As part of our World Cup coverage here at Fortitude we thought, since it’s a very special occasion, we’d go all out for you guys to get you the best possible coverage and opinions regarding this year’s tournament and I’m happy to say we’ve done just that for you with this piece. We managed to secure an interview with a journalist of international reputation and one that is very close to the Spanish National squad and has written extensively on the topics of Spain’s recent international success and Barcelona’s unprecedented success at club level; yes folks, we secured an interview with Mr Graham Hunter!
I caught up with him very recently to discuss all things Spain (and a little bit of England); read on to find our first instalment of what he had to say!
–
Will you be going to Brazil this summer and if so how much are you looking forward to it, given the country’s footballing history?
I’m going to Brazil, yes and it´s a thrill. Of course it is. The work of a sportswriter is hard and draining so there will be some who will moan about it but going to a World Cup to report on the action remains the epitome of the job so I´m full of adrenaline for it!
You’ve travelled with the squad for the last three tournaments. How difficult is that to do? It sounds like a lot of fun but surely it can be exceptionally stressful at times can’t it?
It’s a bit of a mix of stress and fun. I love the fact that Spain often train twice a day; it’s plain to see how much benefit it does the players. It acts as a weapon against boredom and keeps the squad sharp and competitive. However if they train twice then we work twice, thus there’s about four or five hours work around the first training session, about an hour off, then the same again for the second session. It can lead to really long, tiring days but its fascinating, really interesting at all times, stressful sometimes but a joy to do!
As for the team itself, with the World Cup being in South America and with no European nation ever having won it down there, do you think Spain could be the first to manage it and why?
Spain have a horrible group and a horrible order of matches. The first one is against a young, athletic Dutch squad in the only venue with humidity which Spain have to contend with in the group stages – Salvador. Holland have been in training for several weeks while the majority of Spain’s players have still been competing at club level until much more recently and, bar Strootman, Holland have fewer injury problems. I say this because tournament winners regularly go out in the group stages of the following tournament i.e Italy in 2010, France in 2002. So, realistically, there’s a chance of group exit if Spain aren’t switched on from the start. After that though I see Spain as a very good team in knockout situations and thus a possible winner if they manage to get out of the group.
As you say, they’ve got a horrible group, arguably the toughest – what problems do the likes of Holland, Chile and Australia pose to Del Boqsue’s side?
Holland are very young and athletic. The horror story for Spain would be if the fixture between these two sides was a) anything like the Swiss game at this point four years ago, where Spain became the first side to lose their opening group game and then win the group; to have to do that again would be a big ask and b) if this game resembled Ajax vs Barcelona in the Champions League this season then the threat is big. Also because the game is in Salvador where the humidity is very high, Holland’s athleticism is a greater threat to Spain; factor in that Van Gaal’s side will have had so much longer to prepare and a defeat in this fixture for Spain followed by a brutal test against Chile isn’t a good combination. Spain’s last few games against Chile have been bad-tempered, very tough and capable of going either way. Australia as a test greatly depends on how the first two fixtures go; facing them in Curtiba, close to where Spain are based is good, as is the climate around that area. Normally you’d expect Spain to beat Australia but if the previous two results for Spain have been negative then an athletic, physically strong Australia side will be more testing. The message for Spain is simple: win the first two games!
–
Part Two of our interview with Graham Hunter will be available to view soon so be sure to stick with us here at Fortitude for more thoughts and insights from one of the most prominent figures in Spanish football!
Be sure to head over to Backpage Press or Graham’s official website where you can check out Graham’s most recent works such as Spain: The Inside Story of La Roja’s Historic Treble for unprecedented insights into the Spanish National Squad and also Barca: The Making of The Greatest Team in the World for an in depth look at what made Pep Guardiola’s Barcelona tick!