Nacho is one of the only three footballers who have started in the debut of Luis Enrique and that of De la Fuente. The Asturian coach’s confidence did not last long after that 1-2 victory at Wembley. He only played two more games and has spent almost five years without putting on the Red shirt again.
During all this time he has seen how Laporte was nationalized to alleviate the absence of centrals, how Sergio Ramos disappeared from Luis Enrique’s listsfirst due to injury and then due to a technical decision, and how playing with two left-footed central defenders became commonplace in the national teamalthough strange in any team.
Nacho has now returned at the age of 33 and as one of the veterans despite the fact that the match against Norway was only the 23rd of his international career. His presence brings order to the center of the defense next to Laporte. It was insurance for Kepa, although the Spanish goalkeeper had to save a ball that the center-back deflected and slipped into his goal. “I stopped it with everything, with my soul, with whatever, I had to stop it,” the Basque goalkeeper confessed after the game.
Nacho contributed in defense and also in attack, where he dared to pass the center of the field to even try a long shot to unblock the Norwegian wall on the edge of the area.
The Real Madrid central defender returns to the national team to stay. He already warned De la Fuente that he does not look at the age to choose the footballers and that this had nothing to do with the absence of Sergio Ramos of the call. Nacho will arrive at next year’s Euro Cup in Germany at the age of 34, for which Spain is trying to qualify on a path that began with a victory against the Norwegians. An age at which a footballer today can be in full swing.
Besides, the selection allows him to play in his favorite position, as central, although he can adapt to any position.
“Nothing in life is achieved without effort,” De la Fuente said after the game against the Nordics when they asked him what phrase he would choose to hang in the locker room. A phrase that perfectly suits Nacho’s sporting career. “Suffering does not scare me. My life has been a constant suffering, work, effort, improvement. I understand it as an inherent part of the sport,” added the coach. And Nacho continues to fit those words.