Athenea unleashes her spark: the psychologist's homework, her leadership book, and her desire to meet Xabi Alonso.

"I'm here to do my part." Athenea del Castillo came to Switzerland with a very clear idea: she was on a privileged list, she was going to compete and seize her moment, even though Montse Tomé doesn't have a starting role reserved for her. She accepts this, digests it naturally, and makes the most of it. She's just one more member of a group of 23 that the national team coach intends to be very dynamic, and that gives her moments to take advantage of her spark. Against Italy, she was called into the starting lineup and made her debut as a goalscorer in a final phase. She failed to score in the World Cup , nor in the Nations League final, but her chance came against Italy in her second European Championship and she didn't waste it.

"I came in diagonally and saw Alexia . I gave it to her because I expected something she was going to do, because Ale has magic," he said while looking at the play on his phone. "Oh, well, it's prettier now. I didn't think I'd adjusted it so much," he explained, laughing with a naturalness that never fades.

He did more than Tomé asked of him: "He gives us width, one-on-one, he's capable of breaking through, and he has a shot at getting into the box, as he did for the goal." As if that weren't enough, Patri Guijarro 's goal also came from him.

That role the coach emphasizes has been one she's been working on for months with a psychologist who was with her family in the stands in Bern, to whom she dedicated the goal. She follows the guidelines she sets out to the letter... and adds to them. In her free time, Athenea does her homework, which requires a lot of concentration—"I like to underline so I can really understand what I'm reading," she explains—and she's brought a leadership book to Lausanne, which she devotes her time to after lunch. "You've caught me because I can't remember the title," she admitted in a press conference, laughing. "I'm 50 pages in. It's about leadership and teamwork, which is super important for the exciting year we have at Real Madrid. It's important to find the leadership I want to have at the club," she explained.

A self-confessed Real Madrid fan, she's been keeping an eye on her team's performance at the Club World Cup and on Xabi Alonso . "I was really looking forward to seeing how the team was going to play because, like all Real Madrid fans, I'm very excited about his arrival. I'm eager to meet him," the player admitted in an interview with Efe a few days ago. She was going to "target" Olga Carmona, who had just left Real Madrid for PSG, but the move backfired.

Her biggest supporter during this training camp is María Méndez , the center back with whom she shares a club. "We're Pili and Mili. On the bus, we both knew we were going to be starters, and she told me I was doing really well and was sure I'd score." She wasn't wrong.

The worst part for Athenea is that there's almost a week until the quarterfinals against Switzerland, next Friday again in Bern. "As a footballer, I'd say I want to play tomorrow, but well, now we'll have time to unwind and then get back to preparing," she commented.

Montse Tomé was more explicit: "They've asked me off, yes, but we had already planned for it, for mental balance ," she assured. Something she won't have: "We've seen Switzerland, but we haven't analyzed it yet. Since Pía took over as coach, they've had a back five, like all the teams we've encountered in this first phase. I expect a team supported by its people, who advance to the quarterfinals in the final minutes and have great players performing well. We'll see how we can unbalance them."