By Joiner Martinez
13 Jul 2024, 18:43 PM EDT
The Spanish football team is now resting in its hotel in Berlin, the same one where it stayed on the eve of its debut at Euro 2024, where it was cheered on by a hundred fans who welcomed Lamine Yamal with a ‘happy birthday’ chant 24 hours before the final against England at the Olympic Stadium in the German capital.
Spain repeated the same plan that gave them such good results in their first match in the tournament, played at the venue of the final, with a 3-0 victory over Croatia. This time, the departure was different, the farewell to Donaueschingen, the small town located in the Black Forest where they have prepared away from the noise of each Euro match.
After the morning training session, the last of the season, at the SV Aasen sports centre, in the early afternoon came the special moment of the farewell to the luxury complex Del Öschberghof, where the 26 internationals have enjoyed all kinds of comforts in their team hotel.
They even had time to ride their bikes through the meadows surrounding the complex with several golf courses, which for many days have served to give the players a few hours of respite from football.
With a family photo at the door of the Spanish expedition, and later with all the workers of the hotel complex, the team said goodbye to a place that remains in their best memories, like Neustift in 2008, a small town in Austria that was very similar to what we experienced in the present.
After the farewell, the Spanish team completed the 130-kilometre drive to Stuttgart airport and from there flew to Berlin, to complete a final 750-kilometre journey in the tournament before returning home on Monday. The arrival at the Grand Hyatt Berlin, amidst tight security, was marked by a warm welcome from a hundred supporters who shouted at the players and sang Lamine Yamal.
Lamine Yamal wants to win
Lamine Yamal was the star of the final hours for the Spanish team in Donaueschingen, the centre of jokes in training on the eve of the final and blowing out candles on a strawberry cake for his 17th birthday after lunch, with a wish expressed out loud: “I want to win as a gift.”
All the Spanish internationals sang “Happy Birthday” to Lamine Yamal, who, while enduring the jokes of his inseparable friend Nico Williams and after blowing out the candles on the desserts of the last meal at the team hotel in the Black Forest, stood up and dedicated a few brief words.
“I am very happy to be able to celebrate my birthday here and reach the final with all of you,” he said. “As a gift I want to win. Let’s go for England,” he added shyly, receiving applause and jokes.
“Wow, he’s worked hard” or “it’s hair-raising” were the ironic comments his teammates made about Yamal, one of the main protagonists of the European Championship in Germany, where he became the youngest player to debut in the history of the tournament, to do so as a starter and to score.
Keep reading:
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Lamine Yamal: “The photos never came out because we didn’t want comparisons with Messi”
Yamal’s father responded to the photo with Messi: “It was a blessing from Lamine to Leo”