With the Tokyo Olympics on the immediate horizon and with the soccer team, reinforced by six of the players who have just been part of Luis Enrique’s senior team at the Eurocup, as a firm candidate for gold, memories travel until the last time that national football was represented, London 2012. Also then the expectations were raised to the maximum power and the disappointment was historic.
The team, directed by Luis Milla (Teruel, 55 years old), came from winning the Mediterranean Games (2009), being silver in the European Under-19 and winning the Under-21 in Denmark which, precisely, gave him the classification to the games. A great team reinforced by three players who had just won Euro 2012: Javi Martínez, Juan Mata and Jordi Alba, without forgetting that the first two had already won the World Cup in South Africa.
Nine years later, the coach at the time looks back and analyzes what happened from the perspective of time. Spain did not go beyond the first phase. They lost to Japan (0-1) and Honduras (0-1) and drew against Morocco (0-0) with the team already eliminated.
“I was wrong in the preparation. I saw the players tired and gave them more rest than normal “
Luis Milla
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With the passage of time, have you found any fairly logical explanation to explain what happened in London?
As an experience it was wonderful, even if it was very bad in sports. For any athlete or former, as was my case, being able to experience the Games from within, being in the Olympic Village and being part of the inaugural parade is something you can never forget. I tried by all means that the footballers could live that moment. In the Federation there were those who thought it was not convenient because we were already in the competition, but in the end we succeeded. He knew that the players were most excited about it. Before London, I met with the footballers and also with others who had already experienced the Games, such as Guardiola, Kiko, Amavisca, Santi Denia… and they all told me that this was the peak moment. Then things did not turn out as we thought.
Why? That selection had been launched and it was a real team.
What do you want me to say? The first thing, that I sing the mea culpa because I had my share of responsibility. As a coach I didn’t do well, I could have done better. Come on, I should have done better. I insisted a lot on having the three older players: Javi Martínez, Mata and Alba. I thought they were going to give us an extra competitiveness. I’m not looking for excuses, but a series of circumstances happened that didn’t let us perform as I expected. I tried to do a shorter preparation than normal so that the players would arrive more rested and then we might fall short. For example, the three Athletic players, who had worked with Bielsa that season, arrived with great physical wear and tear. We couldn’t get them back like I thought. Muniain spent all the Games injured. With Ander we could only count for a few minutes. Before, Thiago had injured us… These are small details that I don’t want to sound like excuses. For not entering the matches themselves …
“Although it went wrong, living an Olympiad in the Villa and being in the opening parade, is unique”
Luis Milla
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Not even Morocco was won when we were already eliminated.
Yes Yes. For the European teams it was all very complicated. All but the UK, who were local, were out in the group stage. They were bad dates for us. Even so, the second game, against Honduras, if repeated, out of ten we would have won ten. Three posts, a couple of penalties that we did not whistle. Against Japan it was difficult for us to enter … and that first game marked us.
“We had a great team and it is always a pride that these players have had a long journey”
Luis Milla
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He admits that he was wrong, in what exactly?
In what I have commented… Perhaps I did not make a series of decisions that in the Federation did not look good and I did not carry them out, but now is not the time to start saying what they were. A harmony was created within the group, there in London, which did not help much. But the most important thing, I repeat, was the preparation. We were wrong. We should have given him more workouts and less rest. Japan had just been together for two months. The South Americans and Asians came better. But I don’t want to use it as an excuse because we had great players. They were very good and they have shown it afterwards. A negative dynamic was entered and we did not know how to get out of it. Until then we had had a positive dynamic that led us there. But I repeat, so many years later, I sing the mea culpa and do not forget the previous three years.
From his words I can see that this elimination did not leave him very stigmatized either.
It always hurts. Sure it hurts! It was a Games, but when in the lower teams you work with young people, in addition to the results, the process is always important. That is why I do not forget the previous three years. We were European Under-21 champions, in Denmark, playing football very well. With its own style. The players I had during those four years progressed together and then remained in the absolute. At the 2014 World Cup there were six; to Euro 2016, four; to the 2018 World Cup, five and to the recent Eurocup, De Gea, Azpilicueta, Alba, Koke … plus Thiago who would have been in London had he not been injured. I think that with the Federation I did my little job, in addition to consolidating an idea of the game that existed then and continues to exist now. Those players have had their way in the absolute.
But his career could be marked by that.
Can be. I’m not saying no. In the end each one makes his career. I left the Federation, I went to the United Arab Emirates, to a First Division club. Later in Spain I trained in Second two years. I went to Indonesia… Now I have been able to return, but I don’t think this is the time. Possibly I could have done better if that hadn’t happened, but football is like that. I have hit two small blows, that one and the one in Zaragoza, which were six bad months. I even think that the second was worse than the first and now I have the feeling that I am not in the market.
That’s the feeling he has as a coach …
A little, yes. The profession has become very expensive. There are more and more coaches. Young people come out, prepared people. I feel like a coach, but at least I feel like a commentator in football. What I do believe is that technicians are increasingly penalized when objectives are not achieved, regardless of the circumstances that arise in each case.
One last detail. How do you see that six players who have been in the European Championship go to Tokyo to the Games?
Well. They are young, they have that illusion. Sure they asked them and said they wanted to be. They have earned it. They worked with that group, with that coach and the most important thing is that they have helped Luis Enrique a lot while still of the age of under-23. We did it with Javi Martínez, Mata, Adrián… It may be a lot of ‘tute’ for the head, but they are very young. Technicians know how to dose the jobs. But we are talking about the National Team and the Olympic Games and that drives you crazy.
“Spain is a recognizable team”
Luis Milla has soaked the Euro Cup from the first to the last game. Even taking notes as a good coach worth his salt.
What has the tournament that just ended left you in terms of football?
The impression that football is becoming more equal every day. Confirmation of the trend that any team can beat anyone. Everything has been matched physically and tactically and the technical section no longer has such a priority because each day we work better, the teams are more compact and those who are physically superior play a match with those who are technically superior. From equality, emotion has arisen. The extensions, the penalty shootouts have been the product of that equality. And that’s good for football. The greats have to give a twist and it is no longer worth having better players. Austria, Switzerland, the Czech Republic … they were real rocks.
It has been the Eurocup of the team above the player.
As Di Stéfano said, there is no better player than the entire team. And now it is prioritized more. To counter those with better players you can only work as a team.
And what did Spain think?
Well. It started badly. It went from less to more, but this is normal in these short competitions. When you are a team like Spain with creativity, with good footballers, you play with fear of not losing the first game and then you let go. The turning point was the match against Slovakia. From there it continued to grow. The most important thing about Spain is that it is a recognizable selection. Winning is the most difficult. We have to forget about the generation that won everything, but we have to try to be there. There is material for it. Players of that profile keep coming out and we have to move around there. In that idea and in that style and if you lose in the semifinals on penalties, that’s what football is.
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