As El Clásico divides and negativity gets redundant, new heroes arise
As El Clásico divides and negativity gets redundant, new heroes arise
By Eric Beard
Doesn't vehement hatred get kind of boring after a while? I mean, sure, if you want to let a little schadenfreude and anger out a couple of times a year, that’s fine. Everyone’s entitled to their fair share of irrational fandom. Maybe I’m not as creative as the Spanish press and [insert name of your Superclub]’s fans, but hatred gets kind of circular after a while. Millions and millions of fans watched the superb match at the Camp Nou on Wednesday night, where violence and drama were plentiful. They saw Messi assist and Ronaldo score. They saw a comeback that arguably could have overshadowed Liverpool’s triumph in Istanbul. The match, in itself, was fantastic, but the shoving, pushing, accusing, and general unabashed conduct that has become the status quo took over as the final whistle approached.
Unprofessionalism can be as equally entertaining as it is surprising, don’t get me wrong. But only if it’s unexpected (and relatively non-violent). I remember seeing an MLS playoff game in 2007 between the New England Revolution and the Chicago Fire. Michael Parkhurst of New England had been presented two awards before the match: the MLS Defender of the Year award and the Fair Play award. Within 20 minutes of kickoff, Parkhurst gave away a freekick, which prompted an inordinately audible Cee-Lo Green-esque “eff you!” for everyone in the stands to feast their ears upon. It was appalling, yet also hilarious given Parkhurst might as well have been the league’s Dalai Lama. When is the last time you heard say, “that Pepe, he’s amusing isn’t he?” When expected, unprofessionalism is quite simply as boring as it is disgusting.
With Spaniards consuming a half dozen Clásicos every year, stories elsewhere are welcome, yet difficult to be granted attention by the Spanish media. Two unexpected figures have been uniting Spanish fans, one though genius and one through sheer spirit. The first is Marcelo Bielsa, the manager of Athletic Bilbao, who has done remarkably well in his first season with the Basque club. Bielsa has earned the full support of Athletic fans, managing to get results through an enjoyable style of play. The second is a Spanish club based in Spain’s Segunda División B, Group 2 named CD Mirandés, who have managed to somehow transcend the boundaries of what is imaginable for a club that can only seat 6,000 in its stadium. Indeed, Mirandés did the ineffable by progressing into the Copa del Rey semifinals courtesy of an injury-time winner from Pablo Infante, Mirandés’ midfielder-turned-Spanish hero.
Infante has scored 7 goals in the competition, more than Ronaldo and Messi. But that’s only half the story, as our friends at SpanishFootball.info explain:
“The club based out of Burgos, in the province of Castile and León, … [is] well run, working hard to remain financially competent and operating on a meagre budget of just under €1m…
Infante leads another life; he’s a bank clerk by day. The wily midfielder commutes some 30 miles to get to his job in Quincoces de Yuso working at Caja Círculo bank. After the victory at El Sardinero [vs. Racing Santander] he was up for work the next day at 7am – he travelled in his car too, that has 90,000+ miles on the clock. This sort of details, you just couldn’t make up…”
The attachment to Mirandés, and Infante, is profoundly human. Most of us can relate to wanting something meaningful or enjoyable supplementing our day job. The idea of crunching numbers from 9 to 5, then playing in front of 40,000 fans is something else. Mirandés may not defeat Bielsa’s Athletic Bilbao in the semifinal, but the prospect of one of these sides in the Copa del Rey final is a great sight for the sore eyes fixated on the duopoly that has developed in La Liga.
If Mirandés defeat Athletic Bilbao, well, there might as well be a new national holiday put in place. If Athletic Bilbao win, they have a great chance of stopping Barcelona, assuming Valencia don’t in the semifinal. It’s a novel scenario, a win-win for neutrals. Earlier this season, Bielsa vs. Guardiola created one of the greatest spectacles of football La Liga has seen in years. The match ended 2-2 in Bilbao, with Barcelona lucky to snag a late goal. It’s the continuation of a fairy tale vs. a final of tactical nirvana. Mirandés vs. Athletic will be yet another David vs. Goliath battle, except this time Goliath is a pretty nice guy.
