Gerard Moreno - The hard times have made me stronger

The week after the end of this international window, Gerard Moreno will turn 32 and will do so after having had another chance with the Spanish national team, something he has not experienced since September 2021.

It's been a long time since the last call-up," said the striker, "but I've worked as hard as I can at Villarreal to be able to come back here and now that I've achieved it, I'm enjoying putting in the work everyday".

A string of minor injuries had prevented an earlier return to the national team setup and, now fully recovered, Gerard confesses that "I don't want to look back, at the bad moments, the injuries... All of that has made me stronger mentally and look at things differently. When you have so many physical problems one after another, you think about where they might come from, why they happen in the same areas. You change your diet, do the preventive work in the gym or work with the physios to get back on the pitch".

As such, the Villareal player is "very grateful" to have received the call from Luis de la Fuente, especially with less than three months before the start of the European Championships. The Euros are competition that Moreno already has first hand experience of after appearing in the tournament in 2021 (delayed Euro 2020): "I really enjoyed playing in it and now we want to challenge to win it".

To do so, the player from Santa Perpetua de Mogoda’s goals could be absolutely vital. He plans to celebrate his goals in his usual style, pulling his ears and sticking his tongue out in front of the camera: "I'll keep doing the same celebration because it's the one my daughters like and they're the ones in charge", he chuckled.