cup …

– It was an exciting time. When you are active you may not give it much importance, but re-entering a stadium already retired, even if it did little, and delivering the Cup I will never forget. Turn me around and take her away? No, it didn't occur to me. I was always very responsible. The truth is that I was a little nervous, I thought that if I dropped … the ridicule I would have done. I was focused on not being wrong. Just like when Athletic paid tribute to me for being a member of the 'one club men'. They were two of the days that I remember the most because once retired you live life differently. When you play at the best you don't give much value to things, but now they are valued more.

– When one retires one becomes more nostalgic.

-Totally. And more when you have done what you like the most. I would happily return to live this profession. I still miss everything very much. Training, games, preseason, which is when you suffer the most, competition … It is not easy to retire.

-In 100 games, 13 years of Selection, only 11 defeats.

-We had a very good Selection. They are few defeats but even seem too many. If you look at it coldly they are very good numbers.

-When you turned 100, Sergio was 99. Now he is 170.

-It's not stopping. It is amazing what he is doing. He is 34 years old, but if a footballer if injuries are respected and he is excited and willing he can be up to 37 or 38 well, at the highest level. It is my impression. I know that in Spain when you turn 30 you already think that you have to renew and get new air, but if you are well and with what you take care of today soccer players can last much longer. I had it very clear. If I retired it is because my knee was bothering me and we couldn't find the solution. Physically it was very good. I never stopped training, not even one day. What happened is that there were movements that he could not do and could not play soccer.

– So it is now to play.

-I'm perfect. I could play. I did a stem cell treatment and Dr. Orozco in Barcelona told me that I could go back to soccer. What happens is that he had put a lot of cane in his knee, had forced it too much and needed a rest. After a year my knee was much better and I have never had fluid again. My idea was to get to play at 41, like Maldini. I just turned 42.

He would have been retired for a year alone. But hey, that's what you think and believe and then you have to accept other things. Perhaps if I had dosed a little more, if I had not forced so much, the knee injury could have overcome it. But my way of being was that. Always be one hundred percent. I thought that if I was not, my teammates failed and I have played a lot of games with injuries, with discomfort, with blows … I had a fracture of the cheekbone, they told me six weeks and at four I played. When I broke my arm it had to be two months and after five weeks I was playing. Sure, now I can't stretch my arm. In the end all that is paid. Not dosing never comes at a price, but I would do it again. Thus I understand sport. Now when I play anything, soccer or paddle, I continue playing with the same intensity.

-Let's go back to its beginnings. The youthful Puyol was a cheeky inside that attacked the opponent's area instead of defending their own.

– In my town I got to be until forward. When I get to Barça I start from the inside right. Sometimes left. We played 1-3-4-3. In the U-18 team, he played on the long side, almost one end, because we played with a defense of three. Therefore he had never played defense. It is true that I was trying to do things when I was playing up, then when I was delayed I realized that it had to be more practical because you are in the risk zone and you have to play simpler. Especially when you have 'monsters' ahead of you like the ones I've been lucky enough to play. Better to get it back and give it to them. It was at Barça B when Van Gaal decided to delay me and we were playing 1-4-3-3.

-It was very difficult for him to change his position, his mentality.

-No the truth. What I wanted was to play and the changes of position took them well. I had to learn the movements and what each position entails, but I adapted well.

-In the National Team it opens with 17 years.

– Yes. With the sub 18 in a tournament in Italy in which France, with Anelka, Henry … we got five. Then I already played with the sub-21, who were third in the Slovak European Championship and then the Sydney Games where I don't play the first game. The second one I do from left side. The third, from the right and until the end of the tournament I finish on the left.

-Gold escapes after winning 2-0 over Cameroon. A hard stick for age.

-I have very good memories of the Games, of the group, of how everything went. The end was a stick. We were sent off two players and in overtime we held on as best we could. They were physically very strong and we lost on penalties, which is a lottery. It was tough at the time, but over time you appreciate that a medal in some Games is important. It always hurts to lose. At each age you experience it differently, but I was always very competitive and I don't like losing anything, not even now when I play something. It always bothered me and it always hurts. When you are young you downplay it. You lose a day, after three days you play again and turn the page. For me it has been worse to lose more than young. Besides, he was already the captain and he had it worse.

-The debut with the absolute comes on November 15, 2000 in La Cartuja against the Netherlands. Camacho calls him to the ranks.

-And that day Xavi also debuts. We have practically done the race together. I come to Barça, youth A and he in cadet A. An impressive generation. As it was inside, I would look at the midfielders and there were Xavi, Mario Rosas, Gerard López … and they would beat us up. Two years younger and they played awesome. They were very good.

-Camacho said something special that day.

-We have always had a good connection. I don't remember anything special from that day, but I do remember, and I will never forget, that it helped me a lot in difficult times. When I had the first knee operation, he called me, he cared about me and that's very important when you're young, you have your first serious injury and you never know how you will look. If they will continue to count on you. It was my second year in the first team. That call stuck with me.

-The first big date is the 2002 World Cup in Korea and Japan.

-It was special to play with teammates who were legends for me. With Nadal, Hierro, Luis Enrique with whom he was at Barça. I saw myself with players that I admired and in a World Cup. It was hard what happened to us against Korea. We deserved to win. Camacho had warned us that it was not going to be easy. He even told us about the referees. That we had to have a cold mind. Losing on penalties can happen, but it was an important suit. We had equipment to have done something important.

– Do not you think that South Korea should be beaten despite arbitration?

-I agree. It is clear. It was not the strongest selection. We would all have signed before we started playing against them in the quarters, even if they played at home. We were prepared. We played well, we had our chances, we scored our goals, even if they were canceled.

-Well, it was worse at Euro 2004.

-Yes, there I do agree that it was a stronger club than the World Cup. It was a change of generation, a younger Selection, but we did not measure up. We can seek the apology that the two finalists were in our group, but no. The team was united. That at the end we would each go our own way is not important either. What matters is what happens in the field. They were details. Not fatal, but we should have passed the group. Sáez knew all of the lower teams very well, but it was not enough.

-Luis comes. The good begins.

-We all know who Luis was, rest in peace. One of the best coaches there has been in Spain. A person with a lot of character, who demanded a lot from you but also gave you freedom. I knew how to motivate you. The spirit of the Selection changed. He began to tell us that we could win, that we had to have confidence in ourselves, that the team had always had great players, but had not done anything important. From the first day he arrived, he told us that that team had to be a champion, and they are telling you that, they are telling you and in the end you believe it.

-The 2006 World Cup served as an apprenticeship. Luis always said so. Especially the match against France.

-We start well. We played France which was a veteran but good team and they beat us. If he said it, you have to agree with him. There are the later results and the main culprit that everything happened was him. He always told us that it was one thing to play and another to compete. He told us that we had to learn to compete and more in those competitions in which an error leaves you out. If you get ahead on the scoreboard you have to hold the ball longer, dominate, not go crazy to go find the second that was what happened to us against France. You have to try not to tie you against one. Then we had more experience. From the defeats and the blows one learns and that was what that Selection did.

– And that's why the next Eurocup was won.

-We had a spectacular group. We were all united, those who played and those who did not. This is not easy, everyone go to one. It is a tournament that is played at the end of the season, you arrive very tired from the clubs. There were many games and the same who is not playing does not feel so important and is not so one hundred percent and that affects the group. But it was not like that. The 23 of us, from the first day to the last, were always together. That is the best memory I have of that Eurocup. It is the time that I have seen a group and I no longer only say players, because behind there are many people, we all went from one to the last. Be a pineapple, be 'super together'. That force is what made us champions. The strength of having suffered long before and the strength of each one assuming their role and adding. In the end you can add a lot of status outside. We all want to be protagonists but on that occasion I realized that from the outside you can help a lot.

-At the time he commented that winning the Euro Cup was a liberation.

-Yes. On a personal level, yes. He came from two very hard years in Barcelona where we did not earn anything. Also my father died, I had a serious knee injury. It was a difficult time. Winning gave us a lot of confidence and it was like receiving an oxygen cylinder. And then, after the holidays, I met Pep's arrival at Barcelona and my best stage at my club arrived.

-You were aware of everything Luis suffered before reaching the final phase.

-Yes. We saw it, we lived it. The media treated him unfairly, there were too many campaigns against him and the truth that seeing him suffer made us have a bad time and united us and gave us more strength to overcome that position, demonstrate that we were with him and that together we were going to be champions.

-Luis leaves and Del Bosque arrives. From wine to water. They do not look alike.

-Two very different characters, but two passionate about football, with a lot of experience. Two very different ways of working but with the same idea and philosophy. Vicente knew how to pick up the glove and did an excellent job. In the World Cup we played well, removing the second game that we did not do well. In the first, yes, even if we lost. I have always said that ten times playing as we played we beat Switzerland nine, but the second there were strange things.

– What happened?

-We won, but playing what we were playing, with 1-0 we did what we didn't have to do. We split and at many times we ran risks. We scored the second, but they could also have marked us 1-1. If you split the team and they score against you, they leave you eliminated. I remember that I entered the locker room very angry. As a defense, you see everything clearer and you see when the team breaks it is in danger and I told everyone. This can not go on like this. We had won but we could also have lost by mistake and we had already lost the first one. The next day we met with Iker and Xavi and some others to continue talking about it and then with the whole group.

-And so they won the World Cup.

-That's what the story says. We deserved it.

-A last curiosity that can be banal utopian. Have you ever thought that you would have been of that Selection, if Messi, who grew up with you in the Barça youth academy, had been nationalized …?

-You know the possibility because it could be and more when many times there have been criticisms of him in his National Team … It would have fitted perfectly, of course. It would have been an even more impressive team because having the best in your team always adds up and a lot, but knowing and knowing what Leo feels for Argentina is something unthinkable.

-It would have been an unbeatable Selection.

-There is nobody unbeatable but they would have had to sweat to win … Buahhh, all together. It would have been nice to see him.