In the summer of 1963, Betis tried to sign Carmelo, Athletic’s international goalkeeper. If he had succeeded, he would have released Pepأn, whose height of 1.70 seemed too small for the position. Signed from Las Palmas, he had been a substitute for two years. But it didn’t happen, the new coach, Balmanya, trusted Pepأ³n and…
Today, December 27, 2021, marks a decade since the presentation of Diego Pablo Simeone Gonzأ،lez as coach of Atlأ©tico de Madrid. What was Cholo like on December 27, 2011? That December 27, 2011, not even the most optimistic predicted that ten years later the Argentine coach would continue leading the Colchonero team after winning eight…
Finally, despite the covid, there has been football on English Boxing Day, a venerable tradition that pairs the British’s favorite sport with that unique and familiar date. This did not happen in 1962, when on December 26 the entire island woke up covered in at least a meter of snow. Impossible to move, impossible to…
Scouts from the best European clubs are gathering today in Brazil in search of the new golden boy. The Sأ£o Paulo Juniors Cup, the Copinha, starts, the youth tournament from which the best Brazilian players comethe event that for many is considered the largest talent incubator on the planet. The list of stars who came…
The list of suitors for Kerem Akturkoglu is growing. In addition to the known interest of Atlético de Madrid in hiring him, in recent days the Turkish press has pointed out two names of powerful clubs that would be behind the new pearl of Galatasaray. They would be PSG and Dortmund. Parisians will want him…
Endrick. Stay with this name. What are now the first chronicles of a talent that is beginning to emerge in Brazil could be in a few years the footballer who dominates Europe. For now, he is following in the footsteps of other Brazilian gems that attracted attention at Copinha, the youth tournament held in Sao…
On April 23, 1978, Betis and Rayo faced each other in Seville three days before the end of the League. Betis, still the current Cup champion, was at risk of relegation. Not so for Rayo, which that year debuted in the First Division with a sensational first round, which earned it the nickname Giant Killer….
“Gento and Di Stefano raised the announcer’s mood when he came into play,†remembers Alfredo Relaأ±o. The journalist maintained a close relationship with Paco Gento as director of the newspaper AS, and was previously able to see him play at the Santiago Bernabeu stadium, when he was starting out in the profession. The Cantabrian had…
The Copinha final between Santos and Palmeiras was the perfect culmination of a tournament that once again left great pearls. The title went to Verdao, which thus achieved the first in its history, after a rout that reflects the extraordinary level exhibited from start to finish. The Endrick phenomenon, the boy 15 years old, grabbed…
Gento had two brothers, Gento II and Gento III, who had worthy careers between First and Second. Footballers with Roman numbers, like kings or popes. A very Spanish custom. Valdano reminds me of his surprise when he arrived in Spain and read in La Gaceta del Norte the names Rojo I and Rojo II. The…
