News
NEWS |
National Team

Oyarzabal: "We have to appreciate what we are achieving"

© Copyright RFEF - Queda prohibida la reproducción total o parcial del contenido fotográfico sin autorización expresa de la RFEF.
The Spain international has expressed the team's determination ahead of the quarter-final against hosts Germany: "We have confidence in ourselves".

An untimely injury 12 months ago prevented Mikel Oyarzabal from taking part in the UEFA Nations League finals, which would have been his third title under Luis de la Fuente, having won the UEFA European Under-21 Championships (2019) and the silver medal at the Olympic Games three years ago.

The trust between the coach and the attacker from Eibar is unwavering, as was evident during the press conference held on Tuesday, in which Oyarzabal described Luis de la Fuente as "a person who knows how to manage groups very well and, if done like that, everything becomes easier. I think we have a very good group and that is something that characterises all of Luis de la Fuente's teams".

The support of the coach from La Rioja and all the Spanish fans has been fundamental for Mikel, for whom "it's nice that they are backing us so much. The environment we have in the group couldn't be better to prepare for the matches, we also like to travel and meet the fans".

In three days, Spain will have to leave their friendly base camp to face hosts Germany in a great quarter-final, against an opponent "who have individual players who are decisive and have had a very good season. The important thing is to focus on ourselves, not get distracted by our opponents' approach and in that way we'll be closer to winning".

For the Basque player, the important thing now is to "keep working as we have been doing so far, we are not going to relax or get carried away. We are capable of competing with anyone and we have confidence in ourselves. We're ready to take control and there will also be times when we'll have to pull together and sit back. We will use our weapons and be ready for anything against the Germans.

Oyarzabal considers it "a privilege" to be able to take part in a European Championships, now that he has overcome the physical problems he suffered months ago: "I feel great," he said, "and everyone here is riding the wave of energy that competing in a European Championships gives you.

The unity of the group is key in this whole process, as Mikel has reiterated, in a national team squad in which "we are characterised by all going together as one, that there are no cracks in the team and that all 26 of us are important to the group", he concluded.