All-out war in Spain camp
Luis Enrique oversaw a battle royale between the Spain squad ahead of their European qualifier against Norway in Valencia on Saturday evening.
Plenty of shots, but none at goal. The Spain squad spent Wednesday afternoon firing at each other as they took part in a team-building paintball activity in Las Rozas, just outside Madrid. The battle is part of Luis Enrique's preparations for Saturday's European qualifier for Euro 2020 against Norway, to be played at Mestalla with kick-off at 20:45 CET.
Team.building vital for Luis Enrique's Spain
Encouraging collaboration between the players and creating a great team spirit is a particular focus of the Spain coach. He's determined to build a happy environment for the squad and has worked closely with team psychologist Joaquín Valdés to create a 'menu' of non-football activities that bring the players together. The final activity yesterday was taking part in an Escape Room in Madrid, where the participants have to solve puzzles together to win their freedom.
'Sacrificing' football for emotional well-being
Luis Enrique is so focused on the emotional and psychological component that he's entirely happy to 'sacrifice' an afternoon on the training pitch in order to take part in different activities. Interestingly with this focus on team-building, Luis Enrique has yet to choose his own set team: he's called up 41 players for his six matches in charge and hasn't yet repeated a starting line-up in his nine months in the job.