Spain’s World Cup team arrived in the Austrian town of Innsbruck on Friday almost unnoticed by the public, despite their favourite status, broadcaster ORF reported.
But a small group of Spanish students was there to greet their heroes at the airport in the capital of the mountainous Tyrol province.
Fernando Torres, David Villa and others signed a few autographs and posed for pictures before being driven to their hotel.
The reigning European champions are scheduled to play two friendly matches in Innsbruck. They are set to meet Saudi Arabia on Saturday and South Korea next Thursday. But for their training camp, the team chose the small mountain community of Schruns in westernmost Austria.
The hotel’s managers said they were well prepared for their famous guests, proudly displaying bathrobes and slippers monogrammed with the names of Spain’s players for TV cameras.
Nine World Cup teams are preparing at high altitudes in Austria to simulate the conditions in South Africa, where seven of the stadiums are located more than 1,300 metres above sea level.
