Irony and metaphor of the Spanish selection

The absence of Real Madrid players in the Spanish national team squad for the World Cup is not the world turned upside down, even if it seems so, because historically Barça has been the Spanish league team that has contributed the most players to the World Cups played by la roja. In fact, it is the only team in the League that has always had players called up for the World Cups for which Spain has qualified. That the Spanish national team lives off Barça's talent was already clear in 2010, when Xavi, Iniesta, Busquets, Cesc, Piqué or Puyol were essential to give Spain the World Cup in South Africa.

And if we talk about this season, the zero from Madrid was almost mathematical, as Johan would have said: Madrid had five Spaniards in a squad of 23 players and, on top of that, they have all had a disastrous season.

The irony is as great as the metaphor: Catalonia pulls Spain's chestnuts out of the fire. Nine Catalan players, De la Fuente has called up. The Catalan national team's role in a World Cup would not have been a filler. The fact is that between Catalans and blaugranas, the Spanish national team will again have almost more sympathy in Catalonia than in Madrid, where they always see the world through a hole.

That Felipe VI participated in the presentation video of the selected players is more than the usual recourse to the banal nationalism that sports give to states, everywhere: in Spain's case, it is the king who needs the national team, not the other way around. The national team is much more popular than the monarchy, and it not only brings together politically divided Spaniards, but also makes independentists identify with a team that plays preceded by the Spanish anthem. For these reasons, that a country as strong in sports as Catalonia is prohibited from participating in official competitions is a reason of state for Spain.