2024-04-09 09:51:11
After experiencing a cup final firsthand, I have come to a conclusion: it should be mandatory to experience one. Above all, when two fans who experienced the game as they did come face to face. I had the opportunity to attend a match that will undoubtedly be one of the examples I set when tomorrow, future generations ask what football is.
Since I left for the stadium, there was a different atmosphere in the city of Seville. There are things that cannot be described exactly, this is one of them. Perhaps it was fate that the bus that left me and the Athletic fans on it left us stranded, forcing us to continue walking for about 20 minutes to the stadium. Perhaps, despite the anger that all users of that public transport felt, it was not as negative as we thought. I began the journey on foot surrounded by Basque followers, and decided to pay attention to their emotions. That’s when I realized that all this is more than a sport, and that was when I made the decision to live this in the closest way to the emotions that both hobbies could transmit to me.
On the journey to the scene of the summit match of this 2023-24 cup, multiple families and friends were seen preparing for what was to come.. Children making their predictions about the final, grandparents excited by the possibility of seeing 40 years later what they have not celebrated since they were four decades younger, and many others who seemed to want to avoid talking about the game, trying to evade that amount of nerves that always come when your team is one step away from being champion. The only thing they managed to do was postpone it, since nothing would save them from experiencing an almost heart-stopping final.
The Athletic squad, gathered for a penalty shootout that would decide the champion | Photo: Aarón Luna González
Along that way I met, or practically came to know me, a fan of the Basque team. Without knowing who I was, he offered me a can of drink, and told me how much Athletic wanted that drink. That, as he said, “football owed him”. Maybe so, but football debts aren’t always paid off when you want, I thought. However, after that she approached and He told me something that showed me how much that loyal follower values this sport. “In the end, whether we win or lose, the best thing we have in the world is this”pointing to the fans of northern Spain, to his fans. Almost without realizing it I was already close to the scene, and behind a huge mass of loose “lions”, heading towards conquering La Cartuja. Huge flags, scarves, drums and other instruments that generated an atmosphere that was contagious to anyone.
The Mallorcan fans were not far behind. When your team, against all odds, goes so far, it’s impossible not to want more. It is impossible not to try to convince your people that just as the most repeated song by the Vermillions said, “If possible”. And if not, let them take away what was danced from Aguirre’s group. But his grandstand was not going to fail the event in Seville. I didn’t have the chance to meet the pirate fans until once inside, where I was able to witness what such a humble team is capable of doing. Apparently, they seemed considerably less than their rivals, but the Mallorca stands encouraged their team in an infernal way. Both stands displayed a tifo, each one better done and more epic. Not only did Aguirre’s men, including him, not disappoint, but neither did those who were in the seats at La Cartuja to be another player.
Mallorca’s tifo for the important final | Photo: Aarón Luna González The tifo of Athletic Club de Bilbao before the final | Photo: Aarón Luna González
Both groups of followers exceeded the expectations I had. Especially RCD Mallorca, although until then I had not had the opportunity to have any in-person contact with any fan of either of the two hobbies. I had to live the night surrounded by red and white people. Everyone had the same desire to become champions, and I am not only referring to the people of Bilbao, I am also referring to the Mallorcans. They transmitted that to the field, where the players could not be reproached for anything. I don’t know what it’s like to be a professional footballer, but he would put his hand in the fire with complete certainty of not getting burned betting that, On nights like this, you look at your stands and there is no physical limit. The forces triple, the enthusiasm increases, and although some considered the San Mamés team clear favorites, among those from Son Moix there was that rún rún of “What if…?”. A dream that seemed very achievable when looking at that swollen vermillion girl jumping, singing, pushing his people to try to make history (even more so).
You know that the final is of a high category when being the best does not prevent you from getting a surprise. That, for the dominant team, is not good news, it is logical that when your team seems to be superior it is not pleasant to see them concede a goal, since it was assumed that your goal was closer. However, For the neutral viewer, this is a guarantee of spectacle. The Mallorcawho seemed to have taken to the field with one or two gears less than his rival, He became very tense after three rejections ahead. Euphoria filled the Mallorcan side. It was the perfect way to make it clear that they were there, that they hadn’t come that far to get down and that if they had lions in front of them, they were devils capable of putting them through hell. That hell that Athletic team feared, not being able to get rid of the curse of the 40 years without lifting the title. All of them had in their minds the images of previous years seeing how others touched the silver, and this time they wanted to be the ones to touch it.
The King’s Cup, ready to receive the teams that will fight for it | Photo: Aarón Luna González
For this reason, far from collapsing, the lions roared louder and louder. I looked around me and I only saw people in red and white standing up, with their scarves in hand, reciting the classic songs of their team, counteracting that force coming from the opposing ranks. What was witnessed from then on on the green was an authentic battle, worthy of analysis. But I couldn’t help but notice the attitude of both fans. They seemed to be the ones playing the game. It was as if the players were controlled by them, just like in console games. At that time, Nico Williams and his brother, Guruzeta, Sancet… were footballers, but also fans who knew the importance of what was being disputed. And Muriqi, Toni Lato, Raillo, Sergi Darder… They were also players, but they were also Mallorcan with a heart and enthusiasm so great that they were capable of breaking all odds.
This passionate contest had its outcome in the throws from eleven meters. A moment where more than one does not like to look. Others are responsible for whistling at rival pitchers to make them nervous and hitting the adjacent seat to generate noise. At this point, it was impossible to decide who deserved it more. Both sides had played their cards just as they had to, just as it was written. Whoever won it, it was going to be a final full of emotion, with a euphoric ending for some, sad for others. But never disappointed with the losers. Fate and the bad fortune of the lottery that are the penalty shootouts wanted the champion to be the red and whites.
Athletic lifting the King’s Cup 40 years later | Photo: Aarón Luna González
The joy ended up overflowing the Basque stands, in the metaphorical and literal sense, After Valverde’s team approached their team’s area exultantly, they couldn’t help but hug them, merge with each other in the tumult created, and the fence that separates the steps from the ground ended up giving way. Luckily, it didn’t end in anything serious. Some see it as an irresponsibility of the Basque team’s footballers for approaching and motivating said accident. But I say, Would anyone be able to not think about them as soon as they became champions? Would someone be incapable of running euphorically towards yours? If they got there and achieved it, it is because every team, fan and squad united are unstoppable. And yesterday they both showed it.
Because on the other hand, even if they didn’t lift a cup, they were also winners. It is a reality that The only one that had an advantage during any moment of the 120 minutes played was Mallorca. Athletic was not above at any time. And if reaching this day is a milestone, doing so competing in the way that the Vermillions did, is something to take your hat off to. And if they did it, it was because behind them, almost 20,000 of their people in Seville gave their all to make it possible. 20,000 hearts delivered, trusting and hopeful. The defeat made them lose the cup, but made them gain even more unity. It is always nice to see how the players thank their fans for their support, and in a final like the one experienced this Saturday, April 6, lThe images of the Mallorca staff hugging and greeting those who did not stop cheering for more than two hours will be unforgettable.
On this occasion, it came out tails for the Balearic Islands entity. But they left a mark in the history of the King of Spain’s Cup. They have shown that whoever wants to and doesn’t give up can do it. And surely in the future, we will see them smile again, perhaps on that occasion even stronger than this time, perhaps, being the ones who raise the trophy to the sky.
RCD Mallorca, preparing for the penalty shootout of the final | Photo: Aarón Luna González
I prepared to leave, to say goodbye to an atmosphere that I will always remember. On the way, I ran into a journalist from Athleticof some about 50 years old apparently, crying with emotion. At the moment I thought that, The last time that person saw Athletic lift that title, he was still a child. He couldn’t even reach 15 years of age. 40 years later, already an adult with his professional career and everything, He has been able to repeat that feeling that he experienced as a child. My empathetic nature prevented me from leaving without congratulating him on the milestone, to which he responded with a huge hug.
On the way out, I ran into some fans of both teams. some red and white fans expressing to me their great experience in the city and their desire to returnand, on the bus returning home, the other side of the coin. Mallorca fans with serious faces, children with symptoms of having cried for not seeing his champions after the hard journey, adults whose thoughts could be read on their faces. Those ideas that will surely eat your mind some days, that of “What would have happened if certain chances had not been missed? Why wasn’t fortune more on our side in the penalties?” and lots of other questions.
Thus ended a night that was more bitter for the vermillions than for the lions. But In La Cartuja I understood that football is not whether a certain player signs or does not sign for a team. If a team has a better or worse squad. It’s not even if he plays against one or another rival. Football goes beyond that. It is the happiness of becoming champion, but also the sadness if it is not done. It’s the euphoria of breaking a streak that seemed endless, but also pride to see that yours have given 200% and you can’t blame them for anything. Football is those moments before, those moments during the game, and those post-game moments, where fans wait nervously, cheer, and celebrate. When the followers join together, they sing and also when they cry. He who does not understand that football goes further about what happens when 22 people run after the ball, that without the fans it is not understood and that It’s not just football when you win, but also when you lose, you have to review your concept of the sport. Because football, in addition to being a sport, is a feeling, and yesterday vermillions and lions demonstrated it.
The La Cartuja stadium moments before the start of the match | Photo: Aarón Luna González
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