Time right for Aduriz to Basque in the glory of second coming
SO, to celebrate his inclusion in Vicente del Bosque’s squad for the matches against Italy and Romania, here’s a little bit of Aritz Aduriz trivia via which, if you’re so minded, you might win the occasional pint at the bar with your mates.
If the prolific Basque plays in either of the two friendlies over the coming week, how many strikers who were older than Aduriz have played for La Roja — and who were they?
The answers are illuminating. Just ahead of him, by a couple of months, is Ferenc Puskas. Three European Cups, Olympic Gold, Ballon D’Or runner-up, 10 league titles and 508 goals in 521 club matches.
Next one up on the list, only Alfredo di Stefano!
If there’s a candidate to oust Pele, Maradona or Messi from the alltime top three then, for many, Don Alfredo was that man.
Five European Cups, 13 league titles — Madrid’s greatest player. The total footballer who preceded Total Football.
In second place Paco Gento — legendary Madrid winger, six European Cups. Nobody in history has lifted the ‘cup with big ears’ more than Gento. Nuff said.
Then, Spain’s only Ballon D’Or winner (just chew on THAT fact!) and European Championship winner in 1964, the original Luis Suárez.
Those are the guys who are ahead of Athletic Bilbao’s 31-goal striker (so far this season), given that he turned 35 last month.
Think about it — not only the most elite company imaginable but just two of those in front of him are actually Spanish (di Stefano was born i n Argentina, Puskas i n Hungary).
Nearly six years have passed since Aduriz made his La Roja debut — in the same group as Scotland in qualification for the last European Championship.
The subject was turning into a (sporting) question of state with there being no explanation for why this tough, savvy, technically gifted old-fashioned striker — who began his season with a hat-trick in a 4-0 thrashing of Barcelona — wasn’t automatic first choice.
Earlier this year Aduriz liked sufficiently a piece I wrote about him in this column to get in touch and request a printed copy. When Athletic were last at the Nou Camp, in the Copa Del Rey, we met up and chatted a bit.
After he’d expressed wonder that anyone outside Spain might be interested in him (yes, really!) and admitted his passionate fascination with British football, we briefly discussed international duty.
I said I was sure I’d see him in France for the European Championships this summer while covering the holders’ defence, and he admitted: ‘I really pray that’s true. I’d love to be part of all that for my country.’
Although his goal at the Mestalla on Thursday, which put Athletic through to a quarter-final against Europa League holders Sevilla, didn’t do any harm, I reckon that del Bosque’s mind was made up some time ago.
Made up about these two friendlies — but made up about the summer? Not so much.
It may seem contrary to some after the Brazilian’s abject failure to provide anything of substance after diving for a penalty against Holland in the last World Cup but del Bosque is stubbornly convinced that Diego Costa, on form, can be important for Spain this summer.
He’s absent this time purely because of concern for the striker’s fitness. Del Bosque, usually a stickler for behaviour, even dismissed the red card earned for that odd incident with Gareth Barry as ‘much ado about nothing’.
Álvaro Morata, too, is a favourite of the former Madrid midfielder, who won his own final cap for La Roja aged 29 back in the 1980 European Championship.
Morata has taken some stick this season from his club coach at Juve, Maxi Allegri, with the gist of it being: ‘Get mean, get focused, stop showboating’.
At Bayern this week, Morata produced one of the goal assists of the season, and perhaps one of the things Aduriz needs to overcome is the Spain manager’s understandable predilection for graduates of the exceptional talent ladder which his FA has produced.
Morata’s a tournament winner at Under-21 level, showing not only his goal power but ability to adapt to the rainbow pressures of a tournament won abroad over several weeks of confinement to a training base.
It’s something upon which Aduriz, with his scintillating professionalism on a daily basis and fun character individually, would thrive — but he hasn’t had the chance to prove it.
In fact, when the reigning European champions announced Aduriz’s presence in del Bosque’s squad on Friday on their official SeFútbol website, the Basque’s head-shot was a grey, faceless head-and-shoulders outline — no handy picture existed of him in Spain kit.
So, this week, first steps. Against interesting opposition, too.
Yet another match with Italy. The Azzurri are so important in the modern embodiment of Spanish international football. The ultimate bête noire for several generations — the nerve-shredding victory against them in the 2008 quarterfinal penalty shoot-out. Followed by a 4-0 win over Gianluigi Buffon, Andrea Pirlo and Co in the Euro 2012 final, then yet another agonising spot-kick showdown in the Confederations Cup semi-final of 2013.
Then, next weekend, Romania. Many will have forgotten, but it was after a home friendly defeat against Victor Piturca’s team just under 10 years ago when it all started to happen for La Roja.
The late Luis Aragonés and his team didn’t then lose a single match for the following two years until they had become European champions in 2008 and Spain’s domination of world football, which hasn’t finished yet, took root.
Unusually, from that 1-0 defeat to Romania, Iker Casillas, Cesc Fabregas, David Silva and Sergio Ramos not only remain 10 years on, but could start at Euro 2016.
Aduriz? Back then he was a tender 25 and just making his debut for his national side — the Basque Country — and scoring for them against Catalunya at the Nou Camp.
With all due respect to sentiments of cultural and linguistic independence — this is the big time. And I’m so glad he’s back in it.
I really pray that I will be at the Euro 2016 Finals. I’d love to be part of all that for my country