Valverde acknowledged that the elimination of his national team in the group stage of the World Cup affected him emotionally and this was one of the reasons for his drop in performance, although not the only one.
The other was on a personal level, and was revealed by his partner, Mina Bonino, on social media during the match in which Valverde put his thumb in his mouth, simulating a dummy, to dedicate it to what, after weeks of uncertainty, will be their second child.
"Recently there was a news article that I had lost a pregnancy. I wasn't able to deny it, because that was what we thought would happen. It was incompatible with life. We prepared for a month for the worst. As the pregnancy was very advanced we had to confirm it with the test," began Mina Bonino's text.
In the same vein, she added: "And after having cried for a whole month, after having mourned, while I had my second child in my belly, yesterday we got the unexpected news: The baby is fine. Everything is normal. We still haven't processed it yet, it was a very difficult month and this is a new beginning. THANK YOU," she added to communicate the good news.
February 11, 2023