On the eve of his final game for Spain, Jesus Navas says he has got the ‘absolute maximum’ out of a career which was his dream as a child.
The 38-year-old wing-back is likely to make-way for Dani Carvajal, back from suspension, as La Roja take on England in Berlin’s Olympiastadion on Sunday night – a game which will be Navas’ last before retiring from international football.
24 hours. #EURO2024 pic.twitter.com/dWQqOX43uP
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Across the past 21 years the Sevilla captain has played more than 500 times for the club he joined as a junior, with a four-year spell at Man City sandwiched in the middle.
He has also enjoyed a 15-year international career, helping Spain to win the 2010 World Cup and the 2012 Euros, as well as the Nations League last year.
“For me, it’s been the absolute maximum you could achieve,” he told uefa.com. “It was the dream I had as a little boy – to enjoy playing for Spain, to give everything for my national team.
“I hope we can give the country joy on Sunday night. England are a huge team with world-class players. It’s going to be really difficult, but we are very excited and very eager to play because we’ve been having a really good tournament.”
2006 UEFA Cup Final
Sevilla vs Middlesbrough
Jesús Navas vs Southgate pic.twitter.com/a8QVZgE52F
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In 2006 Navas was in the Sevilla team which beat Middlesbrough, featuring current England boss Gareth Southgate and coach Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink, in the UEFA Cup final.
“That was a unique experience against Middlesbrough,” he said. “A victory which Sevilla had been waiting for for a long time. It would be incredible to repeat that feeling (against England).”
Navas made more than 120 appearances during his stay in Manchester, lifting the Premier League and two League Cups, meaning he knows he can expect a passionate showing from England on Sunday.
“I lived in a league where it was all about competitiveness, speed of play,” he said. “The Premier League was somewhere I wanted to experience and, honestly, I enjoyed it very much.
“English football is very passionate – every match has a huge atmosphere.”
Navas told a media conference at the Olympiastadion on the eve of the game that he is emotional about the prospect of the final.
“The relationship between the whole squad is fantastic,” he said. “I hope we can make it happen for the squad and the country. I really hope we can win that trophy.
“I get emotional about everything I do. Being here, at 38, to keep playing for my national team is incredible. It would be an immense sense of joy to win it.”
