John Pacheco: Between Santi Denia’s trust and Le Normand’s departure: “My time has come” | Relief
“I don’t know if you know him, but Oyarzabal is not one to talk much.”. John Pacheco (Elizondo, 23) lets us know when we ask him if he has asked his captain and Real Sociedad teammate for advice regarding these Olympic Games.There was a lot he didn’t tell me. He said that in the end it was a unique experience and that in the end they have money to remember the milk by. So let’s see if we can improve them and get gold.“, says the defender of La Rojita, who will play their third and final group game with an advantage at stake this Tuesday.
“A goal like this in the final, I don’t know if you dream of it…”, we asked him. “Payment. I pay all the poker money to score a goal in the final, like Oyarzabal at the European Championship in Germany”“, he points out, saying that he is learning to play poker in this concentration in his free time at the hotel. “Little by little I am improving,” he says. It is calm here. Although many eyes are on him, at a key moment both in La Rojita and at Real Sociedad, where many point to him as a replacement after Le Normand’s departure.
“It was true that Robin was a wall and rarely got injured, so it was difficult to enter. If it’s not like that, then maybe they can sign someone else, they can bring someone else up, so it’s true that it’s a little easier for them to play something else, but you don’t have to trust or believe in anything because football requires a lot of turns,” he explains. As for his former teammate, who has just signed for Atletico, he appreciates that it’s a mirror in which to look at himself in relation to the level he has reached: “He was an animal. I still have to keep improving to get to that level, but hey, it’s different.”
Thanks to the confidence of Santi Denia, he added several minutes, coming off the bench, in the first two games. And he is set to start against Egypt, a match full of elements of conditions, such as high or low temperatures, which are expected in La Rojita and in which he is expected to start.. “Ask Santi about it. I never thought I’d be in the starting lineup. “I always prefer to play calmly and then, if it’s my turn, I’ll give it my all,” says the Spain international, who admits the team will play more “loosely” although, as always, they are going to “go out and win.”
“The previous two games were good, sometimes it cost us a little, but then… I think we’re doing well, so let’s keep it up.“, says Pacheco, a sports fan who experiences the Olympics very differently than expected. Although the national team debuted in Paris, it played its next two games in the group stage in Bordeaux.
“The villa is very nice, being there with other athletes is magical. I love sports, other sports, so yes, it is a unique experience. How can it be improved, the food was a bit weak,” says Pacheco, who currently follows other sports such as tennis or hockey.We track them on our cell phone and we have a little spike there.“, offer.