Four years ago when I arrived in Neustift, just outside Innsbruck, to cover Spain for UEFA.com, a friend of mine who works for the Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) told me: "The atmosphere is better than it has been for years. This team could really do something now."
He was referring to the fact that it was the first time La Roja had travelled to a major tournament without a specific hierarchy of Real Madrid CF players and that the command structure in Luis Aragones' squad had changed – become youthful.
He was right. Spain produced something special: one of the most thrilling tournament wins in living memory. Today that same friend told me that Vicente del Bosque's players were still trying to get 'into' the tournament. Just ahead of their second Group C game, against the Republic of Ireland in Gdansk, I’m sure I saw that moment. Tuesday night's training session buzzed with electric energy.
Players made the ball fly, some smashing goals were scored, Fernando Torres showed a handful of world-class touches and Xavi Hernández showed he was enjoying himself. But then came the cherry on the icing. When the stadium had been cleared and only five or six people remained, my colleague Dani Huerta and I saw Iker Casillas and Pepe Reina challenge each other to a ruthless penalty competition.
Iker Casillas lost to Reina in the spot-kick challenge
Between them they took about 20, bickering, joking, bragging and some, from Reina in particular, were sensational top-corner efforts. Eventually Reina saved one and scored the next to win. He sunk to his knees and mimicked the famous Kiko 'Archer' celebration which the legendary Club Atlético de Madrid striker used to produce after a goal.
The two men showed immense intensity throughout, even though it was the end of the session. It marked the mood. It was a microcosm of how competitive these men are. We have, quite fairly, lauded their skill, their technique and sense of adventure but they love to win – in fact, they are addicted to it. They hate to lose and haven't forgotten that.
Ireland will be a dangerous beast, having lost and failed to show their real character against Croatia. This match may well be a significant test for the champions, but no one should forget that what Ireland face is not some pretty-boy team of effete ball players. This is a unit of hard-nosed, competitive winners. Time to forget tiredness, pitch conditions and team selection rows. Time to play, Spain.
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