Very shortly before returning to achieve the prodigy of a much-needed goal as soon as he left in the 84th minute, Joselu Mato was waiting on the wing for Álvaro Morata to arrive. They withdrew him after a night of struggling without a prize, but when he ran into his old friend, who replaced him, he gave him a loving, trusting hug, and the still Espanyol striker ran towards another opportunity that he had not even imagined a few months ago, still with the echo of Luis de la Fuente’s last advice: “When in doubt, score a goal”, according to the coach.
When three minutes later he scored and put Spain in the final of the League of Nations this Sunday against Croatia (20.45, La1), Joselu had not hesitated. Perhaps he was the only one in the stadium sure that the goal was worth it, as he happily recalled this Friday: “In the rejection, I see that a player from Italy is left behind. I knew that when Rodri had shot, I was not offside. I was super convinced.” The City midfielder did not see it the same way and he was slow to get carried away with the celebration: “I had my doubts, I was very lonely,” he said after the match.
The Spanish team, and in particular during the limit minutes of the matches, when they eagerly and desperately seek the goal, tune Joselu into an almost supernatural frequency: an enlightenment. In his debut on March 25 against Norway in Malaga, almost 33 years old, he also entered 81 for Morata, with 1-0 and uncertain prospects. He scored in 84 and 85. On Thursday against Italy, he came out in 84 and scored in 87. Three shots, three goals. Against Scotland he started, he played 66 minutes and shot twice, once against the crossbar.
“It is not easy when you enter the last minutes to be so involved in the game, but I knew that in the dynamic that we were generating a lot and it could happen that I dropped a goal there,” he recalled this Friday with a reflection on his mental preparation. Joselu has had to make that effort with his head not only at times when he has come out on the edge, to undo a wrong. All this, the late arrival to the national team, the immediate performance, has come to him while he was navigating a season with Espanyol in which he was trying to avoid shipwreck.
In March, the situation still had a remedy, but when he arrived in Las Rozas for the second concentration, the relegation to Second had already been certified: “It has been a very difficult year, with a project that a priori seemed very interesting. In the end we have not been able to meet the objectives as a club, ”he said this Friday. “I have tried to change the chip as quickly as possible”, to tune again the frequency of the selection.
In this change, and also to sustain himself in the worst times, Joselu has indicated his family as essential. In March, they traveled from Barcelona to Malaga for a possible but uncertain debut, which occurred in extremis and was tremendous. When he finished, he went behind the team’s bench to kiss his wife and brought his two children down to see the grass on which he had debuted. “Who has scored two goals today?” He would tell them. “Youuu!”, replied the older.
That Friday, with the mobile phone saturated with wasaps from strangers and the Instagram account mailbox blocked, he pointed out to his family again: “Family is everything. When good things happen, a lot of people always come to you, but the ones who are always there when things are bad are them. They have been a very important support for me, and they have made a great effort to be here with me”.
At the Twente stadium, after another brief but unforgettable night, he found it more difficult to play around on the pitch with the children: “My son wanted to play on the field, and the Dutch wouldn’t let us… I think these are wonderful moments and once in a lifetime. I am enjoying them a little late, but as if he were a child ”.
Joselu shared a forward with Morata at Castilla, made his Real Madrid debut at the Bernabéu in May 2011 and scored a goal for Almería from a pass from Cristiano Ronaldo. He scored in the 87th minute, three minutes after coming on. As with the selection. That afternoon he replaced Karim Benzema, who left the club just before he returned, after a very long roundup. According to sources familiar with the operation, Joselu’s arrival in Madrid is closed, and they are waiting for him to pass the League of Nations final to announce it. His contract with Espanyol contains a clause that is activated in the event of relegation, and that allows his transfer, free of charge, to a club that takes over 100% of his record.
After their last season together at Castilla, Morata stayed in the first team and Joselu began a long journey at Hoffenheim through 10 Bundesliga, Premier League and La Liga teams: “I’ve been a hard worker, yes that’s true . I have played the three best Leagues in the world. I have enjoyed, I have learned a lot from each one. I think nowadays age is just a number.”
Before returning to Madrid at 33, he has met Morata again, in the band before his instant prodigies, and before in friendship: “I have had a relationship with Álvaro since we have played together. We have never stopped having it. We talk a lot. I have immense affection for him. He is a piece of professional, a teammate 10, one of the captains of the national team, he is a player that I respect and admire a lot for the career he has had. He will be happy for me because of what happened yesterday, just as I am happy for him when he scores a goal or wins a title”.
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