Not even 72 hours have passed since she collected the Ballon d'Or in Paris but Aitana Bonmatí (Sant Pere de Ribes, 1998) has already had time to start a match with the Spanish team, train with FC Barcelona, visit a mural in his honor in his town, attend dozens of interviews and take hundreds of photographs. What she hasn't had much time for is sleeping. The brand new Catalan soccer player arrives at her meeting with the press at Johan Cruyff smiling, but exhausted from the hustle and bustle of recent days. More accustomed to moving on the green than on red carpets, she is beginning to feel overwhelmed by so many commitments, but she politely answers all questions with the dazzling trophy at her side.
How are you after so many emotions?
I'm a little tired, honestly. On Wednesday I finally got some sleep but in the last three days I have hardly slept. I knew what would come next if I won the Ballon d'Or, it's what's happening now, so I have to adapt.
You have reunited with your Barça teammates, what have they said to you?
They congratulated me and before training there was a talk to highlight the value of the team and the award they gave us at the team level – FC Barcelona was recognized as the best women's club of the year by France Football. Afterwards I also said a few words. I have told them that the individual awards are a consequence of good collective work, that without the titles we have won this would not be possible. I have wanted to be grateful to my teammates, staff and club workers because they help me be better every day.
A message like the one he wanted to convey in his speech in Paris. How did she prepare it?
I started thinking about it a week before, more or less, but until the last day I was still making some changes, I was looking at it, retouching... Mostly I did it alone, the base was mine, but people around me did help me a little. . I was very clear that I wanted to speak in three languages and what I wanted to highlight.
Did you think about it a lot?
I rehearsed it alone in my head, over and over again unconsciously. The melody already sounded alone in my head.
And from collecting the Ballon d'Or, to starting in Switzerland-Spain. Did you expect it?
I did not know anything. I am a professional and I must do what my coach tells me, whether at Barça or the national team, but it is true that I had slept very little, about three or four hours. I didn't know what was going to happen.
In three days you have gained almost 400,000 followers on social networks. Are you aware of the impact that the best soccer player in the world has?
We are talking about the most important event in the world of football, so it was something to expect. Being here allows you to reach more houses, more people, cross the borders of Catalonia, Spain and reach Europe and the entire world. Surely many people who didn't know me now know me because of this award and I am delighted to continue opening doors, of course.
Are you clear about how you want to use this influence?
I am still the same. I have not considered anything different from what I have been doing in recent years. I know how I am. I am a fighter, many times vindictive, when I have to be, other times I don't. And I will continue to be the same, I am very clear about that.
Aren't you afraid that extra-sports things will overshadow your work on the field?
That is a management issue. Only I know what I need to perform at my best, to be well emotionally and personally. It's a question of time management, of knowing what's on at all times and that's also clear to me. The important thing is the field, the training and the game: everything else is not important, it is to continue performing on the field because that is what has led me to these awards.
There are many people who have surrendered to Aitana Bonmatí. Have you received many congratulations?
I haven't looked at the number of messages, but there were many. I have been answering them as I can, but I still have many left to answer. It is quite difficult to reach everyone. I thank all the people who have sent me a message either on Twitter, WhatsApp or Instagram.
Anyone in particular?
I don't want to focus on anyone in particular because for me everyone who has bothered to send me a message on such an important day in my life counts equally. For me they are all important.
Have you spoken with Xavi Hernández?
Yes, he congratulated me. She sent me a message, like she does many other times. He's very attentive, really. But little more, you don't have three-hour conversations on WhatsApp either.
The person in charge of presenting you with the trophy was the tennis player Novak Djokovic. Did you expect it?
I didn't know he would give it to me and I was surprised, but in a way it is also an emblem on a sporting level.
One of the unpleasant moments was when singer Rema greeted all the male footballers, but avoided some women, including you.
The first thing I thought was that he had gone to say hello to Balde because he was a friend of his, but then I saw that he was saying hello to everyone and I don't know if it was something that came to him at the time or he had it in mind. I'm not inside his head, in the end it's speculation, but it's true that he didn't shake my hand, Frido or Salma either. That's a topic you'll have to ask him.
Only seven of the twenty nominees were able to go to the gala because it coincided with a break for the women's teams...
It was a complicated day for us. I myself had to sleep three hours and play a game the next day. It is true that this award in terms of women's sports has only existed for five years and therefore there is obviously a lot to do, but as in so many other places I would not like to focus only on this award.
One of your main qualities is your great vision of the game. Is it something innate or worked on?
I believe that there are things that are innate, then, obviously, you work on them. Having been at Barça for twelve years helps you maintain certain concepts and know how to play with this style of play that I have mastered throughout my life. I am a big soccer fan and always have been. Now it is true that a little less than before, only for men's Barça. Before I could watch matches from the Second Division, Second B, Premier League...
Did you become disenchanted?
No, not at all, it's just that I had more time before. When I was 13 I had a lot more time than now, to be honest (laughs). I spent the entire weekend watching all the games that were on.
You are the first Ballon d'Or player formed entirely in the Blaugrana youth team, although in your time there was no female Masia, one of FC Barcelona's most recent initiatives.
These young women are here because they have a special talent, because they understand football in the way that Barça requires. Obviously, due to all the conditions they have today, with the reserve team training in the morning, with the young women who reside in the Masia itself... they have it much easier than those of us who came behind. We had to travel many kilometers to train every day, you didn't eat as well because you got home at one at night, and you were tired from life. They should value this highly and take advantage of it because it is true that you have talent, but with talent alone you will not go anywhere.
