SToday it is 937 days since the debut of Brais mendez (Mos, 1997) with the absolute Spanish team. It was on November 18, 2018, in a friendly match against Bosnia. The Celtic player made his debut with a goal. Days before he was expectant before the announcement of the call of the sub 21, but received the summons from Luis Enrique. After that meeting in which he made his debut with Diana, in his first statements to the media, he pointed out that “the coach is aware of everyone, and at any time he can call anyone.”
He had not been called up with La Roja since then, until this summer; Those statements after his debut were premonitory of what happened this week. I was enjoying a few days of vacation in Mykonos with his partner and received the call. The positive from Sergio Busquets led Luis Enrique to activate plan B, to create a bubble group: “I called six players -Kepa, Albiol, Carlos Soler, Fornals, Rodrigo Moreno and Brais Méndez himself-. The calls were wonderful. An ability to change plans … With Cancun vacations canceled, folks in Mykonos… They were all prepared to leave their vacations and to come, guaranteeing them nothing. Because I don’t know if they will enter the Eurocup. “
But when Brais picked up the phone and listened to Luis Enrique, he didn’t think about it. As they were managing a travel plan for his return to Spain, he took the opportunity to phone his father, Modest Mendez ‘Pupi’: “He called me happy. He told me that he would fly directly to Madrid that night to train with the National Team, and he asked me to go to his house. He wanted me to send him the necessary luggage, the boots …“.
The first person Brais Méndez contacted was his father because one of the secrets of the success of the mosense is there, in the family as an axis, as a point of support. He dedicates each of his goals to his grandfather, now deceased, as a remembrance to his memory because, as he has stated on several occasions, he was always by his side. His father, Pupi, who in his day was also a professional footballer -forward who played in the Celtic Tourist, lived the most glorious stage of the Cambados Youth, and came to debut with Sports-, it is clear to him: “this call is a reward for work, this year Brais did a season. Coudet’s arrival was a turning point, he’s in his prime as a professional, and he’s enjoying it. “
And it is that Brais Méndez signed an outstanding campaign this year. El Chacho, upon his arrival, spoke frankly to him, told him what he wanted from him, and Brais responded. The continuity and confidence granted by the coach paid off, and the midfielder closed the season adding 36 games -2,774 minutes- and 9 goals -his record in the First Division-.
Some figures that support their work. A job that led him to be in Luis Enrique’s pre-list for the Eurocup, to which the coach himself called him this past Monday to train in his bubble group: “I know Brais well and he has a great future. We were attentive to his evolution”, he assured. A job that now serves Brais Méndez to be able to dream. To dream of being able to finally be in the Eurocup. Or to dream of becoming on Luis de la Fuente’s definitive list for the Olympic Games -because it is also in the list of 60 footballers-.
“The truth is that any of the options is wonderful, to have the possibility of enjoying either of the two competitions right now is brutal. He is very excited, I hope they will call him. The later he has to join Celta’s preseason, the better, it will be good news “says his father.
