Nobody misses Rubiales and his squires anymore, and Rocha now controls the government | Relief

Berlin, Germany).- The national team returned to maximum competition in the eyes of the world, with the resolution of the long and at times tedious qualifying phase. almost a year after he won the Nations League in the Netherlands on June 18, 2023. That evening in Rotterdam, when Luis Rubiales appeared as an appetizer for the show he would star in two months later in Sydney, the Spanish expedition was nothing like the one that appeared this time at the European Championships in Germany. There have been changes in the cut of suits, in the cut of formal wear (watch out for the green) and, most of all, in faces and expressions..

On the pitch, De la Fuente called up 14 players from the squad that defeated Croatia 362 days earlier at the Olympic Stadium and lined up five starters in that last major debut win over the same opponents (Unai, Le Normand, Rodri, Fabian and Morata ). There has been no progress in repairs, and the failure of the World Cup in Qatar is still hidden. But there were just as many changes in the box, if not more. Although rubialism still retains its aroma and is perceived under the air freshener spread to mask any stench, the imprint of its ideologue and a large part of its adherents, divided into loyalists and henchmen, has already been erased from the international management environment. imagination. An hour before the debut, someone in the VIP area lobby wondered where Del Bosque should greet him. while no one overlooked the well-prepared heroes of the time, such as Tomas Gonzalez Cueto and company.

The air has changed. And although some tried to stop him, subjecting him to enormous ridicule, no one could stop Pedro Rocha, the current elected president of the RFEF, from roaming freely in the noble part of the stadium. He already did so yesterday in Munich at the opening of the Germany-Scotland tournament, becoming the only Spaniard invited by UEFA as a clear sign of support and a message of who is really running his organization. The man from Extremadura was a real master of ceremonies. To the point that if the representatives of the Commission for Normalization, Supervision and Representation, created by the government, who were present at the stadium had a privileged place, it was partly due to their intervention.

How does this sound. Fernando Molinero, director general of the Supreme Sports Council (CSD), attended the Spain-Croatia event as the highest representative of Spanish sport. And with him at the stadium was the director of the Faculty of Economics of the University of Alcalá, Elena Martínez Ruiz, as one of the four members of the commission chaired by Del Bosque. UEFA did not initially extend an invitation to him, which means that thanks to Roche he had a luxurious chair. and the number of guests reserved by the Federation.

In an effort to build bridges, extend this truce and not tighten the rope further, the RFEF President asked his protocol managers to ensure that everything was in order and nothing was missing for his compatriots. A few rows back, of course, where he shared a front-line seat with Croatian federation president Marian Kustic and UEFA president Aleksandar Čeferin. Intention to remove Rosha from photographs in PRIME time, Analyzing the events of the past week, we can say that this was achieved only partially and with a slightly different goal: signing sponsorship agreements without much interest, but not for such large events as this.

Rocha will return to Madrid tomorrow after spending four nights in Germany and will return a few days later for the second match against Italy in Gelsenkirchen. This week he will also leave Alejandro Morales Mancito, president of the Canary Federation, in charge of the Black Forest expedition. However, on Thursday Rocha already knows that for the first time he will have to share the stage with Vicente del Bosque, although both avoid being caught in the same camera frame. The world champion, who is not at all comfortable in the position he has decided to choose at the head of the Commission, deprived of power and functions, will accompany the President of the CSD, José Manuel Rodríguez Uribes.

Fewer barons than usual

There were fewer political officials in Berlin this time than in Rotterdam a year ago. Ambassador of Spain to Germany Pascual Navarro; his wife and Spanish Ambassador to Austria, Maria Aurora Mejía, period. Just as Andreu Camps went to the Nations final a year ago – in one of the few games he attended for the national team, as he was not a big football fan – his replacement, Alvaro de Miguel, also went to Berlin. . There weren’t many territorial presidents who backed La Roja back then, as is the case with Valencian Salvador Gomar, one of Rocha’s possible rivals in the upcoming September elections. In “Nations” he was there and another “rebel” such as Pablo Burillo (Castilla-La Mancha) and several others such as Jacinto Alonso (La Rioja), Rafael del Amo (Navarre) who did not stop being photographed on the grass with coaches and players. The picture is completely different from the one that can be seen today, when the positions of the federation are quite far from the apparatus. De la Fuente has made it clear that he does not want to confuse crisis with hope.

Other names associated with the Federation have disappeared from Spanish photographs today. This is the case with Antonio Gómez Reyno, who was part of Rubiales’ presidential cabinet. Or Chema Timon, who held the same position and has now been transferred to the working group preparing for the 2023 FIFA World Cup. Nor will they be able to repeat those euphoric shots of Albert Luque sent via Ruben Rivera’s bureaufax in May. who was in charge of marketing, or public relations director Pablo García Cuervo. Javier Gómez Matallanas, adviser to the president and who now continues to work in Rocha’s cabinet after acting as press secretary, remained for the moment in Madrid, since Elvira Andrés traveled this time with the head of the RFEF.