Alba Redondo, Iniesta's 'student' who dreams of repeating the World Cup feat of her idol
“Alba is in a splendid state of form and with great enthusiasm”. His teammates or his coach do not say it, his father Antonio Redondo says it in a conversation with EL MUNDO. It is true that being his father, it may be more difficult to be critical, but this time he is not wrong. The Albacete woman stands out with the national team every time she has minutes. He signed a double against Zambia, and surely this Saturday, in the round of 16 match of the World Cup between Australia and New Zealand against Switzerland (7:00, TVE), if he plays again, he will know how to take advantage of his opportunity.
The team does not arrive at its best, especially after the defeat against Japan, which raised many doubts. However, the footballer is confident. “The bad days have passed and now we face the rest with a positive mentality and looking forward to the next game,” he says.. But the reality is that the result affected him. “That day she was very annoyed,” says Antonio.
From gymnastics to soccer
La Mancha discovered that she wanted to play soccer at the age of six. Of course, before he tried gymnastics. “As a child I was very nervous and active. So her mother and I decided to sign her up for gymnastics.. He did very well and was happy. What happens is that her brother played soccer and when she took him to train she came too.. She picked up a ball and one day she told us she wanted to practice this sport and we changed her. He liked the ball more than the trampoline,” admits his father.
It seems that the change was a success, but in addition to starting out in football, at the age of six Alba would also meet the player who would become an idol for her, Andrés Iniesta. At that time, the man from Fuentealbilla was taking off in his sports career. “There we took a picture with him and that image has always been in Alba's room. As Andrés progressed, she felt a greater admiration for him, and that's the way it has been until today,” says Antonio.
Your contact is not only referred to that snapshot, both players have recently spoken. Iniesta advised him before the World Cup. “Above all, he told me to enjoy myself and he gave me advice, since he has a lot of experience in this,” says Alba.
Alba Redondo in the match against Zambia, in which he scored two goals. THE WORLD
Surely for the Levante footballer these words meant a lot, above all, because it is the first time she has played a World Cup. In 2019 he entered the prelist, but ended up falling out of Jorge Vilda's call. He was also going to play the Eurocup a year ago, but a sciatic nerve injury prevented him from doing so. This is her big chance and she's taking advantage of it.. “I am living it happily and intensely. Since I was little I dreamed of this and I'm enjoying it to the fullest.”
Top scorer in the F League
The forward has worked very hard to gain a place among the 23 selected for the World Cup. She finished the season being the top scorer in the F League, with 28 goals. And as her father acknowledges, she lives by and for football. “She is methodical 24 hours a day in terms of food, rest, training and outings. Many times I think that you have to really like what he does because it is a sacrifice”, comments Antonio. And Alba not only works on the physical aspect, for the forward the psychological issue is also very important. “It is just as important or more than the physical. The mind is the engine of the body, you have to take care of it and, above all, take care of your environment”, says the footballer.
In addition to being a great player, Alba Redondo is an extremely familiar person, for her her people are “the best”, and she is lucky to be accompanied in this tournament by her brother and her partner. His father has not dared to travel to the antipodes because he does not dislike airplanes, but he acknowledges that if the team manages to reach the final, he will consider moving there. For this reunion to take place, the Spanish team still has a long way to go. Their next challenge is to defeat Switzerland tomorrow.