Good morning. This may well be the biggest day in Granada’s history. You want to know more? Of course you do. Here are two big interviews for you, with two men who are brilliant to talk to and who explain how they have done it...
Here’s the impossibly energetic, charismatic Diego Martínez, the manager who has brought them from the second division to Europe and now a quarter final with the enthusiasm of a kid — the kid he was (and still is) espn.com/soccer/granada…
And here’s Roberto Soldado, still going after he thought it was over and enjoying it more than ever before. Sixteen years after his first European goals, seven since he last faced Man U. There was no chance, he thought... amp.theguardian.com/football/2021/…
More on Granada:
The day they fielded (were forced to field) an ineligible XI because of a Covid outbreak: theguardian.com/football/2020/…
The origins of their success. Straight up from the second division and into Europe. They were even too for a while last season. theguardian.com/football/blog/…
Here’s more on how the did it, the image of them splashing about in the mud helping to sum it up. espn.com/soccer/spanish…
And this is how the went to Napoli, lost four players, went a goal down in the first minute, sent on a players who weren’t really fit and still came through. It’s quite something that they’re still standing. espn.com/soccer/granada…
Oh, and to give you an idea of where they came from, here’s something on Granada going down. That was the catalyst for changes (some of which in fairness they were already trying to make). theguardian.com/football/blog/…
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Really, really enjoyed talking to the fascinating @filipeluis about ... well, about everything really. Chelsea, Atlético, Simeone, Mourinho, Hazard, Salah and Michael Caine. Here's the interview. theguardian.com/football/2021/…
It could have been five times as long. So much cut. I'll try to put some of that up here later.
FIlipe Luis very good indeed on football's relationship with gambling, by the way. "I don’t want footballers involved at all – at all – because it’s an addiction that destroys families."
Cañizares lo clava. Tal y como está todo ahora, entre jugadores, árbitros y VAR, lejos de erradicar los piscinazos, se anima a los jugadores a tirarse.
“El problema es de concepto, es de inicio, es de reflexión general”, dice @santicanizares. Total, totalmente de acuerdo. No es cuestión ya de analizar esta decisión o aquella, de hablar siquiera de justicia, sino de pensar hacia dónde vamos, cómo afecta al *juego* en sí.
Cosa que llevamos tiempo hablando con @itu_edu. De verdad, eh, y siento salir en plan apocalíptico, pero el fútbol tiene un problema grave. Se está haciendo mucho daño.
Here's the @guardian_sport interview with @ivanrakitic, who speaks really well about Croatia's mind-set at World Cup, about their difficulties since, about the semifinal with England and the final with France ...
One of the diffciulties when you have someone who's engaging and speaks so eloquently is, of course, getting it all in ... Here are some of the cuttings, in case they're interesting ...
One of the difficulties when you talk to have someone who has a lot to say and speaks so well is fitting it all in (and all the more so these days), so there's a lot that didn't make it. Thought it might be nice to share some of that from Santi Cazorla …
Recently someone asked me if I felt like an example/role model to follow, an inspiration. And I said no. I’m not an example to anyone there are a lot of problems in life much worse than mine. All I have done is battled to keep playing football.
I’m sure there are lot of people in my situation who have fought just the same or more than me but because they don’t play football or because they are not famous, people don’t realise. If this can help, I'm happy.