At Real Madrid, I also got to play with a host of world-class players, which helped push me to elevate my performance to keep my spot. I never liked the term “Galacticos” when it was coined in that era in the early 2000s when the club added a lot of top players — to me, it was just a marketing phrase — but there’s no denying the level of talent that arrived and wore the white with distinction. I got to play, practice and share a locker room with players such as Zinedine Zidane, David Beckham, Ronaldo, Figo, Fernando Hierro, Roberto Carlos, Iker Casillas and others — so many great players who have had world-class careers. It was a team that had so many fans and played such great soccer. It will always be remembered.

Overall, I am blessed to have spent 16 years at Madrid, but when I departed, it was the right time to say goodbye and to try different experiences. My subsequent years in Germany (with Schalke) and Qatar have helped me a lot and were great experiences that provided me with special memories, but I know I can always come back to Real Madrid to give back a little of what the club gave me for so many years. My wife and I are both from Madrid, and we know what the club has meant to us and to its supporters.

I have similarly good memories about my time with the Spanish national team, even though my run with the team ended just before the now-famous run of three straight major championships from 2008–12. I spent 10 beautiful years proudly representing my country with distinction. While I obviously would have loved to have been a part of the teams that won those European and World Cup titles, my time had passed, and I still enjoyed the victories immensely because I have a lot of friends who were embracing those moments that were so important in our nation’s sporting history.

During my time with the national team, there was talk about chemistry and possible discord in the locker room, especially between the players who represented Real Madrid and Barcelona. While it’s true there is a great rivalry between those clubs and their supporters, talk of issues within the national team were overstated.

When you are representing your country, professionals know how to put aside the tensions of club affiliation and pull together. Whatever happens in matches at the club level doesn’t take away focus on the common objective, which is to win trophies for Spain.

The national teams I was a part of were very good and had the ambition to do something big, but it never fully happened for us. At times, we were just a bit unlucky; maybe another bounce or call in our favor, and we would have broken through sooner. The 2008 squad also was talented, but perhaps a bit more balanced, and they were finally able to gave Spanish soccer what had been long due. Then they had four or five years in which Spain was the team everyone looked up to, and everyone loved to watch them play. As a former captain, seeing the world admire Spanish soccer made me very proud. It’s what we aspired to and knew was possible, and it finally was attained.