With the Bedouin spirit, Luis Enrique confessed on the eve of facing Germany that “I feel better when you have to raise the morale of a team because that shows  your roots and your core strengths.” This mindset is something quite similar to that of the mothers of the nomadic tribes of the desert who, when asked about which of the children they prefer, will answer that the sick until he heals, the little one until he grows up, and the traveler until he returns.

This Sunday Spain faces its World Cup match against four-time champion Germany (20:00 CET with open television through La 1 and minute-by-minute reporting by this official news medium) in the Qatari city of Al Khor, which was founded by seven Bedouin families to which the eighth joins today in the form of 26 players and a coaching staff whose cohesion depends on the strength shown so far in the World Cup. 

Click here to listen to the statements by Luis Enrique and Dani Olmo before the game.

Thanks to time and care from the coach when it came time to build a group centered around his football principles, Spain arrives at the match with the widespread applause of the fans after the brilliant debut against Costa Rica which will now be put to the ultimate stress test. 

Germany, with four World Cup stars under their belt, was unable to make it farther than the group stage four years ago. After being surprised by Japan in the Qatari debut, Germany is one defeat away from saying goodbye again at the first exchange.

Apart from some friendly matches, Spain has not faced the Germans since Euro 1988, in the days of the old FRG, and coming from chaining three emblematic triumphs against Die Mannschaft. 

Beyond friendly matches, Spain has not lost to Germany since Euro 1988. 

In the first of them - the final of Euro 2008- the current Teutonic coach, Hansi Flick, worked as Joachim Löw’s assistant and the last of them - set in white in November 2020 in the Nations League against the Sevillian green- precipitated his arrival in office weeks later, replacing Löw himself.

All this delves into the importance that for the Teutons, the team that most resembles Spain according to Luis Enrique, represents a match like the one this Sunday in which the Spanish internationals will have to live up to and play to the expectations that were generated from Wednesday’s triumphant match. 

Apart from all the commotion, the 26 called up are at the coach's full disposal, enjoying each training session until the last minute and united in their determination to make history without skipping any of the steps.

In the pilgrimage of six games until the final, it is time to stand in the tent of the Al Bayt stadium ("the house" in Arabic) and demonstrate that the Spanish tribe practices nomadism in everything, except in changing its soccer principles. Loyalty to these principles entails the prize of finishing this week with the ticket to the round of 16 sealed, Insha'Allah.