Spain attacks the conventions, by Santiago Segurola

To the many peculiarities of the selection, the most obvious of which is the absence in the last call of players from Real Madrid and Atlético, is added a novel factor, unrelated to the classic model in the making of the national team. First of all, it is a successful selection against the odds. They did not arrive as favorites to the last Euro Cup, but they dispatched Croatia, Italy, Germany, France and England with authority and style. How and with which footballers did he achieve it? With evident brilliance, praised in all the chancelleries of European football, and a large group of players who have swept away the classic conventions.

In historical terms, the national team has been a repository of players from Barça and Real Madrid. Since the Civil War, no decade has contradicted that evidence, related to the potential of the two teams and their ability to catch footballers in other fishing grounds. In the World Cup that Spain won in 2010, six starters belonged to Barça (Piqué, Puyol, Busquets, Xavi, Iniesta and Pedri) and three to Real Madrid (Casillas, Sergio Ramos and Xabi Alonso). In Villa’s case, he started the World Cup as a representative of Valencia and finished it as a Barça player. The exception was Capdevila, signed up for Villarreal.

Capdevila, who was considered the weakest piece of the team, completed the World Cup with the highest score. In matters of representativeness and performance, the current team is deeply capdevilist .

It is made up of a majority of players who have followed long and winding careers, outside the two gigantic Spanish clubs and outside the media radar. In some cases, like that of David Raya, 29 years old, excellent goalkeeper, now at Arsenal, without having played a minute in the Spanish League. Raya is one of several Capdevilas of the national team who have moved suitcases to many clubs before football has given them consideration, importance and fame.

Raya arrived at Blackburn Rovers at the age of 15, from the Cornellà youth team. At this point in his career, which has taken place entirely in England (Blackburn, Southport, Brentford, Arsenal), he is one of the best goalkeepers in the world. It would fix the life of the English team, for example. Similar trajectories can be detected in numerous international players: Vivian (Santutxu, a Bilbao neighborhood team, Bilbao Athletic, Mirandés, Athletic); Pedro Porro (Don Benito, Perelada, Girona, Valladolid, Sporting Lisbon, Tottenham); Cucurella, coach of Espanyol and Barça, player for Eibar, Betis, Brighton and Chelsea – he barely played any minutes in the Blaugrana first team; Ayoze, nine seasons in the Premier, five in Newcastle’s weakest years and four as a regular substitute at Leicester, until his resounding success at Betis, credited this season at Villarreal.

Dani Olmo and Mikel Merino, valued as youth players, traveled the rough European route before establishing themselves as fantastic footballers. Who is Olmo?, it was said when Luis Enrique selected him for the first time. At the age of 16 he left Barça, signed for Dinamo Zagreb and then joined RB Leipzig. At 24 years old he returned to Barça and so many years later he has just played his first games in the Spanish League. Merino went from Osasuna to Borussia Dortmund and from the Bundesliga to the Premier (Newcastle), without the slightest noise, until he joined Real Sociedad, where he has been a figure. Now it is at Arsenal.

Casadó, a Barça player since his birth, perfectly reflects the model that characterizes the team. In Copenhagen, where Spain provided exquisite moments, Casadó played the first of the many international matches that await him. Unknown until four months ago, he represents like no one else the desire of a type of player determined to stand out in football, no matter the prejudices or media disinterest that weighs on them. Right now they make up the team that has crushed the conventions of football in Spain.