“I was one of the 15 who gave up playing for Spain, and now I regret it”

Lucia Garcia spoke openly to ‘The Players’ Tribune’ about his resignation from the Spanish team due to significant disagreements with the sporting and disciplinary procedures of Jorge Vilda. The front of Manchester United He was one of the 15 who signed the ‘abdication’ letter to the RFEF. Spain, despite everything, won the World Cup and now, the soccer player maintains that he regrets the decision he made. Not because he has changed his mind but because of everything he lost in that resignation.

“Look, it’s a bitch. I’m not going to lie. I was one of the 15 players who gave up playing for Spain last year. We were not satisfied with the level of professionalism in the national team for a few hours to a day .We sent emails to the Federation saying, until things change, they won’t count on us. After a while some players returned to the team and those who didn’t, like me, were left.. . “, the Spanish international began by saying.

“We watched on television how our teammates won the World Cup. I had to fight for what was right, but I remember everyone telling me I was stupid. ‘You will ruin your career.’ You can be so stupid!’ Those people weren’t haters or internet trolls. They were people who knew me and told me I needed to think for myself. I hate to admit it, but they were right. One of the lesson I’ve learned in all of this is no one is going to put their hand in the fire for you,” he said.

Lucía explained that Jorge Vilda’s preparation sessions became stable with repeated exercises, in addition to excessive control over his private life. “We have been suffering for many years and the defeat against England in the European Championship was the last straw. I will not list all the things that we asked to change, but I will give some examples that are not normal. This day -day of one of the best teams on the planet. The training sessions are always the same. Always. Every day. I swear to God. We do exercises over and over again. From sub 17 to absolutely,” he hinted.

And he added: “On the other hand, there is good control even during sleep. A control that I understand in the lower categories, for example, when controlling that everyone is in their room, but sometimes it was found by adults and mature players. surprising. Besides, we hardly have a day in the camps. And every time we do it is under strict control. It’s like they’re afraid of what we can do, like they doubt them in our professionalism. Who we are ” We are professionals and we know what we have to do. We’re not girls on an end-of-year trip.”

The group of ’15’ ended up breaking up

The Asturian also explained that the group of ‘the 15’ ended up splitting after the pressure suffered by the Federation:

“Unfortunately the group broke up. It was complicated. A lot of things happened out of the spotlight. If you ask me why we split, I think it was because of the pressure of individual meetings. The Federation summoned us one by one, in a room where there was only the player and three people from the staff, even though they knew it was not a personal issue but a collective one. They asked me things like: ‘What don’t you like? And about this guy? ‘ It gave a feeling of “That everything I answered was going to be black or white. You’re either in this boat or you’re not. It’s very difficult.”

Lucía García, after all, returned to the national team: “I’m happy to say that things started to improve. They kept their word. I learned that there are things more important than football. Your well-being. The your self-worth. Your duty to the next generation of women. That’s what we stand for.”