“Alba is in a splendid state of form and with great enthusiasm”. Her teammates and her coach don’t say it, her father says it Anthony Redondo in a conversation with THE WORLD. It is true that being his parent, it may be more difficult to be critical, but this time he is not wrong. The Albacete stands out with the national team every time she has minutes. Against Zambia she signed a double, and surely this Saturday, in the round of 16 match of the World Cup between Australia and New Zealand against Switzerland (7:00, TVE), if she plays again, he will know how to take advantage of his opportunity.
The team is not at its best, especially after the defeat against Japan, which raised many doubts. However, the footballer is confident. “The bad days have passed and now we face the rest with a positive mentality and looking forward to the next game,” he says. But the reality is that the result affected him. “That day he was very annoyed,” says Antonio.
La Mancha discovered that she wanted to play soccer at the age of six. Of course, before she tried gymnastics. “As a child she was very nervous and active. So her mother and I decided to sign her up for gymnastics. She did very well and was happy. What happens is that her brother played soccer and when she took him to train she came too. She took a ball and one day she told us she wanted to practice this sport and we changed her. He liked the ball more than the trampoline“, admits his father.
It seems that the change was a success, but in addition to starting out in football, at the age of six Alba would also meet the player who would become an idol for her, Andres Iniesta. At that time, the man from Fuentealbilla was taking off in his sports career. Both coincided in a tournament that the brother of the international disputed in the hometown of the world champion. “There we took a picture with him and that image has always been in Alba’s room. As Andrés progressed, she felt a greater admiration for him, and that’s the way it has been until today,” says Antonio.
Their contact does not refer only to that snapshot, both players have recently spoken. Iniesta advised him before the World Cup. “He told me, above all, to enjoy and gave me advicesince he has a lot of experience in this”, says Alba.