“People take it for granted that we are going to win medals,” admits Mariona Caldentey (Felanich, Mallorca; 28 years old). The footballer warns that they are not used to playing “with so few days of recovery” [compiten cada tres]but in the Olympic pools, that notebook of expectations and obligations, the women’s team has been forced to win the medal. And gold if possible, due to their status as world champions. Japan, who beat them 4-0 in the World Cup, are the rivals in the opening round (17.00). Nigeria and Brazil complete the group. Two go through to the quarterfinals, plus two of the best third-placed teams. The Balearic player, who is leaving for Arsenal after a decade at Barcelona, talks about her career, how she judges herself and the situation of Spain after such a turbulent year.
Ask. People are constantly saying that you are underrated. What do you think?
Answer. Undervalued by whom? By the people who give out the awards? By the press? In the national team and at Barça I have felt highly valued. Then it is true that everyone likes to be recognised with awards and nominations. I have not had that experience.
P. Have you ever thought that you deserved a specific award?
R. I would have liked to be nominated at some point. I hope things continue to go well and that it happens at some point, because this happens very quickly.
P.He started as a centre-back…
R.I didn’t like it at all. I told the coach that I wanted to play further forward, and he only put me in the middle when we were losing. In the Balearic national team, I started out as a winger, even though I was still a centre-back in my team. Then I moved to midfield in my team. And now at Barça, I’ve been a winger, a number nine, a centre-back… I’ve been moving forward on the pitch, when everyone else is doing the opposite.
P.Why did they put him as a center back?
R.I think that, when I was 11, 12, or 13 years old, I made the physical change before the boys. It was a mixed team, although I was the only girl in the League. I suppose it was because of the physicality, because one of my strengths was always with the ball. I don’t know, it’s a curiosity that I can’t explain.
P.Has that experience as a centre-back served you well as an attacker?
R.Despite being a winger or a forward, I have good defensive concepts. I usually have good intuition. I don’t know if it’s thanks to those years, but defensively I understand the situations and it has given me many advantages when playing, because we are the first to press and we do it with fewer players.
P.And when it comes to facing defenses?
R.Not so much there. It’s the talent of the moment. We’ve also found coaches who have given us advice, because we were rough diamonds who could be good but nobody had taught us. At Barça they told me to try to move my foot to the defence, that I had to cross over… But until they explained that to me, I just dealt with whatever came up.
P.Do you like to analyse football or are you more of a natural?
R.Talent should not be cut off or boxed, but the more tools you have, the more you can exploit it. I like that someone who knows me analyses me and makes me think. At Barça they give us individual cuts and now we have started with the national team. I like to see that alone, never with people in front of me.
P.And what does it look like?
R.It’s different from the outside, but I like my style because it’s associative, with lots of passes, facing, linking… All styles seem legitimate to me, but I like ours.
P.Is she harsh in judging herself?
R.Yes. It is dangerous to demand so much from yourself. Football is a sport of mistakes and we have to allow ourselves to fail. Over the years you learn to put mistakes into perspective, you don’t have to beat yourself up because your head suffers. Although we have also reached this high level thanks to this obsession with making as few mistakes as possible.
P.Have you reached that balance?
R.I would say yes, but when those mistakes have an impact on the result it is still hard. I remember the Champions League semi-final first leg against Chelsea, which we lost, it was one of the hardest days. I had a concert and I didn’t go. I was going to have dinner with my family and I didn’t go. We had one more game left and we ended up winning the Champions League. So the world doesn’t end if we lose a game. I have improved, but I have recent examples that I need to keep working on.
P.They have become accustomed to not losing.
R.The truth is yes. That frustration is sometimes hard to deal with. You lose in training and, ugh, it’s hard. We’re very spoiled and so are the people. And then outside there’s a lot of criticism when things don’t go well. It’s something you have to live with.
P.What do you hope the English League will bring you?
R.It’s a challenge to get out of your comfort zone. I want to see that ability to adapt. I’m going to a team where the intention is to have the ball, but in the end English football is much faster, more physical, the games are more even, they demand that you be at 100%. I like the other kind of football, but you have to challenge yourself and try.
P.If the women’s league was more competitive, would your decision have been different?
R.These are hypotheses, because the reality is that Barça is sweeping Spain, making eight changes to the line-up and scoring seven goals per game. If the League were more competitive, it would help Spanish women’s football a lot because there has been a certain drain of talent. It should start to worry that young people want to leave. I have been in the League for 15 years, but others have not and they don’t want to stay either. It’s a shame that the League is a bit stagnant. We have won the World Cup, many things have happened and it seems that it is at the same point as four years ago.
P.It seems that it has weighed, then.
R.It has been a burden, a lot. I have been at Barça for 10 years and the routine is getting harder and harder, but one of the main reasons is the lack of competition in the League, which does not take away from how well Barça is doing. It’s just that the others are very far behind.
P.What has Montse Tomé brought to the national team?
R.A breath of fresh air. Even though it is a bit of a continuation, new people have come. Now the training camps are calm after months of turmoil, there is a lot of talk about football, the players’ opinions are heard, you interact, individual videos are made… Today we are happy to come because the atmosphere is good.
P.Are they better prepared when they go out to play or is there still a long way to go?
R.The team has room for improvement, that’s always the case. But we are preparing well. We know what we want to play and the match plans we can adapt.
P.Will there be a time when all wounds will be closed?
R.Well, I don’t know, because these have been very difficult months in which we have had a very bad time. Now you appreciate being well here, but today Mapi León has not returned yet. I don’t know what will happen in the future, but she is not 100% healed yet.
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