Álex Baena and his perfect summer

Both Berlin and Paris witnessed the smile on Álex Baena's face, a double winner’s delight in a summer for the ages. First came the European Championships, the fourth such success for the collection, and then came the Olympic gold, Spain's second medal after the party that was Barcelona 92. The Andalusian has, since then, started the season with a bang, assist king at for his club and once again called up for Luis de la Fuente's squad for the October fixtures against Denmark (Saturday 12, in Murcia) and Serbia (Tuesday 15, in Cordoba), both in the UEFA Nations League group stage.

‘It's been a great summer, very demanding. It's going to be very difficult to top that in a long time, I hope that every summer I can win a medal with Spain,’ said Baena on his way to Las Rozas with the two medals hanging from his chest, proud and happy as his people are of him. ‘Everything I am awarded is kept by my family, they are the ones who accompany me in all the good moments I have. And, as they are the ones who also accompany me during the hardest moments, they are the ones who deserve what we are experiencing. They keep everything of sentimental value’.

He says this because he feels it and because he is especially close to his mother, a fundamental pillar in his life. ‘I always say, without my mother and my brothers I wouldn't be where I am today and I wouldn't have achieved what I have achieved. We are five siblings, but to have a son leave you at the age of ten is very hard. She has been the one who has given me strength in many of the more difficult moments, she never let me give up, I owe her everything’.

All the best moments from that European Championships and the Games are engraved in his memory, and those indelible trophies are already on his skin, ‘The first thing I did when I arrived back in Castellón was to get a tattoo of the European Championships and the Paris Olympic rings. I have 20 or 25, they won't be the last because I hope to get more tattoos representing Spanish success’.

At just 23 years of age, he has a splendid future ahead of him, a key player at Villarreal and a leading role in a national team squad that he speaks highly of. ‘One of the keys to success in Germany was the group, there was no bad feeling among us in the 45 days we were together. Everything was laughter, good times, we helped each other... The word that defines us is family’. And, as you can see, Álex Baena does not speak of family lightly, he, more than anyone, knows what it means.