Javier Arbizu has an enviable past. As well as having won a World Cup and two European championships on his CV, he can boast of having traveled to all the places where the Spanish football team has played. And he did it without breaking a sweat or needing to wear boots. Navarrese, who was the chief of the National Team for years, passed the great names of our country’s football history such as Xavi, Iniesta, David Villa and Santi Cazorla through his table. Now he is enjoying his retirement and next week he will visit Avilés as part of the octopus days to receive the “Alvaro Cunqueiro Honorary Diner” from the Yumay Brotherhood.
Do you want to come to Avilés?
I’m very excited about the award. I love Asturias, I’ve had to go to that area a lot and I’m excited for something like this this time.
How did you start with the Spanish football team?
It all started 29 years ago. I started shortly before the Barcelona Olympics and was there until three years ago, right after the pandemic, when I retired. I worked a lot with them and had a lot of contact with Asturian players. I went to seven World Cups and six European Championships. I did everything from the A team to the under-21 team, from the futsal team to the women’s team. He had been away from home for more than two hundred days. The Federation has always been my home.
what is it like to feed football players from the election?
It’s a more or less simple task, because the doctor decides the diet, not me. I just cooked. For example, if the training was done in the morning, the food was stronger. But it’s all something the doctor will decide. The important thing was that I did things well. The person responsible was the doctor.
Which Asturian player do you remember in particular?
I remember Luis Enrique very much. At the 98th World Cup in France he was eating almost no meat, so we had to give him lots of protein along with fish. He was the coach when I left him. I also remember a lot about Villa.
It seems that the topic of sports nutrition is becoming more and more fashionable.
When I joined the National Team, my diet was very different. I went to Italy to learn the subject. Now this is a very important thing. The actors are great professionals. A lot is demanded of them and they know everything they manage. They take care of themselves. They know they make a lot of money and need to take care of themselves. It was different before.
Even though you are retired, are you still interested in the National Team?
Just yesterday I had lunch with two colleagues in San Sebastián. I was remembering the old days.
Was it very difficult to retire?
The truth is I miss the stove. It was very difficult. The transition from being out all the time to being at home with teenagers was difficult for me. I always saw the players as my children. It was hard.
What was the last withdrawal moment like?
My last match was Gijón. I couldn’t absorb it that day. We had lunch and a journalist called me and I couldn’t answer him. I didn’t even go to the game, I took the bus back to San Sebastián. I couldn’t react.
How to go back now asturias?
I’m free of that now. I will go with great excitement. I have very good Asturian friends, including Ramiro, who is the hairdresser of the national team. We have won many world championships, we are like two brothers. I’ve been to Vega a lot too. Asturias is very dear to me. Another person I had a close relationship with was Maximino Martínez.
Javier Arbizu has an enviable past. As well as having won a World Cup and two European championships on his CV, he can boast of having traveled to all the places where the Spanish football team has played. And he did it without breaking a sweat or needing to wear boots. Navarrese, who was the chief of the National Team for years, passed the great names of our country’s football history such as Xavi, Iniesta, David Villa and Santi Cazorla through his table. Now he is enjoying his retirement and next week he will visit Avilés as part of the octopus days to receive the “Alvaro Cunqueiro Honorary Diner” from the Yumay Brotherhood.
Do you want to come to Avilés?
I’m very excited about the award. I love Asturias, I’ve had to go to that area a lot and I’m excited for something like this this time.
How did you start with the Spanish football team?
It all started 29 years ago. I started shortly before the Barcelona Olympics and was there until three years ago, right after the pandemic, when I retired. I worked a lot with them and had a lot of contact with Asturian players. I went to seven World Cups and six European Championships. I did everything from the A team to the under-21 team, from the futsal team to the women’s team. He had been away from home for more than two hundred days. The Federation has always been my home.
what is it like to feed football players from the election?
It’s a more or less simple task, because the doctor decides the diet, not me. I just cooked. For example, if the training was done in the morning, the food was stronger. But it’s all something the doctor will decide. The important thing was that I did things well. The person responsible was the doctor.
Which Asturian player do you remember in particular?
I remember Luis Enrique very much. At the 98th World Cup in France he was eating almost no meat, so we had to give him lots of protein along with fish. He was the coach when I left him. I also remember a lot about Villa.
It seems that the topic of sports nutrition is becoming more and more fashionable.
When I joined the National Team, my diet was very different. I went to Italy to learn the subject. Now this is a very important thing. The actors are great professionals. A lot is demanded of them and they know everything they manage. They take care of themselves. They know they make a lot of money and need to take care of themselves. It was different before.
Even though you are retired, are you still interested in the National Team?
Just yesterday I had lunch with two colleagues in San Sebastián. I was remembering the old days.
Was it very difficult to retire?
The truth is I miss the stove. It was very difficult. The transition from being out all the time to being at home with teenagers was difficult for me. I always saw the players as my children. It was hard.
What was the last withdrawal moment like?
My last match was Gijón. I couldn’t absorb it that day. We had lunch and a journalist called me and I couldn’t answer him. I didn’t even go to the game, I took the bus back to San Sebastián. I couldn’t react.
How to go back now asturias?
I’m free of that now. I will go with great excitement. I have very good Asturian friends, including Ramiro, who is the hairdresser of the national team. We have won many world championships, we are like two brothers. I’ve been to Vega a lot too. Asturias is very dear to me. Another person I had a close relationship with was Maximino Martínez.