• Luis Figo splendid at 50 years old: "I do not know if it is genetics, as healthy and in recent times I have tried Yoga Power"
  • Nutrition The dietitian of Luis Suárez and Antonella Rocuzzo: "Junk food is the fast way to get dopamine"

"I always have things to do, especially in the morning, so I don't know whether to say that my life is that of a retiree. I never get bored", smiles Vicente del Bosque (Salamanca, December 23, 1950).

He receives ZEN at the break of a shoot as an ambassador of the Audika hearing devices, in Boadilla del Monte. "From the age of 50 we have to monitor all health parameters and avoid everything that alters us, such as junk food, tobacco, alcohol ... I try to take care of myself, because when we are older we shrink a little. I've never liked drinking and not because I've been a player."

Of course, he recognizes that sport is now part of his life more as a spectator than as a practitioner, although he goes for a walk daily with his son Álvaro. "Despite being Down syndrome he is a very responsible kid and being diabetic he knows what he has to do. At home we eat very healthy, my wife cooks very well, and we do her two hours of walk with him. It always goes faster than me, I'd like to catch it," he shares with a laugh.

CROSSWORD PUZZLES TO DISCONNECT

Del Bosque led the players' strike in 1978.EM File

The legendary former national coach has friends who do yoga, but he doesn't dare. "I'm embarrassed to say it, but I relax the crossword puzzles, especially if they have a bit of irony when it comes to looking for words." Keep up to date with all the sports news. "Not as a sacrifice, because I like it and I watch first, second, international matches... We are well served."

He has not yet visited the new Santiago Bernabéu Stadium. "I value the work they have done, Real Madrid is modernizing more and more, but I am better on my sofa." He removes iron from the Saudi 'League of Stars': "At the moment, they are taking players a little bit out of competitive football, but it is true that they have an economic power that can be harmful. However, I maintain all confidence in European football and it is very difficult for the Arabs to deteriorate it." Remember with emotion the 2022 Champions that the merengues won. "It was a very beautiful competition, exciting, beating the English with epic comeback included. Unforgettable."

THE WOMEN'S NATIONAL TEAM

View this post on Instagram

World and European champion, he says that if he has not yet spoken out about the crisis that the RFEF is experiencing and the conflict with the players, it is because nobody has asked him. "Who am I to go out on my own to have an opinion if no one comes to me?" And it conveys a reflection. "The star of the players does not come from two or three years, but from a sacrifice from far behind, with the pioneers of women's football and the institutional support also of the clubs, in the lower categories. I have seen this triumph in the World Cup with great joy and normality, the one we all want for the equality of women and men who, unfortunately, have been twisted. "

He still "fails to understand how an issue festers", referring to Luis Rubiales' non-consensual kiss to Jennifer Hermoso, "which distorts this important and significant victory", and everything that has subsequently unleashed, in the process of being solved a month later.

"We at such a big club lost, but above all we won, and I had a great time. Now it seems that everyone is angry, when football is to make people happy. We are at a time when we are being very critical of the outside, rather than talking about football inside, unfortunately for the women who have had to live this uncomfortable situation. "

He believes everyone should be more explicit. "I lived in '78, three years after Franco died, a players' strike in which I was among the ringleaders. From that came out reinforced men's football. Social Security was achieved, that the players had freedom to hire by whoever they wanted without being so protected by the club ... Hopefully from the demands of the girls things are achieved and society can enjoy football again, because now it seems a nuisance that worries us all. "

THE EVOLUTION IN THE CHANGING ROOMS

The former national coach, on the bench. EM file

Do you think that the players have lacked a more resounding support and not so late? Would he have acted differently if he had remained in office? "Well, maybe the players haven't committed enough but I don't think any of them are against what we all want for women. They have done their job very well and it is a shame to remain engaged. But I hope that they will emerge stronger from this situation. There are internal details that I don't know but I get along very well with the current coach [Luis de la Fuente] and I think he's a great guy who represents Spanish football well." He believes that cordiality should be sought. "I've been in the youth ranks of Real Madrid for 17 years and football also transmits a lot of values to the kids. We have tried to make them good people, not just good footballers."

That is why he has not and will never detach himself from his passion. "In a locker room there are very important human relationships. And, as in the business world, in a cordial atmosphere and with a good work environment you are closer to winning". The coach's leadership is fundamental to achieving that team spirit. "With the added difficulty that only 11 play, there are ups and downs, personal problems, injuries... You are worried about a lot of things."

Despite the problems, today everything has evolved and improved a lot, especially in the elite. "Formerly it was the coach who controlled that it was a glass of wine and nothing more. We made sure he didn't eat this and that. Now there is a team of nutritionists, a very large technical staff, with doctors who know specifically what works for one and the other. Without exaggeration, of course, that not everything is so sacrificed, eh, "he concludes before continuing with his recording in good spirits.

  • Real Madrid
  • Social security
  • Vicente del Bosque
  • Salamanca
  • Europe
  • RFEF
  • Luis Rubiales
  • HBPR
  • nutrition