Alexia Putellas looks tired. And she is. It’s Tuesday and she’s slept four hours after lifting her second prize The Best in a row, to which he also adds two Ballon d’Ors, an unprecedented event in women’s football. However, exhaustion does not alter her mood. She is shy, but respectful of strangers; attentive, and, above all, more open with acquaintances; Putellas has become much more than a soccer player. She knows it and accepts it. It is her responsibility; his hobbythe usual: the ball.
Ask. Is Rosalia right? Is fame a bad lover?
Answer. She’s a bad lover if you don’t know how to manage her well. I can perfectly understand that there is depression at the end of the tunnel.
Q. Because?
R. I flow and do, as best I can, what I know how to do, which is play soccer. But I do not choose to be a reference. It’s the people that put you in that place. Fame, or being famous, can condition the way you are, because of what other people think or say. And that’s what can be dangerous.
Q. He never stopped doing anything for what will they say?
R. No, I feel comfortable when it’s me. I don’t like to talk just to talk. If I do something it’s because it worries me, for example, this project [es embajadora de Mango y de Goals, en un programa que, junto con Save the Children, promueve la educación en Bangladesh]. I am aware of the impact I have. But, on many occasions, the news that is generated around sport and its referents tend to be interested or taken out of context and that saddens me.
Q. Do you feel more comfortable being anonymous than in the shop window?
R. If it were up to me, if I believed that there was no type of injustice or inequality, or if I believed that there is the same type of visibility for women as for men, I would not get so involved in some projects. For example, I would not have authorized my documentary if there were the same documentaries for men as for women. My intention, my idea, was never to vindicate, but to naturalize. And, when that happens, when everything is normalized, that the documentaries be made by the athletes who entertain or inspire us the most.
Q. And who inspires you?
R. Serena Williams. I have been and continue to be greatly inspired by her. How many grand did she win? 23 she’s a beast! She has left a legacy that transcends tennis. Obviously, as a footballer, other players inspired me, like Messi.
Q. Do you feel in that orbit? In those of the best in history?
R. I honestly don’t think so. For example, the day before they gave me the Ballon d’Or I was a certain way. And the day after the award was exactly the same. Does the Ballon d’Or give you superpowers? No, you are the same person, you have the same conditions. Conditions that, obviously, can improve or worsen if you work or not work. And we return to the beginning of the conversation, you have to know how to manage it well.
Q. Are you afraid of not being Alexia again? [el pasado julio se rompió los ligamentos cruzados]?
R.. No fear. But it has crossed my mind not to be myself again on the field, with all my abilities. I have been working on it, I have talked to people who have gone through the same injury and most have told me not to set those goals. That would be the ultimate goal. First, realistic goals and go stage by stage.
Q. before the Rome [próximo rival en los cuartos de final de la Champions]At least, will you be able to enjoy the Barça women’s phenomenon from the stands?
R. In the case of never having been a professional footballer, I would have liked to enjoy being with people, to be part of that environment. When I wasn’t a Barça player, I had never had the opportunity to be there to see a women’s team. But now yes, so I’ll try to enjoy it and help from there, since my situation is different. I am not available to the team.
Q. Three months after the Women’s World Cup and after 15 of your teammates resigned from the national team, how do you analyze everything that is happening?
R. It is a subject that I do not know how to simplify or analyze only from the Spanish perspective. We have already seen what has happened in Canada (strike), Peru does not have a coach, in France there are problems (captain Wendie Renard does not support the current system and has abandoned her team), in the United States there was the issue of equal pay…
Q. And then?
R. The problem that I see is that this has gone at a speed for which not everyone was prepared. There were also people who did not expect what is happening.
Q. Did your teammates make the wrong strategy when they sent the letter to the Federation in which they requested not to be called up?
R. Everything looks better from the sidelines… I have seen teammates very affected, some almost defeated. And if you look at the statement from Wendie Renard or other colleagues… You’re fighting and fighting all day, insisting and insisting… Which way is better…? In short, we just want to improve and compete with the best conditions.
Q. Can you live with 16,000 euros a year [sueldo mínimo que propone la Liga F]?
R. No it can not be done. If what you want is to be a professional at the highest level, you cannot live with that amount.
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