And the fans were felt
19 degrees, light breeze and sunshine. The classics of football journalism would have defined the situation as "perfect conditions to play football". If we add to this the fact that this Monday, March 20, was a public holiday in Madrid... this results in an ideal day to watch a national team training session. And the public has more than responded in this open-door training session, a tangible example of the phrase expressed by Luis de la Fuente: "We want to feel close to the fans".
Already at 5 p.m two hours before the start of the training session, the entrance to the RFEF headquarters began to turn red. The lines, without too many problems, maintained the order of arrival. An hour later, at 6 o'clock, and a little earlier than planned to avoid excessive crowds, the doors opened. The bravest of the brave raced to get a good seat, and the stands of field A of the Ciudad del Fútbol were filling up quickly.
Once the seating capacity was full, the public was allowed to peek over the concrete wall that encloses the field towards the futsal pavilion. "What a success," commented someone in attendance to a worker of the RFEF who tried to guide those who accessed, at the stroke of 10 minutes to 7, looking for the last holes. The wall was also full, with 1,500 people inside the Ciudad del Fútbol, it came time for those responsible for RFEF Security to give some people the bad news that there was no more room. "Thank you for coming, but we are very sorry, there is no room for more", they repeated with a smile and the impotence of not being able to let anyone through, no matter how much they wanted to. "I wish there was room for everyone" was the most repeated statement. "This open door concept should always be done," said a journalist.
Momentum from the start
Six minutes before 7 o'clock, the players took the field. Shouts of encouragement, and hysteria, cheered our players on their way to their meeting point, in the center of the field. Silence (relative) while Luis de la Fuente and his players enjoyed this first contact; and applause as the group disintegrated to start warming up.
Stretching started two minutes ahead of schedule. In the stands, cell phones were raised high in the air, trying to rise above the heads of the rest of the attendees. On the wall, hands were used as visors to avoid the sun, which was slowly starting to hide.
Little by little, that hour arrived when the shadows lengthen and the stands cover the sun on the A field. And, despite leaving the grass shady, the heat was present; the human warmth of the fans did not cease. During 45 minutes of training, there were cheers, encouragement and instances of trying to claim the attention of their idols. They did not stop chanting the name of anyone who approached the stands, for example to use one of the two exercise bikes located on the sidelines. It was the human warmth of the fans that Luis de la Fuente had asked for. And the players, at the end of training, approached the stands to return that warmth with signatures, photos and greetings. Objective achieved.
This is how the training session went
