Vicente del Bosque, former coach of the Spanish National Team, presented today, together with Banco Santander, the “Vicente del Bosque Football Academy”, accompanied by José Luis Martínez-Almeida, Mayor of Madrid, and José Manuel Franco, President of the Superior Sports Council. The event took place at the Santander Work Café in Paseo Recoletos in Madrid and was also attended by illustrious soccer players such as former players Fernando Morientes, Juanfran and Luis Figo; the coach José Antonio Camacho; the president of Atlético de Madrid, Enrique Cerezo, as well as authorities such as the mayor of Calvià, Alfonso Rodríguez, representing one of the six most emblematic venues of the campus, which this year reaches its thirteenth edition.
Vicente del Bosque, who said he was proud to continue promoting “the formation of values” in soccer through his academy, took the opportunity to launch a message in favor of current coach Luis de la Fuente, despite yesterday’s defeat by Scotland to Spain. “We must not intoxicate,” he assured. “De la Fuente knows Spanish soccer well. Advise him? I wouldn’t say anything to him. He is the best coach for Spanish soccer, the best candidate to lead the national team.” Of the situation between clubs, Del Bosque highlighted, especially, Real Madrid’s role in the Champions League. “It is the top candidate to win it. It has shown a consistency that is impossible to beat”.
The former coach also reflected on the situation involving the refereeing collective in Spanish soccer these days to ensure that “I say this with much regret. It is a very uncomfortable situation for Spanish soccer from which no one benefits. The loss of soccer’s reputation is a very bad thing and we can’t go around with jokes of this kind. It is a delicate moment because soccer should have the best reputation and that is why I talk about LaLiga Genuine Santander because it humanizes everything a little more”.
Vicente del Bosque explained the importance of “human relations” in soccer and how “coaches are getting better every day, which benefits the kids” and said he felt nervous about the premiere of the campus three months before its inauguration in Mallorca and Madrid, as the first venues. In this regard, José Luis Martínez-Almeida stressed that “it is an obligation of the city council to encourage the practice of sports and a campus like this is important for young people to leave the tablet and practice more sports.
The Vicente Del Bosque Football Academy is a consolidated and reference project, based on education and physical activity to promote sport and its values, with more than sixteen years of experience, and with the main headquarters in Calvià, Mallorca, as its flagship. Madrid also heads the list of the six locations of this Summer Camp, together with Cadiz, Estepona, Aragon and Salamanca, and with the novelty of a women’s tournament from April 6 to 9 in Calvià. In addition, Mallorca will once again hold the second edition of the MIFC, Mallorca International Football Cup, from June 23 to 27.
