Spain debuts this Thursday in the Nations League receiving Cristiano Ronaldo's Portugal. And in the Benito Villamarín in Seville, the first news can break as soon as the ball starts to roll. If Luis Enrique does not keep any ace up his sleeve, Sergio Busquets (33) will start and thus become the third Spanish footballer who will have worn the Spanish shirt alone the most times.
Last November, Badia's brain added his international number 133 in the decisive match that Spain played against Sweden and that meant sealing the passport for the World Cup in Qatar. Busquets thus trapped Xavi in third position in a classification led by Sergio Ramos (180) and Iker Casillas (167).
Luis Enrique decided to give rest to what is surely his most trusted footballer in the last international break, in March, so that Busquets could not increase his 133 games in those two friendlies. But the news will break now, in June, with four official matches in which the midfielder will finally surpass Xavi, who took his first steps in the midfield of an indelible Barça, became his friend and is now his coach in Barça, which is not without a certain grace.
“Ramos and Casillas are very far away and have a much longer career, I don't look at them. For me, match 100 was the one I had in mind, the one that was really special, but from then on I have been enjoying the journey. Everyone should be proud of the figure they get from having experienced it intensely”, confessed Busquets himself in the run-up to the duel against Portugal.
If the injuries respect him, Busquets will continue adding games from here until the World Cup in Qatar as he is a fixture in all Luis Enrique's lineups. "Busi's thing is exceptional, they criticize him many times unfairly but for me he is the leader of the team and he can continue for as many years as he wants", confided the Spanish coach, aware that after the appointment in the desert in November the Badia will consider his future as an international. “Now I don't want to talk, there will be time”, repeats the footballer.
Busquets, 33, made his debut for Spain in April 2009 at the hands of Vicente del Bosque, another coach who had a soft spot for him, in a match against Turkey. Since then, he has been a fundamental piece for all the coaches and a key to success, with a World Cup and two European Championships at the helm. Curiously, in his 133 caps, the Barça brain has scored two goals, both in 2014 against Macedonia and Belarus.
