Aitana Bonmatí, with the Ballon d’Or, this Thursday in Barcelona. Emilio Morenatti (AP)
“I’m feeling very well. “Very tired, I’m not going to lie to you,” admits Aitana Bonmatí to EL PAÍS, standing next to her shiny Ballon d’Or on a stool at the Johan Cruyff Stadium, in front of Barça’s sports city in Sant Joan Despí sits. He poses with his award for the media, gives interviews, walks around his city – Sant Pere de Ribes (Barcelona) – taking care of his fans, chatting and signing autographs for his fans. With more photos, more questions and more signatures. Yes, she is tired. It is Thursday, but she can no longer count the days since she was named the best player in the world last Monday. He admits to being aware and knowing his role , what the newly acquired individual award entails. He knows that it is necessary to temporarily forego his precious rest. But despite the media and sporting pressure, the material weight – “quite a lot,” says Aitana, 25, laughing – of the ball does not become a symbolic burden: “I don’t have any pressure anymore. I already put enough pressure on myself to focus on what is expected of me. “I’m already ambitious enough and push myself to the limit.” It seems like nothing has changed for her. And neither does his desire for more and more. “If one day the ambition disappears, it will be time to give up football,” he says.
He doesn’t like fame, but he doesn’t like it either. “I just adapt to it,” says Bonmatí. “I know it’s something that comes along the way, that comes when you win. I’m an introverted person I don’t know, but very extroverted in confidence. “I’m trying to deal with it better,” says the Barcelona player. He never loses his closeness to his fans: “She is the one who has accompanied us throughout our entire career. From my time at the Ciutat Esportiva, on the artificial turf pitch, then at the Mini Estadi, to all the people who filled the Camp Nou on the most beautiful days, such as the quarter-finals and semi-finals of the 2022 Champions League, against Real Madrid and Wolfsburg, with more than 90,000 spectators. I feel a lot for Barça and the fans feel that too. We have a lot in common.” The people around her say that Aitana has evolved but not changed. “I have the same personality. “It changes with time and with experiences, but my essence remains the same,” emphasizes the soccer player.
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He has stopped counting the days and confuses Sunday with Monday and Tuesday. Events, games, congratulations and congratulations. “It’s been a crazy few days. On Sunday I was in Madrid and we flew to Zurich. The next day Salma Paralluelo and I went to the ball gala in Paris and on Tuesday we went again to Switzerland to play the game with the national team. And yesterday we returned to Barcelona,” says Aitana about her last week, after she had already been crowned on her new throne after a year. However, his days tend to be more balanced: “I go to the Ciutat Esportiva in the morning to train and then, depending on the day, I train outside or go to the physiotherapist, nutritionist or psychologist.” Or I also have a few acts. But I try to manage to have moments for myself that are very necessary.” He is always looking for optimal recovery for his physical and mental performance, which is why his master’s degree in sports management at the Johan Cruyff Institute takes a back seat : “I have no time. Studying is complicated at the moment.”
On Monday she was in the spotlight. Dressed in a black dress with transparency and a solemn, short smile. When they surprisingly announced her name, Aitana took the stage at the gala in Paris. But the tennis player Novak Djokovic, who presented him with the award, forgot the ball. “I arrived and I didn’t know whether they should give it to me or not, so I went straight to talk. I didn’t know where to put myself,” admits Aitana. He stood in front of the lectern and began his speech without looking down at his work folded under the microphones or at his hands. It was clear. “The speech was important. We are more than athletes. When you have an important moment, when you are completely focused on yourself, you have to go beyond the clichés,” explains Aitana, aware of her role.
Aitana Bonmatí looks at her Ballon d’Or, this Thursday in Barcelona. Emilio Morenatti (AP)
That’s why he prepared the speech the week before the gala: “I had practiced it. He knew what he wanted to say, in the languages he wanted. I knew it well, I included a lot of things, but I had a clear concept.” Despite so much studying, he didn’t let his nerves shake. “I had this stage fright of putting myself in front of everyone else. Also speak in three languages [español, catalán e inglés], some of which you have mastered very well. I wanted it to work well, and I’m demanding in this area too. I was nervous, going out to training or going onto the field is not the same thing for me as what I do every day,” the football player remembers Monday evening.
Despite his balloon hangover, he traveled to the Spanish team’s training camp to play against Switzerland. A win (1-7) in which he was part of the starting eleven. Even though he didn’t play 90 minutes. And on Wednesday, back in his town of Sant Pere de Ribes – Ribes, as he likes to call him – he won the third consecutive Ballon d’Or for Barcelona. “For me it is a pride and a privilege to make the Barça name known around the world. They gave everything for me and I try to give it back to them. “I always appreciate the commitment for myself, for all my teammates and for women’s football because they bet when no one believed,” emphasizes Aitana. Surrounded by her people, her family and a new mural in her honor, she took a stroll through her city with the ball: “I took it where they told me. “I am very grateful to them and for carrying the Ribes name around the world.”
Aitana’s year “went well”. But he can still improve and achieve some “absolute European” or “Olympic Games”. “The ambition doesn’t stop here. Every year I want to contribute a better version of myself. I want to continue to improve. I’m 25 years old, I’m young, I’m not 18 year old Aitana, but I still have a long way to go. “I will do my best to continue to improve,” she says, emphasizing that she surrounds herself with the best professionals and is open to “constructive criticism.”
With his green sweatshirt, jeans and straight hair. Quite simply, this Thursday he took care of the media for two hours. In the afternoon she will have a “meet and greet” with her fans, an event where the player will meet them, chat and sign autographs. And on Friday and Saturday a break, which is essential for them. And in two days, another game awaits him on Sunday against Sevilla with FC Barcelona after the national team break. The Ballon d’Or crowned her year, but Aitana’s speech and ambition have not changed. After receiving the award, her parents also said simply: “Moltes felicitats, filla” (Congratulations, daughter). “My parents are taciturn, especially my father. I know that they are proud and have accompanied me on this journey,” says Aitana, laughing. Nothing has changed for his family either.
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