After winning Nike Cup Spain we qualified for the European tournament. As son as we arrived we were take to a hall with all the players. The top European teams were all there, AC Milan, Juventus, Man. Utd....... One of the things that most caught my eye was the Nike video, we were amazed when Juninho appeared and wished us luck.

As far as the tournament itself, it was hard-fought.. We were winning games and getting through rounds, we knocked out Real Madrid 2-0 in the semis and got to the final against Reginna, which we won with a goal from Molinero. That was the first big medal I won. After the tournament my name started to come out in the press, I’ve still got some copies at home, and offers started to come in, for example one from Arsenal. So I started to get to know top-level football, and even though the moment passed quickly it was good, something to enjoy.

That year I had a bad injury, I missed the preliminaries, only started the season in December and the tournament was in May but I really wanted to play. In the end when I got into the squad I was really pleased. It was similar to the Nike Cup but with the national team. You get there and they explain the draw, they show you the set up, a really nice hotel in a different town, you get the national strip with the sponsor’s name, you know you’re going to be on TV and in the Spanish papers every day, when you’re 15 or 16 you really can’t believe it.

It was a tough tournament, we got past Italy on penalties, we beat Croatia and in the final we beat France, the favourites. We knew that if we lost everyone would forget about us but that if we won, everyone would hear about Spain and that’s how it was. The tournament had been closely followed in the press, and we were on the front page after we won…there are some things you’ll never forget. After the championship I got into the senior squad.

When the ref blows the final whistle and you’ve won but the stadium is totally silent, you realise that all your work has been for nothing, everything’s been going really well but in the end it’s all gone wrong, and that’s what matters. The club has to face another season in the second division, and my debut, my goal.... everything would have felt different if the team had gone up. Another year in the second division, everyone disappointed, it was like starting again from nothing. In the dressing room there were all kinds of reactions, some people angry, some people really pissed off, some people not bothered and some really devastated. Those who’d been at the club the longest felt it the most, they’d given their all during the season only to end up with nothing. I was still more of a fan than a player and what I felt was disappointment, I didn’t feel like doing anything, I was sunk, I just wanted to get over it and forget about it as soon as possible.

I’d had a very bad year, after all the expectation everybody had about me I only managed to score six goals, but I wouldn’t swap a good personal season for the team not going up. When we won promotion it was a bit strange, not at home in Vicente Calderon like we’d hoped, with a full ground. It could have been that way but we slipped up against Nastic, we should have won but they equalised in the last minute. We had to wait until the following day, I was at home and the lads started to call saying we’d been promoted so we went out to celebrate. It was a shame not to have done it against Nastic because the fans were really up for it, ready to invade the pitch and everything, to celebrate. I would have preferred to have waited a week or two more so as to have enjoyed it with the fans in Vicente Calderon.

I missed out on my holidays because of the tournament, but I really wanted to play. It was more or less the same team as in the under-16s, and we were pretty confident. We started with a draw but after that we won all our games and were European Champions again. I was top scorer again and also voted best player for the second time. These personal awards really make you feel proud. I remember, in the hotel, after each game, looking at the boards with the points given for each player and the goals scored.. During the tournament I saw that I was there or thereabouts, that I was in with a chance of coming top, that I was playing well and getting a lot of points and at the end of the Championship, still on the pitch I heard over the loudspeaker that I’d been named Player of the Tournament as well as being top scorer, I was so happy. From then on my reputation grew and clubs were interested in me again, but at the very top level this time.

It had been talked about before that I’d get in the squad, but despite the rumours I didn’t think it was possible, though this time it felt different. I was so nervous that week, I couldn’t wait to see if I was in the squad. After the get together with Iñaki (Saez, then under-19 coach) I was on tenterhooks, dying to know if I’d get in the full squad after having played at all other levels, I was dying to know what the atmosphere was like, the other players, the set-up…everything, really. I expected it to be more or less like the junior squads but here everybody knew each other, it was like a club, like a family, and that’s great for as team but not so great for a player coming into it, it’s more difficult to adapt. The veterans, like Raul and Cañizares, helped me get used to things a lot.

I was really up for the game but the Portuguese players were kicking me from the start and I had to come off with a sprain before half-time. Anyway, I came off happy because I’d made my debut and that’s what will stay with me forever.

I was really up for the game, and besides I was convinced I was going to score. I remember they let me wear 14, which had always been my number for the national teams. And I scored, but I came off annoyed with myself because even though I’d scored my first goal I felt like I could have scored more.

The European Championship was on my mind all year, to finish the year well so as to be able to be in Portugal, finish well in the league and get in the squad...., a good season as much for the team as for myself, added to the fact that Iñaki Saez (by now National Coach) already knew me from the junior teams, meant that I was lucky enough to be picked. Once there I wanted to enjoy it, I wasn’t bothered if I didn’t get a game, I wanted to play because I was sure that I was up to it, but even being on the bench didn’t get me down, the opposite because it was an incredible experience, it was like with the under-16s or the under-19s but even better, because there’s no higher level, to be in a Finals with the National team is the highest level you can aim for.

At the age of 20 I was at the top of the international game. It was something to enjoy, we drew against Greece but didn’t think it would matter, there was a great atmosphere, we were enjoying watching the games with the best players in Europe. It never occurred to me that we wouldn’t qualify for the quarters, we were so confident we’d beat Portugal that when we were knocked out we were devastated. At that point the Portuguese fans and players were going mental but for me everything was silent, the silence of the Spanish fans, the silence of my team-mates, everyone heads down, we couldn’t believe it, it took me a few days to really take it in that we were out.

Helping Spain to get to the World Cup in Germany was more than just a wish for me. It was an obligation, as well as a dream come true for me personally. Being the top Spanish scorer of the Liga made Luis Aragones trust in me to play the classifying rounds with the first team. It’s not easy to describe, but every time that I heard the National Anthem, arms linked with those of my team-mates, I felt that we had behind us the support and strength of the supporters whom we couldn’t disappoint. There was just one aim: to be in Germany.

Things didn’t go well in the classification group. Draws meant that we reached the last games without having guaranteed classification. The Serb team maintained a high competitive level throughout the clasification round. They came to play at the Vicente Calderon: to run out on to the pitch in front of my home supporters, wearing the Spain strip, was one of the most exciting moments of my sporting career. We didn’t get past the draw, and travelled to Belgium with everything up in the air. In Brussels, I scored two goals at just the right time, thanks to two excellent centres by Jose Antonio Reyes… just like in the ‘old times’ in the lower leagues. I realized that something had changed: a new phase had started for me in the national team. One cycle had ended, and a new one, full of hope, had begun.

In the playoffs we beat Slovakia without any problems, and we had finally made it to the World Cup! Despite being the top scorer of the team at the end of the phase, I knew I had to keep improving, only by working hard could I go to Germany and make my dream come true: to play for the World Cup.

I am fighting all my live for a dream, to play with the biggest of the World, and finally I had it within reach: I was going to play in the World Cup in Germany! When I got there, all around me smelt football, but what really surprised me was seeing so many red shirts that were cheering up us out of Spain. Not even in the Eurocup of Portugal I saw so much support of our fans. All pointed that could be the Spanish World Cup . In the National Team we had players of a high quality, but overall we form a solid and young team. Luis Aragones confidenced on me to the eleven starter and I felt the obligation to give the maximun output. We had high aims.

At the first phase, things were going well. We achieved to win all the matches with a good play and goals. Many people pointed out us like favourites, and at the personal view everything went perfect: I scored three goals and I was situated as top scorer of the championship at the end of the second match! At eighth finals we played against an importance rival, France, a team with players that already knew what is winning a World Cup, with a high quality and, overall, with a lot of experience. We left like favourites and I think that condition damaged us . France has realized a light first phase ended as second of the group and left without the pressure of winning.

The match started very good. We were forward at the boardscored, but we didn’t know how to control the match. Ribery’s goal made the shock. He scored it three minutes before the break and the development of the second half changed. The second half it wasn’t so good. We weren’t apted. Anyway, it was a disappointment because all our illusion broke out.

Personally it has been a good World Cup. It served me to ckeck my level in a great date, although collectively we left with a bad taste in our mouth, knowing that we let out a good opportunity to go far in Germany.