Victory is sweet, but it is in defeat that I grow the most: Alexia Putellas

Alberto Aceves

La Jornada Newspaper, Saturday, August 2, 2025, p. a10

Alexia Putellas seeks the sun on a corner of the Deportivo Reynosa stadium in the Azcapotzalco borough. She walks calmly, seriously, with a distinct aura. Her presence needs no introduction. More than a soccer player who has twice won the Ballon d'Or (2021 and 2022), she is an icon, someone who has broken barriers around the world. The Barcelona captain, expressionless, calculating, with as much enthusiasm as responsibility to be one of the best in a sport where probability and statistics so often fail, believes that the future of girls and young women from vulnerable communities can be determined by the values of the game.

During the inauguration of the first renovated 11-a-side football pitch in the district, Putellas walks slowly into a packed auditorium. It's early morning and the sun is shining, almost like the last time she faced Real Madrid in the Copa de la Reina. A dark van pulls up next to the main facade as the team accompanying her from Spain, including her mother and director of the Eleven Foundation, Eli Segura, gets out of its back door. When she steps onto the stage, the 2023 world champion adjusts a red jersey and remains silent for a few seconds before answering questions for more than 30 minutes.

The realities of each girl are very different, but we want to change the lives of many of them through soccer, help them learn values, feel free to be whatever they want—lawyers, nurses, doctors—because in the future they will have the same tools , says the 31-year-old Spaniard, surrounded by posters and Barcelona jerseys displayed by dozens of attendees from the stands. Her small team records everything on cell phone video. Although the conversation is sometimes difficult, she draws on the recent defeat against England in the Women's Euro Cup final to explain that sport goes beyond the overwhelming logic of success and failure.

Winning is not normal

Winning isn't normal. I don't know how many championships Michael Jordan, for example, played in, but he actually lost more rings than he won. I would tell all those boys and girls to educate themselves from the perspective of what winning means to them, not just focusing on the result. They might improve any skill, and that's already a victory. I must also say that the moments where I've found myself the most have been in defeat, because otherwise, it's very difficult to move forward from that. It requires and demands you to give your best. You savor victory, you enjoy it, it's unforgettable, but defeat is where I've grown the most .

▲ The Spanish soccer player visited Mexico City. Photo by Jair Cabrera Torres

Putellas's voice is heard slowly, as if she were carefully considering every word she said. She has done so all her life. Since May 2024, the Eleven Foundation has transformed the lives of hundreds of girls aged 6 to 18 from marginalized areas in Itagüí (Colombia) and her hometown of Mollet del Vallés, in the autonomous community of Catalonia. The goal in the Azcapotzalco municipality is for 100 more girls, based on their concerns and the problems they face, to attend the training camp to improve their social and emotional development free of charge, accompanied by social educators and soccer coaches.

During that year (2024), I went from playing in finals and competing at the highest level to having to learn to walk again. It was the worst moment of my career , recalls the multiple Barcelona champion about the cruciate ligament injury in her left knee that kept her away from her professional activity for months. As much as I wanted to move forward, I couldn't go any faster. I didn't know how to channel my creativity until I got my mind together. To understand women's soccer, you have to know what the role of women has been during all these years. Everyone should feel free to choose the sport or show that best represents them .

The ceremony ends with the only moment in which Putellas, always serious, listens to the comments for which Mexican Javier Hernández, a forward for Guadalajara, received a financial sanction from the Mexican Football Federation. He accused women of eradicating masculinity and asked them to embody their feminine energy, caring for, nurturing, cleaning, and sustaining the home, which is the most precious place for us men . Small wrinkles form on his forehead.

Obviously, I don't agree with that statement , he notes. I don't know exactly where it comes from, but whether you're a man or a woman, you have to choose what you really like and what makes you feel comfortable. When you're active, you don't think as much about the legacy you leave behind. Maybe when I'm no longer in the spotlight and I'm no longer playing football, we'll be able to see what's left, but for now, I think all of that is built every day in the present .

AFP

La Jornada Newspaper, Saturday, August 2, 2025, p. a10

Budapest. Britain's Lando Norris completed a double yesterday by being fastest in both free practice sessions for the Formula 1 Hungarian Grand Prix, ahead of his McLaren teammate, Australian Oscar Piastri.

Norris, who had already been fastest in the first session and is 16 points behind world championship leader Piastri in the overall standings, set his best lap of one minute, 15 seconds, and 624 thousandths of a second, beating the Australian by 291 thousandths on the tight Hungaroring track near the capital, Budapest. Monaco's Charles Leclerc again finished third at the wheel of his Ferrari.

I have a lot of confidence in myself , Piastri said of his title chances. The pace of the last few weekends, especially in Belgium, has given me a lot of confidence, and I'm very proud of that. I'm more than capable of continuing like this for the rest of the year.

McLaren could reach some milestones this weekend, with a possible 200th F1 victory for the team. It could also mark Piastri and Norris's fourth consecutive one-two finish, a feat McLaren last achieved in 1988.

The two Aston Martins of Canadian Lance Stroll and 44-year-old Spanish veteran Fernando Alonso, who was on track after missing the first practice session due to back pain, completed the top five in the final hour of running of the day.

The Asturian had been replaced in the first session by Brazilian Felipe Drugovitch. The other Ferrari driver, Lewis Hamilton, posted the sixth fastest time.

Far behind, the reigning four-time world champion, Max Verstappen (Red Bull), could only manage 14th on the timesheets.

The Dutchman complained about the balance of his car, saying it was like driving on ice . He was also filmed throwing a towel onto the track while behind the wheel. An action that will be investigated by the stewards.

His teammate, Japanese Yuki Tsunoda, posted the ninth fastest time. Alpine's Argentinian Franco Colapinto finished 20th and last.

The third and final free practice session will take place this Saturday, before qualifying for Sunday's race.

Although sunshine and warmth are expected today, rain could make an appearance on Sunday for the final Grand Prix before the summer break.

▲ Photo courtesy of FMAA

La Jornada Newspaper, Saturday, August 2, 2025, p. a10

René Valdez del Pardo (seated center) was unanimously elected president of the Mexican Federation of Athletics Associations during the general assembly attended by representatives of World Athletics, the Mexican Olympic Committee, and the National Commission for Physical Culture and Sport, to fulfill his eligibility following the resignation of Antonio Lozano Pineda, who led the organization for 20 years.