The Basque centre-back was one of the leaders of the Barcelona defence last season, one that has been struggling without him. However Martinez told Cadena Cope<\/a> that he was confident that Barcelona would be battling for the title until the final weeks of the season. He also said there was little need to panic following their defeat to Paris Saint-Germain.<\/p>\n \u201cThe second half wasn\u2019t great, but we\u2019re talking about PSG. Luis Enrique knows Barca very well, and they have a great squad. It\u2019s normal to have matches where you struggle more, and the important thing is to show up when the team isn\u2019t doing so well. Last year we had a dip, quite a big one, and we were able to pull through it.\u201d<\/p>\n Despite appearing for Spain on 21 previous occasions, some suggested that Martinez had pulled out of the squad because he did not want to play for La Roja anymore.<\/p>\n \u201cIf I hadn\u2019t wanted to go, I would have been the first to say so. I wouldn\u2019t be wasting my time\u2026 There have simply been situations where I\u2019ve felt better or worse. At the time of the injury or the discomfort I had in my knee, I thought, \u2018It\u2019s not feasible for me to go to the national team,\u2019 like other players. Then, my situation is reviewed, it\u2019s clear I have discomfort, and\u2026 Days simply go by, and the knee improves. And players don\u2019t always play at 100%. There was a risk of injury or of things getting worse, which you assess at the time. I don\u2019t think this is the first case, nor the last.<\/p>\n Data shows Bar\u00e7a rank 15th in LaLiga for distance covered, well below past title-winning levels under Xavi and Flick. @xavierbosch<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 barcacentre (@barcacentre) October 16, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n Last May, Martinez was seen celebrating Barcelona\u2019s domestic treble, draped in an Ikurrina, the Basque flag, and then waving an Estelada, the Catalan flag associated with the independence movement.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s one thing for me to be in favour of what the majority of a people\u2026 But that doesn\u2019t mean that if I\u2019m in favour of independence or support them on many issues, I shouldn\u2019t be playing for the national team. That\u2019s not the case. Surely people put the two things together because I\u2019m Basque.\u201d<\/p>\n Martinez went on to say that he would be supporting Spain at the World Cup next year in the USA, Mexico and Canada. He also confirmed that he would be unlikely to be there.<\/p>\n \u201cRight now, Spain. If I didn\u2019t want to go, I wouldn\u2019t have gone\u2026 I had a chat with the coach\u2026 And I think, at this point, it wouldn\u2019t be a good idea for me to be in the squad again. Who wouldn\u2019t want to play in a World Cup\u2026? The coach already knew that. I don\u2019t think I have to explain myself to anyone, just talk to the coach and that\u2019s it. And the decision was made not to go, just as the decision was made to bring Ferran back.\u201d<\/p>\n The issue of Catalan independence has been a divisive one for the Spanish national team. The most famous instance being that of Gerard Pique, who was whistled by Spain fans during his final years wearing La Roja shirt. That came off the back of Pique declaring that he was in favour of an independence referendum in Catalonia, although he has never revealed<\/a> which way he would vote.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n The post Inigo Martinez: \u2018Being in favour of independence doesn\u2019t mean you shouldn\u2019t play for Spain\u2019<\/a> appeared first on Football Espa\u00f1a<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Former Real Sociedad, Athletic Club and Barcelona defender Inigo Martinez has spoken about his absence from the Spanish national team, and his decision…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2989,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[13],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.piquant-burotic.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2987"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.piquant-burotic.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.piquant-burotic.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.piquant-burotic.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.piquant-burotic.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2987"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/www.piquant-burotic.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2987\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2991,"href":"http:\/\/www.piquant-burotic.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2987\/revisions\/2991"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.piquant-burotic.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2989"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.piquant-burotic.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2987"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.piquant-burotic.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2987"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.piquant-burotic.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2987"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\u2018If I didn\u2019t want to go, I\u2019d have said so\u2019 \u2013 Martinez on Spain duty<\/h2>\n
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![\"FC](\"http:\/\/www.piquant-burotic.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/68285592c59b5.jpeg\")
\u2018I want Spain to win the World Cup\u2019 \u2013 Inigo Martinez<\/h2>\n