"They are not interested in Spain, they want to mock Real Madrid"

BarcelonaIt's not just a Spanish squad without any Real Madrid players for the first time in World Cup history, it's also a squad full of Barcelona players – up to eight, a feat the white club has never achieved – with a marked anti-Madrid accent due to the historic rivalry between the two clubs. The list, which is still causing a stir, caused havoc in a Real Madrid fully immersed in an electoral process.

The heated debates in various media located in the Spanish capital have not been long in coming: from Tomás Roncero denouncing a conspiracy against Real Madrid on "El chiringutio gave at noon the list of called-up players from Spain for the upcoming World Cup.De la Fuente announced Spain's squad for the next World Cup at midday. The coach of La Roja will bring together a group of players in the coming weeks and during the World Cup itself with a significant presence of Catalan players (nine) and from Barça, which is by far the club with the most representation (eight players) in a squad that for the first time in history has no Real Madrid members. From Atlético de Madrid, Arsenal and Athletic Club, there are three players per team. The rest of the clubs contributing talent (Chelsea, Manchester City, Osasuna, Celta de Vigo, Real Sociedad, PSG, Tottenham, Bayer Leverkusen and Crystal Palace) each contribute a single footballer.

Journalist Tomás Roncero was one of the most belligerent with De la Fuente. In "They are not interested in Spain, they want to mock Real Madrid"

The journalist Tomás Roncero was one of the most belligerent with De la Fuente. On El chiringuito he uttered a phrase that quickly spread like wildfire on social media: "They are not interested in Spain, they want to mock Madrid." On Cadena SER, Roncero defended that he considered that Carval and Gonzalo García should be at the World Cup. "I don't explain this about Dani Carvajal, because he has played well and has played 1,085 minutes this season. [De la Fuente] He waited for Mikel Merino and it seems logical to me, but with the same argument I don't understand why he hasn't done the same with Dani. Carvajal is one of the best right-backs of the last year. I don't understand why he is not ahead of Pedro Porro." Furthermore, "as an alternative to Mikel Oyarzabal", Roncero, one of the main voices of Madridism, defended that he would have called up Gonzalo, because he believes that he could fit perfectly into De la Fuente's plans for the World Cup.

A large part of the Madridista environment dedicated itself to feeding the maxim that it was surprising that a team accustomed to competing at the highest European level did not contribute a single footballer to the Spanish national team. There were those who pointed out that the feeling within the white club and a large part of its fans is that there is an increasingly evident current that tries to minimize Madrid's weight. For his part, in a press conference, De la Fuente defended not having called up any white footballer thus: "Fortunately, I am the national coach. I do not look at the origin of any player, I have already commented on it on many occasions. The only thing I look at is whether the player has the possibility to play with us. I do not have this localist mentality that some fans may have. It neither interests us nor do I think it could be of interest for the speculations that some may make".