Carvajal: “It has liberated me a lot that football is no longer so obsessive for me”

Lat the voice of Dani Carvajal (Leganés, January 11, 1992) sounds calm. That of someone who has done things well and confidently faces what lies ahead. And with enthusiasm. That of his first Euro, that of his first final phase with Spain in full. She is the voice of a European champion. Not one more. One that has six replicas of the European Cupwho lives in this attic that from 1966 until two weeks ago only occupied Paco Gento. It represents that indomitable gene that has made Madrid a team with invincible traits and that this Spanish team is sure can have that on Saturday, in Berlin, He makes his debut in the Euro against his friend Luka Modric’s Croatia.

ASK. Do you already have your Wembley goal saved in favorites?

ANSWER. It is true that this year I have scored many and the one in the final is very, very special.

Q. How has that step been to reach this scoring version?

R. The coach has given me more freedom. With the players we have and the tactical disposition we have, without a player ahead like Vini in the other, he allows me to get along with Fede to get to the top. I appear more and at a level of confidence I have had a lot. And, thank God, it turned out very well.

Q. But those headed goals…

R. That’s less normal. I have marked two. I have a good timing and many times it is a matter of determination and aggressiveness, going with desire, looking for space, earning it. Everything has turned out well.

Q. Can that indomitable spirit of Madrid permeate the national team?

R. Of course, that’s my idea. Transmit to the younger kids that they see in the veterans that we have won so much and that we can be references, that it is possible. That you have to fight until the end, adapt to each game, to each moment. That’s what can take us far.

Q. What has created this feeling of an almost invincible Madrid?

A. It’s a bit of everything. The talent, the way of competing and never throwing in the towel. It could be the three bases, then there are more specific ones, but those are the main ones.

Q. With talent always ahead?

R. Everything goes hand in hand. Ancelotti tells us: in Madrid there are very good players today, but with just talent today you can’t win. You have to put determination, aggressiveness, a lot of attitude and a lot of humility. Things flow from being supportive of your partner, running for him when necessary.

Q. Are you aware of what it means to have six European Cups?

R. The other day at the table Unai asked me if I realized that I have six Champions Leagues. Over time I think I will give it much more value, because now my goal is for my record to continue growing.

Q. But they are active legends…

R. Yes. It is something unimaginable. We just won the Champions League, now the Euro is in focus, the season is starting in nothing with another European title at stake… This doesn’t stop. I think that the day I retire I will look back, look at everything I have achieved and get sick of watching videos.

I think that the day I retire I will look back, look at everything I have achieved and get sick of watching videos.

Q. How do you become a better player as you get older?

R. I have recorded a quote from Zidane about that. He said that until the last day before you retire you can improve. It stuck with me. Football evolves and you always have things to improve. Now it’s something more physical and you have to adapt.

Q. What do you want to improve?

A. Everything can be improved. There is room to improve tactically, if I have scored seven goals, why am I not going to reach 10? If we have conceded three in which it was implied that it was two or one. You can always improve.

Q. There is talk of the best right back in the world…

R. At a confidence level I have always felt the best. For me, for my circle, my wife. You have to believe it like that. That’s where your confidence comes from. In terms of success, it can be among the most outstanding. But what I really value is having a great season, playing good games at 32 years old, being the protagonist, scoring in the final… That puts value on your work, your effort, being at a very high level at an age that before It was unthinkable.

Q. That’s not what you get from eating so much broccoli.

R. [Se ríe] Of course not! There is a lot behind it, a lot of work. It is true that the diet is very structured and strict, but there are many more: rest, psychological, being a dad…

Q. Be a dad?

R. Yes. It has taken some things from me, but it has given me others. Your attention is focused on other things. It has freed me that football is not so obsessive for me. You have your children and the prism of life changes. It’s not that football takes a backseat, it’s not having it with so much obsession, so much relevance. That has made him play more free.

It’s not that football takes a backseat, it’s not having it with so much obsession, so much relevance. That has made him play more free.

Q. From that dark time there is a key day. The match against Chelsea in Valdebebas in 2021. He was injured and wanted to continue. Because?

R. It’s true. That season I had several relapses due to a chance injury to the inner side of my knee. There were several muscle problems. That day, with the Euro in the background, Lucas was injured. He wanted to help even though he knew how he was and that he was going to break me. It wasn’t good. But it was the end of the season and I wanted to lend a hand to the team.

Q. He reached back and…

R. It was almost out of shame. He told me: I don’t want to leave the field injured again, for all the focus to be on me, for them to say “poor thing, what a shame…”

He told me: I don’t want to leave the field injured again, for all the focus to be on me, for them to say “poor thing, what a shame…

Q. That’s hard…

A. It’s the truth. Throwing me to the ground was saying that he was injured again. My head said it couldn’t be. That’s why I continued. The next day, with the physio, I saw that he had a bruise. He had bled, he was broken. I said goodbye to the Euro, to the season. I started to work, to look at everything that could be done. And from there it was like a resurgence.

Q. That strange gesture…

R. Yes, my father saw it. He asked me and I told him it was fine. They are moments of life. My parents suffer a lot, especially from injuries. But it helps me a lot,

Q. If we talk about them, there is the image of the Champions League celebration. How was it created?

R. It was by winning the League. My father has one year left until he retires. In Cibeles I saw his companions riding. He hasn’t ridden for 16 years. I told him that I would be excited if we won the Champions League that he would accompany us. He looked at me and told me that he was going to raise it with the boss. And he gave it. For me that photo is incredible. It is the culmination of his entire career, of his life in the National Police Corps. It is a very special photo.

I told my father that I would be excited if we won the Champions League if he would accompany us. He looked at me and told me that he was going to raise it with the boss.

Q. Where do you have it?

A. It is not installed yet, but I will have it. It’s a gift I want to give you.

Q. And also the blondes, those who have given you so much, right?

R. Of course, of course. Life as a father changes you. Routines tie you a little more to them. My wife breastfed the first until he was two years old and the same for the second. I get up, take him to school, pick him up, bathe, have dinner… My routine with the children is to be a fairly present father, which allows me to travel. My thoughts basically encompass them.

Q. The renewal came when some voices were pointing to Carvajal, what has the club meant throughout his career and even more so in difficult moments?

R. I only have words of gratitude and complete trust. Today, whatever the club, in quotes, wants to do with me, I will totally accept it. When I was at my worst, the club gave me confidence. He has conveyed his positive thoughts towards me, that I was calm, that they trusted me and that has been very important.

Q. Do you know what Nacho is going to do?

R. Don’t know. It is in doubt. You have time to decide. I hope he stays because it is very important for us, but as I said with Toni, whatever decision he makes, we will accept it.

Q. Besides telling you to go up more in attack, what has Ancelotti given you?

R. He is a coach who I think appreciates me a lot. I was in the first stage of it. He was very young and we have grown together in this decade. He left, but it’s like we did it together. I have important esteem for him. He gives me a lot of peace of mind and confidence.

P. We look at Saturday and another blonde appears, Luka Modric.

R.

What are we going to say about Luka! He is one of the best in the world. Golden Ball

I hope he doesn’t have his game on Saturday. It is a special clash, facing him in the Euros. I’ll try to change his shirt.

Q. During this decade, all the coaches who have been on the Spanish bench have had Carvajal…

R. Yes, it is true that I have to thank everyone for the relevance they have given me in the selection. I’ve had my opportunities. Now I am in my best football moment on the field and I hope I can demonstrate it on the field and correspond to the trust they have given me throughout my career.

Q. You came to play in a Spain with a very marked style, that of Xavi, Iniesta… Has it changed?

R. The coach asks us for other things, we are more direct with players like Nico or Lamine. In life everything evolves and so does football. We have more vertical players prepared for another way of playing.

Q. What is the coexistence like between Real Madrid and Barcelona players, the one that the press sometimes sells as complicated?

R. Not at all. Let’s all go together, with good vibes. Everyone in his club defends their own thing. Something normal. Here we all wear the shield of Spain and that is what matters. There’s no bad vibes or anything.

Q. If you look to your right (Lamine was doing an interview), there is a 16-year-old boy…

R. We were talking about it the other day and I told him that when I was 17 years old I was celebrating winning the Youth Champions Cup with Real Madrid and he is here, playing in the Euro Cup with the senior team and being relevant in Barcelona.

Q. You are ahead of him on the field, what is he like?

R. Good player, but sometimes I have to pull his ears to help me defend (ri.e). He is a pure talent, young and eager.

Q. Hand on heart, are there chances of winning?

R. Yes. I think that people do not assume outwardly that we are not favorites, it favors us and I think that

We are candidates to win the Euro. I say it openly.

Q. We haven’t talked about Mbappé yet…

R. What are we going to say! World top. The best have to play on the best team. We wish him that he does not have a good Euro in the Euro, but that from August onwards he will be his best version.

Q. You have already marked him on some occasions…

R. Yes. In 2022 I already suffered it and I suffered it a lot. He is one of the strongest rivals I have faced. For speed, for technique, power…

Q. With your arrival, people are already saying that Real Madrid is invincible.

R. No no. Football is not mathematics, it is not about bringing together good players. To win, to win titles you have to make it a team and make sure we all go in the same direction, make it a common task, for the coach, for the veterans, for everyone.

Q. Carvajal’s next big challenge?

R. Continue expanding my record. I aim to be in the The Best, in the best eleven, something that I have not achieved and that I would like to be there. Also achieving being the footballer with the most titles in the club. These are the short and medium term objectives.

Q. You brought up the subject of the Ballon d’Or…

R. No no. We talk about bigger things (laugh) Maybe if I score fifteen goals in the Euro… Being in the The Best It would be a particular Ballon d’Or.

Q. Who do you see as the Ballon d’Or winner?

R. The one I see with the most options is Vini. He is missing the Copa América, but…. he has been injured for three months, but it has not mattered to him to score many goals and be decisive in the Champions League and the League. He and Jude may be the ones who win.

Q. Tell us about the talk you gave before the Nations League final.

A. I’m ashamed! I had only missed one final in my history and it was due to covid in Arabia. It was the first final that, being available, I was not going to play. Jesus did it. I conveyed that to the team, that I was not going to play, but that it could be just as important. I told them that I had not won any title with the national team and that it was our moment. I got a little excited and in the end fate allowed me to take the last penalty.

Q. Were there tears?

R. Almost (rie).