The image is the pure expression of any Copa del Rey match, one of those that are played in a tenth, in a mistake, in a rebound, in an individual action, in any genius. It was the 85th minute and the result was a 2-2 draw. Julen Agirrezabala does what goalkeepers have always been taught in a one-on-one situation. The first, he sends the attacker, Lamine Yamal, as far away and with the tightest angle of the goal and the second, he stretches as much as possible to occupy all the space and make the scoring situation as difficult as possible. Even her nails are elongated and you can see them perfectly in the photo.
Yamal, who had been ready to steal the ball from Paredes, the one who in the background concentrates on the ball to see if mental strength helps clear the ball out, faces the red and white goalkeeper and there, he must have seen it so clearly, Instead of choosing to dribble and collide with the Athletic goalkeeper to provoke the penalty, which is what good forwards do but who leave the responsibility of the goal to others, he looked for space towards his right leg, accepting the challenge of putting the Barça was 5 minutes away from being in the semifinals and hit a ball that all of San Mames saw as a goal and that there, in that exact second that the photo shows us, he would also feel like a scorer.
Yes, I know that there were other seconds that could also have been decisive for the red and white side, but if there is a non-goal, a non-stop that defines the greatness of Wednesday’s match, a non-goal, a non-stop, that describes the emotionality of That wonderful competition that is the Copa del Rey, if there was a second in which time stopped and silence filled the thunderous San Mamés, it was, for me, that one.
In reality, a second that defines not only the Cup but all of football, a game of moments, of situations, of tiny scenes, a sport that can be unfair but that should never stop being exciting, a second that reminds us of those who We talk about schemes, systems, intelligent occupation of the playing field, the sum of individualities, that this game is decided by plays like the one in the photo and, above all, in competitions like the Copa del Rey, which do not have a match. revenge – well, now in the semi-finals, yes, what a contradiction -, and that as the match ends and you are defeated you will not see each other again until the following season.
In a week in which everything that was talked about outside the field of play had become transcendent to such an extent that it makes one want to include the VOR room in the collection of environment-generating talk shows that each team endures, those 120 minutes arrive to make us open the box of dreams, that of disappointments, that of understanding that this is celebrated between human beings who feel and suffer, yes, also the referees, in a ceremony that has no minimum or maximum age to be accepted just the daring to accept the challenge and want to be the protagonist.
And it reminds us that these wonderful matches, in no matter what stadium, in no matter what Club, result in a moment of happiness, an achievement, an explosion of joy, having earned the possibility of being able to say that we were there that Wednesday. , 50,000 smiles that lit up the Bilbao night and that, if they had been possible to transform into energy, would have illuminated all of Bilbao for a year. Upon leaving the field, no one remembered that decisive second, at most it was already integrated into the story of that magnificent night, but more than one of them was already beginning to balance dates on the April calendar without saying it too loudly that we already know that those matters The Devil carries them.
_