A tweet from RTVE’s La 1 has gone viral by sharing a fragment of Vero Boquete’s talk on the program ‘I don’t know what you’re talking about’, presented by Mercedes Milà.
Boquete, a reference in women’s soccer, details the crucial moment that marked a milestone in the history of sports in Spain: the goal that led the team to qualify for the 2013 Euro Cup in Sweden after 16 years without international tournaments.
In the video, Boquete relives the exciting episode: “Something in my head tells me: ‘You have to keep going, what you will never forgive yourself for is not trying until the end.'” With a 2-2 score against Scotland, the team was on the brink of elimination. A penalty gave Boquete the opportunity to change destiny, but he missed it. “I felt like my career was over,” explains the Galician. However, the story was not over.
In that last minute of the game, Boquete describes the play: “There is a ball that goes to the right wing, there is a cross from a teammate and when the ball goes through the air I say ‘I don’t know where that ball is going to go but it is going to end up in me.'” In a moment that seemed like an eternity to her, the soccer player reflects on her options: “What is half a second seems like an eternity to me and gives me time to think about absolutely everything.”
Finally, Boquete tells herself: “Touch it, if it has to go in it will go in.” She hits the ball with her left foot, which is the least skillful, and despite a bad contact, the ball hits the grass and she goes in. The celebration is interrupted by the referee’s final whistle, and the team finally achieves qualification for the Euro Cup.
The video has generated numerous comments and thousands of views in just a few hours, resonating with the audience and highlighting the importance of moments like this not only in football but in life.
The moral and what Boquete wanted to convey is that despite adversity, despite everything seeming dark at times, there are always new opportunities, and if you keep working and trying, in the end something good will come. And if it doesn’t come, you should at least stay calm with yourself knowing that you have given everything. Which is precisely what she did.
