The return of the Guaje to the Tivoli NEU of Innsbruck was a sweet memory for the Spanish expedition and for David Villa. On the pitch, two years ago the Reds started the road to glory in the first match against Russia where they won 4-1 and the asturian forward carried the ball home signed by all his mates after scoring a hat-trick. Only a few goals later and in the same location he scored in the 92nd minute against Sweden, and that meant the qualification to the quarter final. The rest of the story is well known by all…
Yesterday’s afternoon meant the reunion of many of the protagonists of that afternoon in a well remembered location. The objective, prepare the World Cup, warm-up a team that is seen by all as a candidate to win the trophy but who suffered more than planned to beat Saudi Arabia, who even leaded the game during some time.
The Guaje worked as the only forward for the Spaniards and showed a very good performance with his new club colleagues. Up to six Barcelona players were in the team of del Bosque yesterday and Villa did not miss his usual date with the goal. After a pass of Iniesta, the asturian forward scored right into the net as the equalizer. A stadium with a great feeling, it meant the third consecutive goal in three matches, 37 goals in 56 games (0.66 goals / match) and only 7 goals away from becoming the top striker in the history of the Spanish National Team. His motivation this year is maximum and one can see it watching him on the pitch.
The Guaje is at his top level, however he does not lose his humbleness and he has spoken about the World Cup with the following words in the English media:
“it’s a great compliment that people consider us as candidates to win the World Cup. But we don’t care about this. We aren’t interested in being so or not. We know that none of the matches will be easy. If we are too confident and we think it will be easy, then things will get difficult. It’s natural that all people check our good results in the past three years. But we want to reach the final, not only be the favorites to do so”.
And he added about the recent successes:
“We have a generation of great footballers and that means we are a team with greatly appreciated players, but we have also been lucky. In the past years we have worked hard. And we are going to try to achieve all our objectives”
