Stuttgart is Merino territory

On 6 July, the start of the San Fermín celebrations in his native Pamplona, Mikel Merino was living with the hangover of an incredible "chupinazo": his header in the last minute of extra time against Germany. A tremendous finish, with a spectacular leap into the sky - like a rocket in Pamplona's Town Hall square - that was worth a Euro semi-final.

Mikel still enjoys thinking over every moment after that goal, which he has seen "three or four times", he admits, and which has brought back memories of other special moments for his family in that same Stuttgart stadium. That was the scene of Mikel's own debut, yes; but it was also the place where his father, Miguel Merino, scored a goal for his Osasuna side in a UEFA Cup Last-16 tie 33 years ago.

"I don't know what it has, but it's a talismanic stadium for us," Mikel told the RFEF.es cameras. A talisman that has united three generations with a shared celebration: spinning around the corner flag. Three generations? Yes, three.

Mikel admits that he was determined to repeat this way of celebrating the goal, characteristic of his father: "We had joked before the game that there were few things left for me to do that he hadn't done; so I celebrated like that in honour of him". But the fact is that, at the same time, the celebration unites him with his grandmother. Miguel himself explained that this celebraetion, which he later made so much his own, was "the celebration that came out" when Miguel scored two goals in Málaga, to dedicate them to his mother, who was unable to watch the game because she was ill.

Stuttgart is already a milestone in the history of the Spanish national team; but, of course, in Mikel Merino, just like in his father's history. That is why Mikel values so much the great nice touch from his captain, Álvaro Morata, who got for him that ball that Mikel put, with an unstoppable header, in the back of Neuer's goal. A ball that Mikel looks back on with affection today, one day after that unforgettable 5th of July. Today, in Pamplona, 1,072 kilometres away - as the crow flies - from Stuttgart, the start of the fiestas has had as part of its soundtrack that chant of "Mikel Merino, lo lo lo lo lo lo lo lo lo lo"....