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

BarcelonaIt is not only a Spanish selection without any Real Madrid player for the first time in the entire history of the World Cups, it is also a selection full of Barça players –up to eight, a milestone that the white entity has never achieved– with a marked anti-Madrid accent due to the historical rivalry between the two clubs. The list, which is still ongoing, caused havoc in a Real Madrid immersed in an electoral process.

The heated debates in various media outlets located in the Spanish capital have not been long in coming: from Tomás Roncero denouncing a conspiracy against Real Madrid on El chiringuito to Josep Pedrerol rescuing images in which the coach Luis de la Fuente praised Álex Remiro only to later criticize him and leave him out of the World Cup, to Donny Huijsen tearing into social media about the non-call-up of his son, the Real Madrid player Dean Huijsen. There are even those who have considered that Thiago Pitarch, Ávaro Arbeloa's pick, deserves to be at the World Cup ahead of Barça's Gavi for having "played more games and played them well".

De la Fuente announced Spain's squad list for the next World Cup at midday. The coach of la roja will gather a group of players in the coming weeks and during the World Cup with a notable 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 players. 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 one footballer.

The call-up was made official through a video in which Felipe VI, De la Fuente himself, and several anonymous citizens appear, each saying the name of all the summoned players. "This is the list of an entire country," proclaimed the monarch in the audiovisual piece distributed by the Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF). Despite this maxim, several fans and Real Madrid commentators were quick to show their indignation at the absence of white club footballers in the squad. Dani Carvajal, after a season marked by injuries and bad blood with Álvaro Arbeloa, has been left out of the squad, as have Dean Huijsen and Álvaro Carreras, two players highly valued last summer by Florentino Pérez who have completed a more than discreet first year at the Santiago Bernabéu.

"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 argued that he considered Carval and Gonzalo García should be at the World Cup. "I don't understand this about Dani Carvajal, because he has played well and has played 1,085 minutes this season. [De la Feunte] He waited for Mikel Merino and that seems logical to me, but with the same argument I don't understand why he didn't do 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 madridismo, argued that he would have called up Gonzalo, because he believes he could fit perfectly into De la Fuente's plans for the World Cup.

A large part of the Madridista environment was dedicated 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 fanbase 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 like this: "Fortunately, I am the national coach. I don't look at the origin of any player, I've said it on many occasions. The only thing I look at is whether the player has the possibility to play with us. I don't 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."