It was only a week ago that Spain received some bad news that could have jeopardized its participation in the European Championship.

Captain Sergio Busquets tested positive for the coronavirus and the national team suddenly faced the possibility of a COVID-19 outbreak.

Busquets left the team’s training camp and the rest of the squad had to go into isolation. Everyone had to be tested and retested. Spain coach Luis Enrique had to hastily put together a parallel squad in case more players were infected. Personalized training routines were put into place. The team’s final warm-up match had to be played with an under-21 squad.

Fears increased when a second player, defender Diego Llorente, tested positive a few days later, and Spanish soccer federation president Luis Rubiales said more positive results were likely. More players were pulled away from their vacations to join the parallel training bubble.

It was a grim outlook for “La Roja” on the eve of the tournament that was delayed for a year because of the pandemic.

But normalcy was somehow restored for Spain ahead of its Group E opener against Sweden on Monday in Seville.

Little by little, the good news started trickling in.

Llorente’s test result turned out to be a false-positive. The government rushed in to vaccinate the entire squad. Players were allowed to practice together again after tests kept coming back negative.

Spain will be much closer to full strength when it takes on the Swedes at La Cartuja Stadium.

“We all see this as a ‘glass half-full’ situation,” Llorente said. “It has made us stronger as a group and as a team. It can help us mentally for these upcoming matches. Everything will be OK if we all row in the same direction, and that’s the lesson we need to learn from this week.”