Toni, Great of Spain

Spain still licking his wounds from defeat to Switzerland while his immediate rivals took advantage of the situation to gain morale. Reinaldo Ruedaselector Hondurasnext obstacle of Spain, left a phrase that will later take its toll on the newspaper archive: “I already said that the rival is Chile… “. At the same time as Rueda, in the concentration of the Selection in Potchefstroom, Forest appeared to settle the controversy over the statements of Luis Aragonés in 'Al Jazeera'. “There are not two Spain, there is not a Spain of Luis and another of Del Bosque”. “We are not going to lurch at this point, for the next game if anything, there will only be a touch-up …”. At that time no one knew, but Del Bosque was anticipating the substitution of Silva, which would later bring a queue. The canary, yes, would end up recovering his place in the most important moments.

The least affected by the 0-1 against Switzerland seemed the players. Many, ten of them, took advantage of the day off for a safari. Puyol, Piqué, Capdevila, Xavi, Silva, Llorente, Pedro, Javi Martínez, Mata and Valdés They enjoyed seeing wild animals and ate a barbecue that they made in their honor. Casillas, Torres, Villa, Reina, Busquets, Marchena and Iniesta they preferred to stay in the residence. Cesc and Marchena they exercised and Sergio Ramos went for a test. It was a long day for the assistant coach, Toni Grande, which was the link between Del Bosque and the players. Grande's relationship with the footballers was constant, persistent. Del Bosque measured more. Now, ten years later, it must be recognized that Grande was one of the great secrets of Spain's success.

While the coaches took their place, with Rueda playing tricks in the bad moment of Spain and Del Bosque taking iron from Luis's statements, the pull of the National Team had not suffered any decrease. Spain-Switzerland caught 9,771,000 viewers (58.7%). The golden minute (17:51) was set by 11,106,000. La Roja's debut in Germany was watched by 9,297,000 people. Despite the unexpected defeat, people were with the Selection. At the Potchefstroom residence, 135 kilometers from Johannesburg, the players lived in a bubble, without contact with reality beyond the news that their family and friends told them and for which AS published, which made a special edition in South African printers to send them every day the pulse of what happened in our country and in the rest of the other 31 that disputed the first World Cup in Africa.