They are the first ones who always ask not to politicize the sport, but a clumsy chant of “Gibraltar is Spanish” by Rodri, the MVP of the European Championship, has bothered and covered the praise he had received a few hours earlier from England. His joke, from the joke alluding to the Spanish ‘conquest’ of the cup against the English, can not expect everyone to take it in the same way, starting with the Gibraltarians themselves who have described the chants as “rancid”. This was not the only negative note as Dani Carvajal, linked to Spain’s far right, also refused to look Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez in the face when he shook his hand.
“I don’t think there is anything wrong with a footballer not speaking out about it. In the end, everyone can decide, think, do what he thinks is convenient. It has become so politicized that you are afraid to give your opinion, you are afraid to say anything that you could be wrong or that could be misinterpreted. And I think that’s why the vast majority of Spanish footballers have not spoken out,” said Dani Carvajal a year ago when he was asked why he was not categorical in condemning Luis Rubiales’ gesture and supporting the Spanish women’s national team as other teammates had done.
“All he had to do was wipe his hand when he finished…”
His respectable opinion has now lost force when, without words but with gestures, he has opined on his respect for a figure like that of a president of the government of his country, Spain, in this case left-wing. Dani Carvajal, through social networks -by comments, ‘likes’ or photographs- has been linked to the Spanish extreme right, in this case of VOX and now of a new party called ‘Se acabó la fiesta’ (The party is over). If he wanted to have turned off these comments about his ideology or to have left aside politics he only had to have respected. Protocol expert Patrycia Centeno commented on the Real Madrid right-back’s gesture this way: “A handshake (with the intention of wishing health or sealing agreement) lasts 5 seconds and includes eye contact (I recognize you). What Carvajal did with Sánchez was not a handshake; but he only had to wipe his hand at the end…”.
🥘🍻🤣
¿En serio creíais que no la iba a cantar?
CUCU, CUCURELLAAAA#C4MPEONES | #VamosEspaña pic.twitter.com/d45pJy5ydq
— Selección Española Masculina de Fútbol (@SEFutbol) July 15, 2024
More clumsy and childish was Rodri’s chant in full celebration at Cibeles (in the center of Madrid) and in which the exaltation and excitement of presenting the cup to the fans may have had something to do with it. “Gibraltar is Spanish” was the cry with which he stirred up the crowd and Álvaro Morata, the captain, should have warned him that it was not a good idea. It was all laughter, jokes and revelry that did not go down too well in Gibraltar or in England, the country where Rodri works (he is a Manchester City player).
LESSONS LEARNED FOR THE FUTURE?
Thus, the national team that has managed to unite all of Spain and fall in love with it on the field of play, has left a bittersweet taste in the celebration. We could have expected some outbursts of tone, some player ‘touched’ by the fervor of the success, some jibes at players or teams that have been left behind, but not that the political point was touched. As a young national team, we assume that they have learned the lesson that it is always better not to mix certain concoctions, such as sports and politics.
❤️ “Tú nos enseñas cada día lo que es luchar de verdad en la vida”#C4MPEONES | #VamosEspaña pic.twitter.com/1NK9PIGY1y
— Selección Española Masculina de Fútbol (@SEFutbol) July 15, 2024
The worst thing is that this political meddling has left out nice moments such as Cucurella’s chant related to paella, which is already a hit among the fans, the great presentations by captain Alvaro Morata of his teammates and, above all, the appearance of Maria, a little girl with cancer who represents better than anyone the fighting spirit. “You teach us every day what it is to really fight in life,” Morata told her. This is the true spirit that the Spanish national team has represented during the tournament in Germany, not the political smears that have been clumsily given.
Fortunately, time will put everything in its place and the sporting feat will leave these episodes in anecdotes.
