Spain's final training session before Sunday's World Cup final against Argentina was cancelled due to electrical storms in the New York area, though there is little sign of concern within the squad, who are instead recalling a similar mishap that preceded one of the most memorable nights in the team's recent history.
FIFA activated its severe weather safety protocol on Saturday, and Spain's session at the Melanie Lane training ground in New Jersey was called off entirely after officials required a 30-minute gap without lightning before players could take the field.
The cancellation caused little disruption in practical terms, given the light workload already planned for the eve of the match following almost 50 days of the squad being together, but it also revived memories of a strange pre-match story from September 2023.
Ahead of a Euro 2024 qualifier away to Georgia, the plane carrying Spain's squad from Madrid took off without the trunk containing the players' personalised boots and the goalkeepers' gloves.
By the time the squad reached the Boris Paichadze stadium in Tbilisi for training, it was clear the planned session with the ball could not go ahead. Luis de la Fuente had to cancel the technical work, with players limited to stretching and fitness drills in trainers as heavy rain further ruined the session.
The Spanish federation scrambled a private flight to bring the missing equipment from Madrid, with the boots arriving at the team hotel in the early hours, just a few hours before kick-off.
What followed made the chaos worthwhile. Spain produced a historic performance the next day, beating Georgia 7-1 in a match remembered in Spanish football for another reason too: it marked the senior debut, and the first goal, of Lamine Yamal, who became the youngest player in the national team's history to achieve either feat.
That memory was recalled with plenty of humour inside the Spanish camp on Saturday. Asked whether the cancelled session could affect the team, a member of the coaching staff replied, laughing: "Last time we won 1-7."
The conversation continued in the same tone.
"After 50 days... they weren't going to train much anyway," he joked, before adding a line that captured the relaxed mood in the squad: "It was just to give you all some pictures."
While Argentina's own session was also delayed by the same storms, Spain's players carried out indoor activation work and continued their normal routine, with their build-up to the final otherwise unaffected.
In the dressing room, the message is clear: at this stage of the tournament, one missed session changes nothing. If anything, it only feeds the superstition, given what happened the last time fate intervened on the eve of a Spain match.