Meet Spain's team behind the team in Norway
Thursday, July 24, 2014
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From a 20-year-old at his first finals to a chef with ten UEFA European Championships and FIFA World Cups under his belt – meet Spain's backroom staff.
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Many of us have a fair idea of what players are up to at final tournaments, but what about the staff behind them, the team behind the team? UEFA.com cornered Spain's backroom staff in the dining room at the UEFA European Women's Under-19 Championship to find out.
Team manager: Javier Moreno
Together with the head of the delegation [José Luis Vázquez] I'm the connection between UEFA and the team. I arrange everything the team needs, sorting out travel, buses, hotels. The job brings a lot of responsibility but it's so beautiful to do. When I joined the federation they told me I could only work there for one month – that was almost 11 years ago now. I still love it.
Driver: Francisco 'Paco' Bautista
I'm the bus driver and the man who takes all the material and equipment to international tournaments in a van. I've been driving around Europe for practically every Spanish national team for seven or eight years now. The trip to Norway was 3,300km and it took three days to get here. I help out as a kit man when I'm at tournaments.
Kit men: Arsenio Mosqueda, Bojan Baez
Mosqueda says: This is my first final tournament – I'm only 20. It's great to be here representing my country, listening to the national anthem and just being at a European championship. Together with Bojan I am responsible for all the kits of the players and staff members. We have to make sure everything is always ready wherever the players are playing or practising.
Media officer: Héctor Rubio
I'm a press officer for the Spanish teams and editor for SeFutbol, the official media channel for all Spanish national teams. I work hard to provide the Spanish people with information about their national players – it is my duty. From nothing last year we now have almost one million followers on Twitter and 1.7 million on Facebook. The job is beautiful.
Having found his flow and with the restaurant staff subtly pointing at their watches, Rubio describes the rest of the team ...
Head of delegation: José LuisVázquez
He is the most important person on the staff and he is ultimately in control of everything. Whenever there is a problem he will resolve it. He is like a father for the squad and the rest of us.
Coach: Jorge Vilda
The coach, the man responsible for the team at this tournament. He won two European Women's Under-17 Championships and hopefully he can have similar success here in Norway. He has an incredible record for the U17s and now the U19s, winning 31 out of 41 competitive games, drawing seven and losing only three.
Assistant coach: Pedro López
The coach's right-hand man, he helps organise the practice sessions and the tactics and everything around matches. He led the team during qualifying because the coach was away at the U-17 Women's World Cup, where they went all the way to the final before losing to Japan. With Pedro, the team won three out of three and scored 13 goals without reply. He is now U17s coach.
Physical trainer: Javier Velázquez
If he wasn't here we wouldn't have won a match. He prepares each training session meticulously. He makes it hard work for the girls but they have fun too. He has his own database featuring all the players he has worked with over the last ten years which he updates every day.
Goalkeeper coach: Manuel Amieiro
Manolo has a lot of experience and a long time ago he was the man who first trained Iker Casillas at Real Madrid and helped make him what he is. He is the best goalkeeper coach around and he now works with all the national women's teams. An essential component of our staff.
Medical team: Joan Molera (doctor), Alejandro Benito (physiotherapist)
They have a daily sit-down with the coaches to discuss the fitness of the players. They work with the players during training sessions to get them in shape and then help them recover after training or a match. They use all kind of different techniques, from massage to hydrotherapy. All of them have worked for the women's national teams for many years now and go to most tournaments. They know the girls, their injuries and know how to treat and train them. They are in constant contact with club coaches to discuss their fitness.
Cameraman/video editor: Jesús Acebes
My SeFutbol colleague, he is in charge of the video material around the tournament – not the analytical material but the editorial stuff. He shoots it and packages it. His videos are great and give the people at home a real taste of what is happening here. He was at the European Under-21 Championship last summer and they won so let's hope he is a lucky charm for us.
Chef: Javier Arbizu
He has been working as a cook for the federation for over 20 years now. He has been to five World Cups, five European Championships and four Olympic Games so he has a lot of experience. Maybe he is the secret of our recent success! He is a very special man and has a lot of love to give to the players and staff. He is like a grandfather to us.
Post-publication, Jorge Vilda points out that we missed a crucial part of the team ...
Team liason officer: Ketil Husøy
The TLO has done an amazing job helping us at this tournament. I've been working with the Spanish federation for seven years now and we have had some great TLOs, local people supplied to each team by the local organisers. But I have never met one like him – he's amazing, he sorts out everything for us, gets on with everybody and is a real part of the team.