EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — Spain added a second star to their shirts on Sunday evening after a 48-hour run of moments that felt, as the team put it, like “there’s something in the air,” according to the report.
The sequence began Friday in Midtown Manhattan, where Spain captain Rodri stood staring out the 70-foot floor-to-ceiling windows of Room 504 at the Javits Center and the Hudson River below. He was told the river point was a few hundred meters from where US Airways Flight 1549 had been landed by Captain Chesley Sullenberger after a bird strike; Rodri noted, aloud, that it was remarkable no one had died, according to the report. He later returned to the team’s base in Montclair by road with a police cavalcade escort.
Coach Luis de la Fuente chose a different route. After being fêted by Novak Djokovic and Kevin Hart, he flew by helicopter to Newark, was greeted by Lionel Messi and members of his staff including director of football Aitor Karanka, and took in the view as the chopper passed MetLife Stadium — a place where, two days later, he expected to reach the sport’s highest podium, according to the report. As the group disembarked at the private terminal, Tom Brady lingered after an earlier flight and told De la Fuente, ‘Good luck, man. Go f— them up!’
Saturday brought a change in tone. Fans outside the team’s hotel on Bloomfield Street screamed, sought autographs and cried “Viva España,” with cop cars and the usual crowds accompanying the procession to the Red Bull New York training facility in East Hanover. The skies turned leaden and the threat of rain — and worse — built overhead, according to the report.
As media set up behind railings on the pitches, local security ran out and forcefully moved reporters back into the holding building, citing an imminent thunder-and-lightning threat and an established U.S. safety protocol. The media dispersed, but Spain’s players and staff initially wanted to continue training, according to the report.
