Palop delights in Spain's team spirit

Minor miracle

Missing home
"I'm so proud and so happy to even be here that the days are passing far too quickly for me," he told euro2008.com. "Some of the guys feel like the days between games drag, some miss home but I'm just lapping this up. Iker and Pepe are a joy to train with and if you are not playing then that's important. Iker is someone I admire for having taken the pressure at Real Madrid [CF] since he was 17 and yet he's still their best player every year. He's a complete goalkeeper because he's terrifically quick but he also reads the game very well. Pepe is another keeper I have to praise. Excellent at high balls, very strong, good at one-on-ones - in Iker we've the best in the world and Pepe was named keeper of the year in England. That's not bad. They are two big personalities, two good lads."

Wasted years
It now seems crazy that someone of Palop's competitive instincts, massive talent and leadership spent so many years on the bench at Valencia CF waiting for Santiago Cañizares to vacate the gloves. Since moving to Seville he has won two UEFA Cups, a Spanish Cup and the Spanish Super Cup. Rather than use that as a platform to shout his merits he is just happy that he will return from this tournament more experienced and having participated in something which Spain finds vitally important. "So much has happened to me in my life - and lately I've gone from never playing to playing every single game," he said. "I know how to handle this and what to do and I'll still be ready if I'm needed. I never like to talk myself up but the fact is that I've had nothing which was easy or handed to me in my life. My life has been littered with obstacles – bad moments, uncertainty – but I'm a fighter and the very fact that I'm here tells the whole story."