One of the favorite words of young, modern footballers, with some concern, is resilience. It has become a self-help classic. Some even tattoo it and teach it at the slightest opportunity. Jordi Alba is not known for tattoos but the l’Hospitalet defender has been through a season in which he is overcoming all the adverse circumstances. There is no obstacle that can sink or destabilize you. No matter what happens, come what may, no matter what is in front of him, Alba always returns, reappears, sticks out her head and ends up imposing herself. With Barça and in the World Cup.
In August, the 33-year-old left-back did not have them all with him. At the Camp Nou, Alejandro Balde has just hatched while Marcos Alonso was signed, from the Premier, to put more competitiveness in his position. And Alba suffered. He spent almost two months without starting in the League with Xavi. At the same time, the footballer regretted learning from the press that the Blaugrana club had knocked on several doors to see if anyone was interested in one of their captains. Inter was receptive. But Alba did not even want to hear the possibility of packing.
The panorama in the team of his life, where he is the tenth that has defended the shirt the most times, less than four months for Qatar was not the most rosy. But Alba has seen the light. He knew how to get out of the tunnel. The plague of injuries that devastated the Barça defense has returned him to the role of protagonist. Balde has been forced to constantly play on the right, while Alonso has had to help as an emergency centre-back. And the one from l’Hospitalet has returned to his privileges.
Finally, those 12 games (of a possible 20) played led him to the World Cup, where in principle he had to fight for ownership with José Gayà. But the Valencia player had to leave the concentration. Luis Enrique called Balde to replace him. The young blaugrana was still sub-21. So Alba, who has given his partner good advice, reinforced his position.
And that the beginnings of Luis Enrique in the selection were not easy for him because the Asturian wanted to try other alternatives. But there he also convinced. And he has not missed any of the last six major tournaments: this is his third World Cup after playing another three Euro Cups.
Again, against all odds, the lefty has held his own. Then in the field it is noticeable. In the debut against Costa Rica, he was unbalanced. He assisted Asensio to 2-0 with one of those low passes to the penalty spot that he perfected as Leo Messi’s honorary partner. Then he caused a penalty from Duarte for Ferran to make it 3-0 before half an hour.
Alba is in good shape. She showed it by defending Gnabry and attacking in her lane. She teamed up well with Olmo. And in a play in which he unfolded to the extreme, the goal came. This time Alba changed the center. He did not go behind but he looked for the space between the defense and the goalkeeper. There a lot of indecision is created on the contrary. Neuer did not dare to come out, and Süle also hesitated. “Jordi has put on a fantastic pass,” Morata acknowledged.
Coincidentally, the German tie came after Alba was substituted after a clash with Füllkurg, much stronger than him. However, the full-back, who will celebrate his 90th game with the red shirt against Japan, is optimistic. “The trust is intact. It is the line to follow. We are doing a good job. Being first in the group is the goal. We have to continue and try to beat Japan. We depend on ourselves to get through, ”he prescribed. Resilience no one can beat Alba.
