The Euro Cup is already underway and a few days ago Capgròs.com reported on one of the new records (and there are quite a few!) that Lamine Yamal has broken, in this case that of the youngest player in history to play a Eurocup final phase match. These days, it goes without saying, it is not difficult to find children wearing the Spanish national team shirt and Lamine Yamal’s number 19 on the streets of Mataró and in the schoolyards. This morning, without going any further, I saw one at my children’s school. Our new idol will have time to continue breaking records, in his club (we will see if Barça can keep him for many seasons) and in his national team. A few days ago, walking along the Gran Vía in Madrid, I was very happy to see in the official Adidas store a giant poster of Yamal as a great advertising claim for this commercial brand, with its characteristic gesture showing the 3, 0 and 4 , in reference to the postal code 08304. My lifelong postal code, like that of thousands of citizens of Mataró. But the boy from Rocafonda is not the first Mataroní to wear the shirt of the senior national soccer team. Four more great footballers did it before, if memory serves: Pepito Ramos, Paco Clos, Marta Torrejón and Leila Ouahabi.
The first on the list is one of the best footballers our city has produced, Pepito Ramos, to whom we have already dedicated some articles in this digital. Right back with an outstanding career, especially at Espanyol and Barça but emerging from San Fernando and CD Mataró, Ramos wore the Spain shirt in four official matches. The first took place on October 12, 1975 against Denmark, in a qualifying match for the Euro Cup played at the old Sarriá stadium. It ended with a 2-0 in favor of Spain, with goals from Pirri and Capón, and Ramos played the ninety minutes. Mataroní’s second match as a full international, also in the qualifying phase of the Euro Cup, was against the Federal Republic of Germany in Beckenbauer’s Munich (Teutonic victory 2-0 with goals from Hoeness and Toppmöller), and Ramos played the entire second half , replacing Ángel María Villar. The third was a friendly that took place on February 9, 1977 against Eire in Dublin, with a 0 to 1 in favor of Spain (goal by Satrústegui). The Mataroní played the last fifteen minutes, replacing Pirri. The fourth, also friendly, was played on September 21, 1977 in Bern (Switzerland) against the Swiss team. It ended with a 1-2 Spanish victory (goals from Rubén Cano and López Ufarte) and the Mataroní player played the entire second half, replacing Benítez. In the four international matches, Pepito Ramos played under the legendary Ladislao Kubala. He was able to share a team with legends such as Arconada, Asensi, Camacho, Del Bosque, Marcial, Miguel Ángel, Migueli, Olmo, Pirri, Quini, Reixach, Rubén Cano, Santillana, Sol or Solsona.
Secondly, we find another of the great Mataroni players in history, Paco Clos, who we have talked about on several occasions on Capgròs.com. Center forward with a lot of power and physical strength who emerged from Juventus AC and who stood out for Barça, he wore the Spanish national team shirt in 3 games. The first was the legendary Spain-Scotland match played in Seville on February 27, 1985, in which Clos, the starter, scored the only goal of the match, which served to qualify the national team for the World Cup that would be played the following year in Mexico. That day, Clos became the absolute hero and the next day he was the protagonist of all the newspaper covers. A month later, he started again for the national team in a friendly in Palma de Mallorca against Northern Ireland. He played seventy minutes as a forward with Butragueño and was replaced by Rincón, in a match that ended with a goalless draw. Clos’s third and last game with Spain, a World Cup qualifier, took place on April 30 of that same 1985 in Wrexham (Wales) against the national team of that country, which had the unforgettable Ian Rush and Mark Hughes in its forward line. . The Mataroní entered the field of play in the 57th minute replacing Rincón, but could do nothing to avoid the Spanish defeat by 3 to 0. In the three games played, Clos was under the command of Miguel Muñoz. He shared a team with great players such as Arconada, Butragueño, Calderé, Camacho, Gordillo, Julio Alberto, Maceda, Gallego, Rincón, Roberto, Rojo, Señor or Víctor Muñoz. In those first months of 1985, Clos was in the best moment of his career: League champion with Barça at the end of March, playing an important role in the team, being part of the senior team and having the trust of the coach. who informed him that he was counting on him for the World Cup in Mexico 86. The Mataroní footballer even took measurements for the official suit of the national team, but an untimely and serious knee injury cut short his career. We will never know what would have happened if that misfortune had not occurred, because everything indicated that Paco Clos was on his way to becoming the leading Spanish center forward, and it is not unreasonable to think that he could have marked an era, thanks to his extraordinary physical conditions. . A shame.
The next Mataronina to play with the senior Spanish team was Marta Torrejón. Emerging from the Salesians and with an outstanding football career in Espanyol and Barça, where she continues to play and win titles, being a legend of the club and Spanish football, she debuted with Spain in 2007 and played until 2019, when at only twenty-nine years old He voluntarily retired from the national team. With the red shirt she played 90 matches (at the time of her retirement she was the Spanish footballer with the most international matches), two World Cups (2015 and 2019) and two Euro Cups (2013 and 2017), under the orders of the coaches Ignacio Quereda and Jorge Vilda and wearing the captain’s armband in many games. As teammates, in the national team she has shared a team with great players such as Virginia Torrecilla, Sonia Bermúdez, Vero Boquete, Alexia Putellas, Vicky Losada, Aitana Bonmatí, Irene Paredes, Mapi León, Mariona Caldentey, Patri Guijarro, Jenni Hermoso, Sandra Paños, Ivana Andrés or the also Mataronine Leila Ouahabi. We are facing one of the most important players in the history of Spanish football, with sixteen seasons played in the top category, winning a multitude of titles (including three Champions Leagues, seven leagues and seven cups) and being an essential part of the different teams. in which he has played. Someday her city, ours, will have to pay her the tribute she deserves.
Next it’s time to talk about Leila Ouahabi, who, although she always claims to be from Vilassar de Mar, was born in Mataró. Therefore, we capgrossos also have the right to consider it one of our own. Ouahabi currently plays for Manchester City, but before that she played for UE Vilassar, where she emerged from, and later stood out for Valencia and Barça. With the Blaugrana club she played nine seasons in the top category, winning five leagues, six cups and one Champions League. She made her debut with the senior Spanish team on March 4, 2016, in a friendly match played in Romania against that country’s team. Since then, it was common in the calls until September 2022, when fifteen players from the national team resigned from the national team, demanding changes in the management of the Federation and showing that the situation they were experiencing affected their emotional state and their health. The fight between these players and the Federation was very controversial and finally the coach, with the support of the board, chose not to call up these players again, labeled as “capricious”, “rebellious” or even worse. Over time, however, it was discovered that in the Spanish Football Federation, despite the successes achieved, it was necessary to change many things and, therefore, it seems that these professionals, who decided to demand what they considered fair at risk to harm their careers, they were right. Ouahabi has recently been called up again with the national team, now under the orders of Montse Tomé, and there are already more than fifty of her absolute international caps, along with great figures, many of whom were mentioned before when we were talking about Marta Torrejón .
Other Mataronins were close to playing with the senior team. This is the case, for example, of Marc Torrejón, Marta’s brother, or Sergio Sánchez, who played some games with the under-21 team (11 Torrejón and 4 Sánchez, between 2007 and 2009) and had outstanding careers in the football elite. , in Spain and abroad. As a curiosity, it should be noted that both players became part of the U-21 starting eleven together in some matches, sharing a team with players such as Bojan Krkic, Sergio Asenjo, Javi García, Raúl García, Pedro León, Esteban Granero, Jurado or Miguel Towers. Another Mataroní footballer with an outstanding career is Dídac Vilà, who also played some games with the under-21 team, winning the 2011 European Championship, in a team in which players such as De Gea, Azpilicueta, Dani Parejo, Capel, Javi Martínez, Bojan Krkic, Jeffren, Mata, Adrián, Ander Herrera, San José, Thiago Alcántara, Iker Muniain or Martín Montoya.
The last Mataroní to play for Spain, needless to say, is Lamine Yamal. He debuted under coach Luis De la Fuente on September 8, 2023, in a qualifying match for the Euro Cup played in Georgia in which he scored a goal, an event that made him the youngest footballer in history to play and score. with the senior Spanish team, at only sixteen years and fifty-seven days old. Since then, he has been a regular in the squad and is currently playing in the European Championship in Germany. You never know what will happen in the future, but everything seems to indicate that Lamine Yamal will surpass the brilliant careers not only of the greats Pepito Ramos, Paco Clos, Marta Torrejón and Leila Ouahabi, but of whoever wants to, at all levels. The boy from Rocafonda has no roof and we, from here, celebrate it and want to enjoy his football.
