Former national coach Vicente del Bosque spoke on Tuesday about Spain’s options for the next World Cup, which begins in June. The former technician assured that he had equipment “to become world champion again.”
“Now we are in a pre-World Cup period and we aim to become world champions again. Without boasting and with caution. We hope to be champions, we have a team for that,” said the former national football coach in an interview for the María de Villota Awards.
Vicente Del Bosque, winner of the María de Villota Prize in its 2025 edition, recognizes that in the months leading up to the 2010 World Cup they felt like they could win the title. “When we lost to Switzerland, I jokingly told the players “If we win the next six games, we will be world champions”. It was a hope we had. In those years it was an unaffordable measure,” he said.
“It was a very pleasant period. There were 114 games and, in all that time, we only had one sent off. We have always had a very good atmosphere. We make the most of it“, he appreciated about his time as national coach between 2008 and 2016.
It is for this reason that he now has “hope” that the Spanish team will win the world title again. “This first step gets a little devalued as more and more teams come in, but it’s also a good thing that FIFA is socializing football. This is a group to be classified, with maximum care and respect for everyone. The players know they have to be able to give their all on the pitch,” he said of the group stage.
Del Bosque, linked to football since the sixties, believes that “the essence has not changed” at that time, even if it has evolved. “A football team has singularities such as 11 players and 14 remaining without playing. It’s a sport of emotions. It has evolved in terms of quality, physical preparation, tactics… It has improved. “Those who played well forty years ago would play well now,” he admitted.
“Now we play every three days. The coaches have to use the whole team. You have to use everyone. It’s a great job for the coach at the moment. As for the noise around football, I think it is positive. Nobody knows the absolute truth about football,” he said.
The Salamanca man admitted he always thought “he was going to be a formative coach”, but he ultimately ended up managing Real Madrid’s first team. “I have always tried to treat people the same way they treated me when I was a child. I have always tried to build a good and healthy wardrobe. It’s very important,” he stressed.
“Being at Real Madrid is easier than being in other teams. We won in 1998, then in 2000 and 2002. We had a great time. Real Madrid have achieved a feat,” he explained.
Del Bosque feels “privileged” to have been able to devote himself to football “by leaving the neighborhood”. “I have been at Real Madrid for 37 years, always at the same club. I have been happy to play football”indicates at the same time that he claims that Pirri and Amancio are the two best players he has met. “They are from my era, so I will stick with Raúl, Fernando Hierro, Zidane or Ronaldo. They were all sensational,” he said.
Finally, he had words of gratitude for the María de Villota Prize: “I’m far from the automotive world, but we all know what the Villota family went through. What happened to María was a shock for everyone and something unexpected. It is an award that represents the love of a father for his daughter. The list of awards is spectacular. This also indicates that it is a great country with great athletes. “It’s a very good sign for this country.”
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