When he first appeared in the Cidade do Futebol of the Portuguese Federation, Roberto Martínez barely knew how to say “bom dia” and “obrigado”. On January 9, the Spanish coach became the first non-Portuguese-speaking coach to be named coach of the Portuguese team.. During its century of life, the Portuguese national team had never put a man on its bench who did not speak the country's language.. 50 natives and 2 Brazilians, Otto Glória and Luiz Felipe Scolari, before Martínez broke all the molds of his football. Nine months after his presentation, the Spaniard is already walking around the facilities of Oeiras, a municipality next to Lisbon, as if he had been in the capital all his life. He speaks fluent Portuguese, his wife and two daughters have found stability after moving from Belgium and he has made history with a locker room that came out torn from the World Cup in Qatar.

Portugal has achieved the fastest qualification for a European Championship in its entire life. The team, which before 1996 had only participated in one World Cup and one Euro, has lived in the last decade in the constant suffering of the play-offs, needing an extra playoff to attend an international event.. He suffered it to reach the 2010 World Cup, the Euro 2012, the 2014 World Cup, the 2022 World Cup…. After the disaster in Qatar and the bad relationship of many footballers with the coach Fernando Santos, the management of the Portuguese Federation surveyed the market, ignored the prejudices on the part of society and handed the team to Roberto Martínez.

Cristiano Ronaldo's situation appeared from the first moment as the main media and internal management focus. The former Real Madrid player had been a substitute in a World Cup match and his arrival in Saudi Arabia seemed to indicate a friendly ending with the national team, but nothing could be further from the truth.. Martínez's first trip as Portugal coach was precisely to Riyadh, taking advantage of the celebration of the Spanish Super Cup in Saudi Arabia.

“Can he still be a starter?”

He met Cristiano and began to manage a key situation in the locker room. The reflection abandoned all prejudice due to the forward's age and focused the decisions on the sporting part: “Can he still be a starter?” The answer has been given by Cristiano himself, who is the second top scorer in the qualifying phase with 7 goals, only surpassed by the Belgian Lukaku.

Portugal has accumulated eight victories in eight games and despite the theoretical weakness of a group with Slovakia, Luxembourg, Bosnia, Iceland and Liechtenstein, it has shown the unity and play that did not appear in Qatar. It is the highest scoring European team and Martínez has now played 37 qualifying matches without losing. With Belgium he never had the prize of a title, but he achieved a historic World Cup bronze in 2018.

“The Portuguese dressing room has healed, the team arrived very frustrated from Qatar,” say sources close to the Portuguese team.. This union with the players is based on two things: the experience with Belgium and Martínez's rapid adaptation to the language and customs of the country.. During his first months, he has dedicated an hour and a half a day to teaching Portuguese, learning not only general vocabulary, but also using football to integrate more with his players..

“close from day one”

He sang the Portuguese anthem in his first match, something that surprised those who did not want a Spaniard on the bench. “They have seen him close from the first day,” they admit in the neighboring country. Speaking perfect English also helped him in the beginning, when he was not as fluent in the language.

After visiting Cristiano in Riyadh, he met with the other 25 players from Qatar. I wanted to know first-hand his feelings. He first made a list of 200 footballers who could go to the national team and then left it in a table of 52 with which he works daily through an Artificial Intelligence tool.

In his office he has several panels with the names, the minutes, the team, the tactical system in which they play, the physical condition, the position, the calendar… “From there we use AI to draw conclusions,” he explains. . “Here they are very interested in applying AI. In football, everything is measured, training sessions, matches… Then the question is to see what is done with it. The data never makes decisions, but it does provide information,” he adds.

“We should not be confused by our good dynamics,” Chus Mateo warns every time he has the opportunity, aware that the first steps do not always mark the way, although, how can we deny the evidence?. After a month of the season, there is no one like his Real Madrid in all of Europe. Although the headlines of the summer market will be monopolized by others.

From Real Madrid, which, exhausted, ended up losing in the final of the Endesa League against Barcelona, whom it had fleeced in the Final Four in Kaunas and then won the Euroleague, four pieces came out that had been more or less important in the recent past. Nigel Williams-Goss, Adam Hanga, Anthony Randolph and Petr Cornelie packed their bags and only Facundo Campazzo returned. And yet, the white dawn is proving overwhelming: there are nine career victories, one title (the ACB Super Cup in Murcia), two wins against Barça and, as the cherry on top, the NBA comeback against Luka Doncic's Mavericks. Last year, Mateo's debut, had begun with many more doubts. In the first three days of the Euroleague they had already lost in two games and in the first seven days of the ACB, in another two.

Not only that. Despite the fact that, apparently, the squad is thinner, the pace of play of Chus Mateo's team is especially frenetic, at a record pace. In the last three games he has exceeded 100 points. 127 against Dallas with time and NBA rules, no less than 103 in the exhibition in Istanbul against Anadolu Efes in the Euroleague and 106 this Sunday against UCAM Murcia, including a devastating third quarter with 39 points. In the Endesa League, where only Real Madrid remains undefeated, they already scored 101 against Zaragoza on the first day and 93 in Girona and 94 in Manresa: they average 96 (the second, Unicaja, does not reach 90). «We are a team that runs and we play many possessions. It is risky, because we can lose more balls,” acknowledges the coach who, once again, lowers the soufflé: “We cannot think that we are doing something extraordinary.”

The keys to a start to be confirmed – the calendar does not forgive; this week a double Euroleague duel and next Thursday the 26th the third classic of the course, again at the Palace, have to do with the continuity of the project. While others experiment and adapt the reinforcements, the whites prolong everything they have been doing for years, even before the arrival of Chus Mateo as first coach to replace (controversial) Pablo Laso. The results and the game also have to do with the courage to give way to the youth players, because in the absence of Gaby Deck and, above all, Edy Tavares, a 16-year-old boy (Ismaila Diagne) burst in without complexes. The idea is that he, Eli Ndiaye and Hugo González will have the prominence they earn.

Campazzo, in Istanbul against Efes. TOLGA BOZOGLU EFE

But, if there really is an explanation for White's good performance, it is found in the ability and hunger with which he has returned to the Madrid Campazzo.. Not even a day of readaptation was needed. The Argentine point guard, who could not succeed in his NBA adventure and who before wearing white again had a stint with Red Star last year, has been like an injection of impetus to the team. From his early MVP in the Super Cup to three games last week, 49 points and 28 assists (in ACB he averages 7.4 basket passes) in the wins against Mavericks, Efes and Murcia.

Facu involves his teammates and connects especially with the interiors, Vincent Poirier and the now recovered Tavares. Gerschon Yabusele shone against Mavericks (18 points) and was the Euroleague MVP of the day after his dominance in Istanbul (22 points and 39 PIR). Dzanan Musa was also named best player of September in the Endesa League. Even Fabien Causeur, always in the shadows, seems in tune.

The Zalgiris today (8:45 p.m., Movistar) and Niko Mirotic's Armani Milan on Thursday, both at WiZink, will test Madrid's streak. «It gives us confidence in what you do and how you play. Dynamics are always good and you have to take advantage of them. I always insist on the same thing, the seasons are difficult, long and hard and the capacity of a team is seen in difficult moments,” warns Mateo.

The conversations in the hours after a victory like Sunday's in Oslo, those that follow reaching the final phase, are always the same. When is the draw? The draw is on December 2 at 6:00 p.m.. Where is Spain going to concentrate? Of all the options that UEFA has chosen, Spain already has its eye on some, but there will be no decision for a few weeks. The base camp in Spain must meet the ideal conditions for the players (good fields, a good hotel or residence), but it must also meet other more mundane requirements: have a town nearby where you can go out for lunch or dinner on days off, which the The families' accommodation is not far away and they can come and go with some comfort…

Spain has experience in this type of setup, because it has passed the last 16 qualifying phases. He has not missed a tournament since the 1992 Euro Cup. Germany is the only one that has also been in those 16 events, but twice as organizer (World Cup 2006 and Euro 2024). In USA'94 she was the winner of the 1990 edition. There is no one, therefore, more reliable than Spain, which in this cycle has won two European Championships and a World Cup.. In the last Euro Cup they made the semi-finals, and only Italy, the eventual champion, kicked them out on penalties.

In the Eurocup, from June 14 to July 14, there will be 24 teams. Although not all of them are known, far from it, in betting houses you can now play money to see who will win.. In one of the best known in the world, on Sunday, at the conclusion of the match, only England (5 to 1), France (5.5 to 1) and Germany (7 to 1) surpassed Spain as favorites to lift the title ( 8 to 1). Behind, Portugal (11 to 1) and Italy (13 to 1), and the latter is not classified yet. Luis de la Fuente's is one of the seven classified teams. Along with Germany as the host, only France, Belgium and Portugal have taken less time than her. Scotland, in the same group, and Türkiye, achieved it on Sunday.

And so, where is Spain in the European panorama? De la Fuente, who has learned not to make mistakes, does not get wet. “We always look up. We have a very good foundation, a lot of present and, most importantly, a lot of future. “This is not the time to compare ourselves with others, it will be the competition that makes us or takes us away,” he expressed on Sunday night in the Ullevaal press room.

Reliable block

From the outset, of those already classified, one can sense a step above in France and Portugal. In the case of the Gauls, due to the individualities, with Mbappé at the helm, but also with Griezmann, Tchouameni, Camavinga, Dembélé, Coman…. World champion in 2018 and runner-up in 2022, the setback against Switzerland in the last Euro Cup in the round of 16 speaks of a team that is not invincible. In the case of the Portuguese, because of those same individuals (Cristiano, who is still there, Bruno Fernandes, Bernardo Silva, Joao Félix, etc…) and also because Roberto Martínez has given strength to a team that, however, since who was champion in 2016, has signed two eighths (Russia'18 and Euro'20) and a few quarterfinals in the last precedent, the World Cup in Qatar (fell to Morocco). England is the other team that, due to names (Bellingham, Kane, etc…), is above Spain, although a good part of its chances of qualifying without problems will be played on Tuesday with Italy..

Speaking of individualities, Spain can hardly boast of players in the top 5 in the world in their positions. Rodrigo, of course, but little else. Of course, in a very short time, De la Fuente has built a block that feels reliable, capable of shining in wins (1-7 against Georgia and 6-0 against Cyprus) and of winning with more skill than brilliance against Scotland and Norway.. Everything is needed in a big tournament like the one that is coming.

And until there. Of the rest of the teams that are fighting, and that will do so during this week, during the month of November and, those chosen, in the March playoff, there is no unapproachable selection. Not at all. Greece or Netherlands in the France group. Wales, Croatia or Türkiye are playing for two places. Austria and Sweden, another. Albania, Czech Republic, Moldova and Poland, two other places. Hungary, Serbia, Denmark, Slovenia… “When we arrive, we will see where we are, but because of what we are seeing, because of what this team currently offers us, because of the expectations it generates, I am tremendously optimistic. We will fight, as always, for to be at the top,” says the coach, who has two games left in November and two friendlies in March (one against Brazil at the Bernabéu) to reach that appointment with the team in tune.

FC Barcelona has presented an appeal against the decision of the Investigative Court number 1 of Barcelona to charge the Barça club with the crime of bribery as well as its former presidents Sandro Rosell and Josep Maria Bartomeu, two former directors and the former vice president of the Committee Referee Technician (CTA) José María Enríquez Negreira and his son Javier. Barça considers that “the investigated Enriquez Negreira does not have the status of civil servant, nor an official for criminal purposes, nor does his activity in the CTA bear the nature of exercising a public function, which leads to affirming possible insubsumability of his conduct, nor in those who could have made payments to him, in the typical nature of bribery”.

In this way, the lawyers representing FC Barcelona, Cristóbal Martell and Marc Molins, emphasize that since Enríquez Negreira cannot be considered an official, the crime of bribery cannot be applied in any of its variants.. In this sense, the court highlights that, presumably, the Negreiras are responsible for passive bribery, in the case of Javier as a cooperator, for receiving money, while the former Barça directors of an active crime for payments over 18 years that “were increasing since the initial 70,000 euros up to 700,000 euros annually” through intermediary companies of the former referee.

The judge equates the Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF), on which the Technical Committee of Referees (CTA) depends, with the administration, considering that it has this public function for regulating sports competitions, despite being a “private entity” and That is why he believes that the investigated former vice president can be classified as an official.. In this way, he introduces the crime of bribery for the payments received, together with his son, from Barça.. Despite this, the Barça club maintains that at no time can this analogy be made and urges the court to continue the investigation for a crime of corruption in sport, as has happened until now.

“title of incorporation”

“The invocation of bribery places a rear-view mirror that looks back to the year 2001, when the payments linked to José Enríquez Negreira and his companies began, and correspondingly produces a kind of procedural elephantiasis by projecting the eventual status of accused to other Boards and other management teams of the Futbol Club Barcelona, regardless of the game that the institute may give the prescription, different depending on the different modalities of bribery,” says the Barça appeal.

Furthermore, they point out that “however much the concept of public official can be stretched for criminal purposes” as due to “ontological link to the general interest, the truth is that the subject, in addition to performing that predicated public function, must perform it for reasons of a” incorporation title” or “enabling title” (law, election or appointment of authority) that does not occur in the Vice President of the Technical Arbitration Committee whose appointment” is by “direct appointment of the president of the RFEF, who is not an authority, not even an official “. They add that the RFEF “even though it is an associative entity under private law, it exercises by delegation some public functions, these are those exhaustively described in the Law and none of them are carried out by the Technical Arbitration Committee or its vice president.”

“it is not an authority for criminal purposes”

For this reason, Barça remembers that it is necessary to clarify “the title of incorporation or appointment mechanism of the members of the Technical Referee Committee (hereinafter CTA), conceptualize the legal nature of the RFEF, focus and distinguish which public functions it carries out by delegation of the Administration and focus the functions of the CTA and warn if it performs those public functions attributed to the RFEF” and adds that “in short, it is clear that he is neither appointed by express and immediate provision of the law, nor has he accessed a public function through an election understood by such in accordance with doctrine and jurisprudence to electoral processes that incorporate positions in public office, by direct or indirect election such as mayors, councilors or provincial deputies, nor has it been appointed by a competent authority, a normative provision that converts officials for criminal purposes to temporary, interim and labor and administrative contracts who participate in public functions, being thus, for greater completeness, that the President of the RFEF who appoints him is not an authority for criminal purposes since he lacks command, that is, capacity and coercion to enforce what is ordered, nor jurisdiction in its understanding as the capacity to resolve conflicts”.

The legal representatives of FC Barcelona detail that the Sports Law grants, by delegation, some public functions of an administrative nature to the sports federations but they rule out that a president of this body can be “included in the concept of public official” since the same regulations add that “it is ruled out that the President of the sports federation has the status of official or similar”. For this reason, they argue that “a Vice President of the Technical Arbitration Committee of the Royal Spanish Football Federation can be affirmed as an official for criminal purposes” and ask that the case for bribery be filed.

Like a soldier who is entrusted with a mission, Luis de la Fuente has fulfilled it. Spain will be in the Eurocup in Germany on June 14. The coach who was promoted against the odds could not have been more effective in his first ten months. He won the Nations League in June against the European champion, Italy, and the World Cup semi-finalist, Croatia, and takes Spain to the European Championship with seven victories and only a loss against Scotland.

What more could you ask of the coach? In results, almost nothing. In style, Spain is not brilliant but it is very recognizable, and in group cohesion, beyond those recruited – each Spaniard has his own call-up – it has debuted a dozen players and reduced the tension that surrounded the national team in previous stages, where the bench was more protagonist than the team. The prize, being in the Euro Cup.

“We deserved it. We deserve it. I am happy for all the people around me, an extraordinary coaching staff and some players who are the true protagonists. “We have completed the stages of the travel plan that we had set for ourselves and we have managed to give the impression of a cohesive and involved team, a team for the future,” said the coach.

De la Fuente is facing his first big opportunity and it may be his last. With a contract until June 30, 2024, his position was up in the air due to the applause for Luis Rubiales in the controversial August assembly, but he gained life to close the classification. Once the peak of the crisis has passed, his position will now be in the hands of the next president of the RFEF. Whether he is in Germany will depend on who is chosen in the first quarter next year. Logic indicates that the right has been earned and that when Spain finishes competing it will be the right time to decide its future. That happened with Lopetegui in the World Cup in Russia after Rubiales arrived at the Federation, but the Granada native struck him down in the middle of the competition. And it was expensive.

De la Fuente wants people to look and talk “only about football.” That's where your price goes up. He took the reins of Spain on January 1, 2023 and in the first window he made his first and only setback. They beat Norway, without Haaland, and were shipwrecked against Scotland with an eleven with eight changes that no one understood. From that slap, he learned. “You learn from good things, from not so good things, more. We all have to be humble. Since that night in Glasgow we have corrected things, but we haven't gone far from the script,” admitted the coach..

The victory in the Nations League allowed him to calm the rumor, which surfaced again in August due to a gesture and which once again silenced the defeats of Georgia and Cyprus. The resounding victory against Scotland and closing the classification in Oslo, without Haaland even scaring and with two games ahead, reinforce the Riojan's position. “All of Spain has to be happy. We have achieved the objective well in advance, and that will allow us to prepare in time,” warned De la Fuente.. Two already eliminated teams await in November, Cyprus and Georgia, and new friendly windows will arrive in March..

A very recognizable skeleton

In De la Fuente's young Spain there is already a very recognizable skeleton whose performance has reinforced the coach. The commitment to give stripes to Rodri and Morata, to trust in emerging players, such as Bryan Zaragoza or Lamile Yamal, and to keep footballers with more weight every day like Gavi, decisive in the victory against Norway. It leads to the chance that Pedraza, called up at the last minute due to Balde's injury, would enjoy a few minutes and be able to fulfill his dream of playing with the Spain shirt..

How have you achieved game and group cohesion in ten months? “Because we know Spanish football and the raw material, the players. We know which ones fit what we want in the game and in coexistence, which is very important,” reflected the coach..

Although Gavi's goal to beat the Norwegians came with five minutes of VAR suspense, as did Morata's annulment in the first half, the night was enough to celebrate. «We took a group photo, everyone was very happy because we always have to celebrate these things.. It is not easy to chain classifications for major championships. We are doing it and we must celebrate it,” Carvajal made clear.

With Spain in the qualifying pot along with Germany, the hosts, France, Portugal, Belgium, Scotland and Turkey, but what can we expect from the team after a comfortable classification? “This is not the time to compare ourselves to anyone.. Competitions are what put you in your place. But, because of the expectations that this team arouses in me, I am optimistic.”. De la Fuente has no doubts.