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Nacida un 4 de julio, Irene Paredes (Legazpi, Gipuzkoa, 32 años), jugadora del Barcelona, capitana de la selección y una de las veteranas del equipo que en agosto de 2023 alzó la primera Copa de un Mundial femenino de fútbol para España, no ha perdido ni una pizca de intensidad. Ni de convicción. O confianza. Tras ganar en Australia y Nueva Zelanda y hacer globales sus reivindicaciones tras el beso del ya expresidente Rubiales a la futbolista Jenni Hermoso, las jugadoras de la selección buscan ahora su segundo título, este continental. La Liga de las Naciones está en su fase final: cuatro equipos, dos semifinales y una final. Se juega en Sevilla, donde este viernes (a las 21.00, La1) les espera Países Bajos.
Unos días antes de este primer partido clave, también para obtener una plaza en los Juegos de París, Paredes se sienta a la charla nada más terminar el entrenamiento con sus compañeras en Las Rozas. Y 15 minutos después sale corriendo, (largas) piernas para qué os quiero, apremiada por la hora de la comida y por la multa con que se amenaza a las tardonas (o a las ocupadas) ―50 euros, y la pena va subiendo por cada minuto que pasa―; regresa al cabo de una hora, todavía vestida de corto, con la coleta y la cinta para apartar el pelo de la cara. Está helada. Pero sonríe al sol de febrero. Y se arma de paciencia. Ya no hay más multas. Y los 15 minutos de charla han cundido. Ella tiene las ideas claras y es de palabra fluida. Ha vivido los mejores y los peores días del fútbol español jugado por mujeres. Ha pasado de tener poco más que un balón a generar una expectación planetaria.
Paredes fue campeona de liga con el Athletic, en 2016, antes de ayer, cuando nadie las conocía. Guarda buenos recuerdos de entonces, de la “gente top” con la que coincidió, “de esa gente que es difícil encontrar en la vida, en el trabajo”. Pero no añora aquellos tiempos. “Hemos mejorado. La Liga ha ido a más, los clubes, las condiciones de la futbolista han ido a mejor”. Muchas, como ella, se han ido dando cuenta de todo lo que quedaba por mejorar en España al salir fuera, París, en su caso. “Lo que más me chocó fue el aspecto físico. La francesa es una liga muy física. También me di cuenta de que se podía mejorar mucho a nivel de clubes, aunque en otros países la situación de la mujer futbolista es similar a la de España. Hay mucho que hacer, también desde el punto de vista de las infraestructuras, las leyes, los convenios… Todos los países deben mejorar las condiciones en que trabajan y compiten las futbolistas para que las ligas crezcan”, asegura.
No vale decir que no somos rentables, si no se hace nada para que lo seamos
The F League and the female footballers are concerned about making football played by women a profitable investment.
And they know it's time.
“At Barça it has been achieved.
Obviously, you have to make an initial investment, but if you have the right people working for the women's section, that ends up happening.
It is not enough to say that we are not profitable, that when there is a problem we are taken out of the way, and that nothing is done to make us profitable.
Not like that,” she says.
It is unclear, however, whether Barcelona's dominance in the F League will do football any good.
“It's not good for us players.
Because in many games we find that we don't have that difficulty that makes you improve,” Paredes assumes.
“On the other hand, I think it's good, because then all the teams have someone to look at.
Many people make comments to us: 'But don't you get bored?
What a job.'
And no, what a job, no.
The problem lies with the rest of the clubs that neither bet nor do anything to improve their women's section.
There are still teams in very precarious situations and this cannot be allowed today.”
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Montse Tomé: “From the first day I wanted to make it clear that I am a different person from Vilda”
Irene Paredes knows a lot about zero tolerance.
She arrived at the senior team when the locker room suffered from Ignacio Quereda screwed to the coach's bench.
In those concentrations there were insults, humiliation and mistreatment.
“It was a locker room that had the same enthusiasm as those that are there now.
That she only wanted to dedicate herself to soccer and she couldn't.
There was no way to be calm playing.
We couldn't even stay in Ciudad del Fútbol, because we had to sleep outside.
Simply because we were women we were not allowed to sleep in the residence.
Those players are people with a lot of ability, with a lot of talent, who were simply born in a time when nothing was given to them to dedicate themselves to football.
I have contact with many of them and it makes me sad that they are not experiencing this and that they have not enjoyed it,” she laments.
Because some of those, due to their age, would have been active today, like Vero Boquete, Vicky Losada, Marta Torrejón... But they left because they couldn't stand it.
“Some were my age or even younger, but they didn't continue because it was unsustainable.
There has always been a lot of desire and talent,” she points out.
She is a survivor of that team, along with Alexia Putellas and Jenni Hermoso, the heart of today's team, the hard core that, after starting in soccer with Quereda, raised her voice against former coach Jorge Vilda.
Everything is tanned, the captain assumes.
“Then there is your way of understanding things, your concerns, your objectives, but I want to think that experiencing that helped me.
I would have liked it if from the first moment we had had the human and material resources to dedicate ourselves solely to football.
But it hasn't been like that, that's why we have been doing what we could.”
Irene Paredes poses in Las Rozas after the interview.
INMA FLORES
And what they were able to do ended up being a revolution that shook the foundations of the Spanish federation and reached a global dimension with #seacabó.
Paredes, an INEF student and trained in Emotional Intelligence, was, according to her classmates, key in the group's social awakening.
Although she says she didn't have to do much awareness work.
“The locker room was clear about it right away.
It helps if you have knowledge and have had contact with different people;
Studies help you open your mind, to know, it also depends on the values you have, on how you were raised at home.
And, luckily, those of us who agreed were very clear that this could not be let go.”
Many did not understand (or did not want to understand) their demands from what was known as the 15 o'clock crisis to the Rubiales crisis.
Today they finally have the basic tools to work comfortably and under conditions.
“We transferred everything that was needed to the federation.
There are things that take more time.
There are new people who have come in to improve the section as well [like Markel Zubizarreta, new football director].
There are elections soon, and we understand that they are going to be a few months of many changes.
People who didn't want to understand it at that moment will continue not to understand it.
But we have only demanded to be able to carry out our work and professional discipline with everything that that encompasses.
And within those things there are many details and for those many details there are many people in the federation and we trust that they will occur."
Many times we are still amazed that we are world champions
After the storm passed, it was difficult for them to enjoy what they achieved last summer.
“Many times we continue to be amazed that we are world champions, also that we have not been able to enjoy it.
But, we see the star every day on our chest and that makes us proud.
We focus looking to the future.
We hope to extend this legacy.”
The path they are trying to complete these days began in September, in the middle of the revolution.
They traveled to Gothenburg having barely slept more than four hours in recent weeks.
And they beat Sweden (2-3).
“It was a liberation to win that game.
Play it, not so much.
The performance we gave was very good;
The body of each player was able to perform, I don't know exactly how: the conditions were not the best.
And we didn't realize until the end of the game how important it was to win to silence many of the mouths and voices that we had to put up with.”
This Friday they have another magnificent opportunity in the Nations League.
They fight to be in the Games and to play another final, next Wednesday.
They are also a better team, especially without the ball.
“During the World Cup we also had learning.
None of us forget the defeat against Japan.
And the different situations that were given to us and that we managed very well.
Today the team is more mature.
Furthermore, winning a World Cup and powerful teams gives you security.
You've done it once, you know you're capable of doing it again.
That confidence is there.”
And they live on it these days.
Of her professionalism and her talent, too.
Now that they can finally think only about the ball.
Paredes plays with the ball.INMA FLORES
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