“We have been feeling this pressure for a long time, we have to give it naturalness and enjoy it”
MADRID, 26 Jun. (EUROPA PRESS) –
The goalkeeper of the Spanish team Sandra Paños celebrated the “expectation” that the national team raises, but acknowledged that she is “strange” that they are valued as “favorites” to lift the title in the European Championship, although at the same time she highlighted the “quality ” of the staff, urging her teammates to “give naturalness” to the pressure of recent weeks.
“Going to a European Championship is very difficult, doing something important is very difficult. I said it so that everyone is aware that you have to be careful. With Barça we have done many things that have generated a lot of expectation, but there is a difference with the selection. That there is expectation for Spain is great, but at the level of competition I’m surprised that we are valued as favorites, there are many teams that have won many things”, Paños said in an interview with Europa Press.
The FC Barcelona player commented a few days ago that the expectations surrounding the team were “overrated” and now she explains that she didn’t say it to take pressure off, but because they are “aware” of what they have done and who they are. “We are delighted that they respect us and value us for what we are doing, because I think we have enough quality to do great things, but the message is that Spain has not done anything yet,” she stated emphatically.
However, Paños did not evade the challenge and assured that the team would fight in England “to get as much as possible”. “Let no one doubt it,” he said.
“PRESSURE PUTS YOU IN UNCOMFORTABLE SITUATIONS THAT YOU HAVE TO DEAL WITH”
“We transform pressure into desire and ambition. Having pressure puts you in uncomfortable situations that you have to know how to cope with and also gives you experience for future important things that you have to achieve. We have been feeling that pressure for a long time and we are very familiar with it”, he added.
And for Cloths, the recipe against negative pressure is “naturalness”. “We have to be aware of what we have done, be calm and enjoy. I am one of those who thinks that if you enjoy everything, everything will be fine”, he valued over all the comments of the last weeks that see Spain as one of the favorites to win his first European Championship.
Thus, the goalkeeper insisted that the entire dressing room is focused on “working well” to “find her best version” and be able to “be among the 23 chosen” who will travel to England to play in the EURO. “We are looking forward to it, now we are all focused on the European Championship,” she said.
“WE ALL GIVE 100% IN CONCENTRATION BECAUSE IT IS THE WAY TO GROW”
“There is a demand but not because there are going to be discards, we are like that. We all give one hundred percent in the concentration because it is the way to grow and evolve. People are in doubt as to whether they are going to go or not, but we are all calm because we are doing a good job. Vilda has a good outlook to choose from, it’s good that she finds it difficult to make the decision, and looking to the future it’s even better, there are many players in the dynamic and they soak up the intensity that is experienced here”, commented.
Paños was finally able to be in this Saturday’s match in Huelva against Australia, after he tested negative for COVID this Tuesday, after testing positive the day before. “It caught me out of the blue. The body relaxes when it’s on vacation and that’s where I’ve been able to catch it. It was unexpected, to say the least, but I haven’t had such a bad time, I’ve been able to train, it didn’t last long, luckily It was at a good time,” he said.
Finally, the captain of FC Barcelona addressed the issue of mental health. “I don’t know if elite sport is healthy or not, but I think it’s important to have a person who helps you understand and gives you tools to help you deal with certain situations,” she admitted about the figure of the psychologist in professional sports.
“Athletes are super ambitious and self-demanding and there comes a time when that line is crossed and you get frustrated, which does not help you compete, it blocks your legs, decision making. Working with a psychologist is a way of meet you. football is stages, it is very difficult to be regular. In a very irregular season you have to accept many things, the psychologist will help you assimilate it. Whoever uses a psychologist from the beginning has a lot of cattle, “he settled, after his partner Sheila García confessed that to improve her performance she had to ask for “help” from a psychologist.