“I am a devil, but one of the good ones”

and that it looks like a swagger and arrogance that is lost in the face to face. He speaks well and talks about everything, so fashionable that he has been one of the players with the most interview requests for this concentration in which Spain plays the direct pass to the Qatar World Cup with two decisive matches against Greece (tomorrow, in Athens) and Sweden (on Sunday, at La Cartuja). RDT, who ventures off with boxing and his horses, who is full of tattoos and who weighs all the food before eating, fulfills his ambition to be the forward of Spain.

Well, he’s finally with Spain.

Yes, and I am very happy, very happy to be able to be here. I am also very grateful, thanks to all those who have trusted me, to the coach, to all who have helped me. Now I have to enjoy the experience, take advantage of it and help, which is the most important thing.

How were your first hours in Las Rozas?

Everything is going very well, very well. I have adapted quickly, my colleagues have helped me, the coaching staff, Federation workers … I repeat, I am very happy.

They say that his pose, somewhat cocky, is that, a cuirass.

Well yes, totally. In the end, we live in a world where we cannot all know each other. I can have that outward appearance, what people see, but I am totally different. Anyone who knows me knows perfectly how I am and I consider myself a good person, a close person, a person who always tries to help … And I have also come here to help and do my bit.

They will have compared him a thousand times with Cristiano Ronaldo for some gesture, for having been in Madrid, for his appearance … Do they tell you a lot that he looks cool?

Yes, but it’s what I’m telling you, it’s appearances. And appearances can be deceiving, as the saying goes. People must be known beyond a physical appearance, a gesture … I am a person who must be known, and whoever knows me must be clear that he is going to receive a great treatment as I hope of the rest of the people.

What do you do in your spare time when you don’t play soccer?

Well, I try to train in the gym, I like to go see my horses, be a little distracted and not think 100% about football. I think it comes in handy, mentally, to be a little calmer and get out of that day-to-day loop.

He has talked about training beyond what he does with Espanyol and has a personal trainer. What role does it play in your life?

He is a life partner, beyond being my personal trainer. He’s a friend, he’s like my brother. We train every day together, he is a person who motivates me a lot. Having good people around makes you better, also personally. I am very grateful to my friend Pablo because in the end 90% of my success, probably, I owe to him.

Do you talk to him about football?

We try to speak just and necessary. If your close people talk too much about football in the end, you get infected. He knows what I like and what I don’t like and when to talk about football or when not to.

He has also mentioned his horses. What gives you being close to them?

I have an investment horse, a dressage competition horse, and then I have a more personal one that, in quotes, as it were, helps me to do therapy. Go see him, take care of him … The typical thing that you would do with a dog to take him for a walk, but I with a horse. You shower it, you prepare it … I’m very happy to have it because it gives me a lot of life.

Also peace?

Totally. It’s what gives me the most. I can spend two or three hours quietly with the horse and it seems like 24 hours have passed. I come out like new.

What do you like best, being on the football field scoring goals or spending the day with the horse?

It’s a good question … I like to score goals, but also to be relaxed with my horse, both of which make me very happy. There are times when I want to score goals more and at others I prefer to be with my horse.

You express yourself with a pause, you talk about being at peace with the horses … Contrast with what is seen of you in the field and that nerve or that soon.

It’s that I’m a 50-50. I am able to take out that nerve in moments of tension, of competition, which is also important. You have to know how to translate that tension into being competitive, fighting, fighting. And then there is my other 50%, the one from day to day. There I like to be in peace. At peace with myself, with my people and with everyone.

Is it a bit of an angel and a devil?

Yes, we could say that. But hell not bad. I am a good demon, a demon that can be used for important situations such as those required by football. But bad, never. I do not do things the wrong way or with bad intention. I think you have to always have an angel and a devil for any act of life.

‘I’m a good demon’ is a good title.

Well, yes … It is difficult to understand, but there are many people who feel identified with what I just said because it is something that is like that. I never have bad intentions.

Why do you do meditation? What benefits do you find and why did you decide to try it?

I’ve been with this topic for like five or six months. It was at the end of the Second Division year, when we went up with Espanyol to First, with Covid … I decided or I decided to try to get negative things out of my head and meditation makes you spend 15, 20 or 30 minutes, it depends on what that you do in your day to day, without thinking about anything. I think everyone, as I always say, should try it. We have a lot of stress, not just soccer players. Any worker should try to get out of the daily routine.

Meditation is not easy.

No, no, it is not. The first sessions are complicated. Sure, you have to try to be blank, not think about anything, enjoy your own breath … But you always learn, you learn everything. The first two sessions are complicated, but in the third you are already more focused and it works out for you.

Soccer too absorbed?

Yes, obviously. We live in a society in which there is a lot of pressure, there is a lot of demand. And we footballers have it, we understand it and we respect it because it is our profession, it is what we like. But you also have to know how to manage it and that is why I think it is so important to be able to do different things.

But do footballers suffer so much stress?

Yes. There are many people behind it and it is a daily requirement. You have the demand that you put on yourself with training and then you have that of the weekend with the competition, in addition to the demands of the people. It is one of the professions in which you can have more pressure or stress, but it is normal.

In that sense, he said in an interview that the scorer has more stress than other types of player.

But because in the end it is a very demanding position. We strikers live this profession in a different way because we know exactly how it works. It’s been many years and we know what it is to score goals and, especially, what it means not to score. Just as many goalkeepers feel identified with their location, they do not reach them as much and when they appear they have to be active and right. We are similar, but we get along well.

And what does a goal wake you up?

Pfff … I think a goal is the best there is. It is the daily work, it is the work of the whole week, which marks your confidence for next week, which decides that your team will go ahead … It is everything, absolutely everything. Not just for the strikers, everyone should feel that feeling when they score a goal because there is nothing more beautiful than that.

Do you remember the first one you did?

Bufff … Well, I really don’t remember. I imagine it would be when he played for San Roque. I used to play here, at San Roque de Barajas, and I started when I was little and there I would score the first goal.

Was he a good boy?

As a child I was a little more naughty, really … But well, I am happy with everything I have been achieving and, being in a situation like the one I am in now, it is nice to remember everything I did before.