Benzema, football and great football

Benzema against De Marcos, this Wednesday in San Mamés at Athletic-Real Madrid.AFP7 via Europa Press (Europa Press)

42,722.

No, it is not the number awarded with the Gordo de Navidad, nor any of the first prizes.

They are the fans who enjoyed Athletic-Real Madrid in San Mamés on Wednesday.

They are the ones who decided that it was community time, with all the health precautions, that always, but that, in their vast majority, they broke their throats to support Athletic in that clash that has occurred in all editions of the Spanish League .

Forever.

And if they took the roll they found that my location was empty. And that this was the party that I had marked in red to return to San Mames, to my town that I still do not know because after the already forgotten works of the change of field I have not had the possibility of meeting. I do not know if it will happen to any of you but there is inside my head a certain apprehension, a certain reluctance, a certain fear, perhaps due to excess responsibility or information or apprehension, or all together, but it was to see all the shirts rojiblancas that this Wednesday filled Bilbao to close the shopping chapter and, at the same time, warm up for the night game and, suddenly, my mind activated a warning light and I began to seriously think about the option of seeing the party from home, from where never, never, never,such a match is the real match. Never. But my head could beat my heart and I stayed at home showing that the mind also has reasons that the heart does not understand.

And to get into the game, I was thinking about the ballot that was coming to Julen Agirrezabala, the usual third goalkeeper in the Lions squad, a regular starter at Bilbao Athletic, sorry, at Athletic B, whom the covid had put in the situation to play as a starter after the positive tests of Unai Simón and Jokin Ezkieta. I imagined the whole team wrapping Julen, Marcelino giving him the classic advice to play calmly, be yourself, not take risks, especially at the beginning of the game, and even manage the intensity of those games. I was thinking of Aitor Iru, Athletic goalkeeping coach, taking the warm-up with care, calmly, with everything that would reinforce Julen's confidence. Well at least in my time it used to be like thisExcept that we did not go out to the field to warm up and the part of the pitch had to be visualized while we warmed up in the narrow dressing room of old San Mamés. Now to all that we must add videos, analysis of rivals and other scientific questions that now make up the goalkeeper's job.

The speed of the ball

But of course, then Benzema appears and in two minutes he shows you what the difference is between football and great football.

An immense thread, an unexpected shot and without time to have warmed up the gloves, an action typical of great players and the scoreboard is already uphill.

I think what surprised me the most in my first matches in the First Division was the speed of the ball and how the players were able to hit it without posture or position to move it accurately and quickly.

The ball speed of Schuster and Dirceu in my first Columbian trophy seemed to me even supernatural, impossible to train except when you live it live and prepare to fight it.

Julen did not decompose, although he received a second goal and everything could presage that disappointment could make a dent in him, and even sustained his team with a couple of magnificent saves, of class, to dream until the last second of scratching at least one point.

But Real Madrid held the stakes well, Courtois showed Julen some interesting things to learn and the whites left San Mamés more leaders.

Next time, I promise I will be in the stands.

Sure.

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