All smiles for Spain's happy campers
Sunday, June 8, 2008
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From ping-pong to The Simpsons, there is no shortage of leisure activities at Spain's Austrian base – but it is also helping to have a group of players who get along.
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Spain's team hotel is a long, large wooden chalet designed in an archetypical Austrian style, surrounded by mountains which remain snow-capped even in the middle of June. Yet when Marcos Senna, Santi Cazorla or Andrés Iniesta get free time and turn on the television in their rooms they can catch up on the news back home, watch their favourite soap operas or even tune into The Simpsons in Spanish.
Entertainment
Thanks to the Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) and satellite technology, the tiny village of Milder might be remote but it is also a home from home. Television is not the only entertainment available to the boys of La Furia Roja. Iniesta can continue his winning streak at table tennis, Senna can organise some cards and Cazorla could while away the hours on endless streams of computer games.
Boredom danger
Boredom can be a problem at major tournaments and trying to prevent 23 top footballers from going stir-crazy while they are away from friends and family, training at full tilt, fighting against nerves and tension in an effort to win the UEFA EURO 2008™ title is a task the RFEF has approached head on. The danger of dissent, misbehavior and even simple boredom is ever present within squads at these events. As well as keeping the players entertained when they are not playing or training, the make-up of the group can also help team morale and in Spain's case there is as feeling that those who are least likely to get game-time are positive and supportive members.
'Support the team'
Cazorla, the last man named in the squad and, in theory, the one least likely to be called on quickly by his coach, sees it with clear eyes. "I want to play and I'll compete to see if that's achievable, but we work for a coach who has made it very clear that if you are not playing your role is to support and help push the team onwards," he said. Iniesta defined the range of leisure pursuits, which included massages and a spa treatment on Sunday, by saying: "It's about killing time – I'm winning the ping-pong at the moment because I'm actually not bad at it." The whole subject can also lead to confusion and gentle humour. Asked what he did to pass the time, the Brazilian-born Senna – whose native tongue is Portuguese – appeared to be saying that he chatted to "women". But he immediately corrected his slip of the tongue: "I mean chatting to my wife, my mum, my sister." If the tone stays light and Milder remains a home from home, then Spain will be all the stronger.
