Miguel Gutiérrez’s first Olympic flashes began with his family spending the summer on the Valencian beach of Oliva, where he would meet his friends to watch the basketball team’s final against the United States and Usain Bolt’s performances. Now, at 22, it is his turn to be the protagonist. His thing, football, for once is not the rich relative of business, but he and the entire team can say out loud that they are having the pleasure of opening the Games. Their duel against Uzbekistan this Wednesday at the Parc des Princes (3:00 p.m.) is the first event of the entire Olympic calendar in the French capital. At the same time, in the sub-venue of Saint-Étienne, Argentina and Morocco will play their match.
“We are Spain and we always have to aim for the best. We are going to try to bring home gold,” proclaims this left-back from Madrid, who a year ago was one of Santi Denia’s discards for the European Under-21 Championship, and who a few months ago dreamed of getting on the plane for the Euros pushed by the Girona tailwind. “I was pre-selected and that hope is always there,” he admits. Now he is looking for revenge under the hoops of the Seine.
Riding high on the ecstasy of the senior side, this U-23 team plus three seniors (Juan Miranda, Sergio Gómez and Abel Ruiz) is expected to have a long journey. Due to their own quality and because until the final stretch there are no major dangers. In the first phase they will also face the Dominican Republic of Ibai Gómez (Saturday 27, 15.00) and Egypt (Tuesday 30, 15.00). Two will go through, and in the quarter-finals (day 2) they will face Group D (Japan, Paraguay, Mali and Israel). In the semi-finals (day 5), there is a steep climb, as France, Argentina or Achraf Hakimi’s Morocco could appear. The French, trained by Thierry Henry, do not have any senior players. Their names with the most experience are the forwards Alexandre Lacazette, Michael Olise and the Sevilla defender Loïc Badé. Argentina, meanwhile, has recruited Julián Álvarez and Nico Otamendi. Brazil, Germany, England, Italy, Croatia and Uruguay are missing from the tournament, which has little historical roots.
We are Spain and we are going for gold
The list of presences (and absences) invites us to think of big game, a mission in which Miguel Gutiérrez is expected to help disrupt rival defences by breaking lines. Nursing a decade in Valdebebas, the classic Madrid recipe of playing outside to oppose a possible return has suited this full-back with an offensive vocation. Also, as he explains, because he crossed paths with Míchel. “He has made me understand football at a level beyond what I had as a concept. He has made me explode in those small details that can make the difference. On an offensive level, he has helped me to see the game better. For example, to turn from one side to the other, the issue of depth, not to give width on the outside to the two (full-backs) but one is inside and the other on the outside… And on a defensive level, he has put pressure on me. I have analysed with him staff “How could I improve my duels, my jumps…”, explains Miguel Gutiérrez. “Above all, it has helped me gain experience, get to know the category and be more clever,” he sums up. He closed last season with two goals and nine assists.
I have played in every position imaginable, even as a goalkeeper.
Madrid sold him to Girona in 2022, with whom he signed until 2027, but the white club retained 50% of his rights, a common move at the Bernabéu so as not to completely lose control of its youth players. “Today I am calm in the national team and I have a contract with Girona. If there is something, my agents will tell me,” he says seriously about the future.
“In the youth team I played in every position imaginable, even goalkeeper. In the U19s, they kicked out our player and I had to play,” he recalls. But what was most notable about those episodes away from his current position was when he played as a midfielder. “In the U19s, Guti (his coach) told me that I could do better in that position. He put me there for several games and I felt comfortable. I was already a full-back and that year I also played a bit in the middle and on the wing. For me, it is a very complicated position (attacking midfielder) because you have to have eyes in the back of your head, a 360-degree vision. This season, at Girona, I have played that position a lot, and that has also helped me improve my speed of play. I had the ball and it is not the same as being a full-back, where you have the touchline behind you and there is no one. In that position, inside, you have to play fast,” he explains.
Three years ago, in Tokyo, the Spain team coached by Luis de la Fuente won silver after losing to Brazil. That team included Unai Simón, Cucurella, Mikel Merino, Zubimendi, Pedri, Olmo and Oyarzabal, today kings of Europe. Now, in Paris, almost half of Santi Denia’s list (second in command of de la Fuente in Japan) is made up of those who lost the final of the European Under-21 Championship against England a year ago, from which Gutiérrez was left out. An Olympic group, with the European champions Álex Baena and Fermín, that aspires to the gold medal. “A gold medal would be brutal,” says Gutiérrez.
This week he will spend the only days in the Paris Villa until a hypothetical final. He would love to meet Carlos Alcaraz and Rafa Nadal. What would he ask them? “Nothing, just to take a photo,” he concludes.
The summoned
Goalkeepers: Arnau Tenas and Joan Garcia.
Defenses: Marc Pubill, Eric García, Pau Cubarsí, Miranda, Miguel Gutiérrez and Jon Pacheco.
Midfielders: Turrientes, Adrian Bernabe, Pablo Barrios, Aimar Oroz and Alex Baena.
Forwards: Sergio Gómez, Fermín López, Diego López, Samu Omorodion and Abel Ruiz.
Bookings: Alejandro Iturbe (goalkeeper), Juanlu Sánchez (defender), Cristhian Mosquera (defender) and Sergio Camello (forward).
Calendar
–Group stage: Uzbekistan (Wednesday 24, 15.00, Parc des Princes), Dominican Republic (Saturday 27, 15.00, Bordeaux), Egypt (Tuesday 30, 15.00, Bordeaux).
–Rooms: Friday 2
–Semi-finals: Monday 5th
–Third and fourth place: Thursday 8 (17.00)
–Final: Friday 9 (18.00)
Other groups
TO: France, USA, Guinea and New Zealand.
B: Argentina, Morocco, Iraq and Ukraine.
D: Japan, Paraguay, Mali and Israel.
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