«It makes me sad because I like golf a lot, but I don't blame myself at all. I gave it my all and it just didn't work out. Being a champion is very difficult. “I didn't have the talent of my father, but no one has the talent of my father,” acknowledges Severiano Ballesteros' son, Javier Ballesteros, who last year left professional golf after nine seasons trying without success: his best position. In the world ranking it was 1,505.

«I competed until I was 21 years old, always in the amateur category. Professional cycling was not for me, I had no legs. There are some who are touched by a wand, they are very good and that is why they are there. It was not my case. That is not inherited,” admits Miguel Indurain's son, Miguel Indurain junior, after a short career: he was Navarra junior champion, he ran for the Caja Rural under-23 team and then he left it.

«I defended myself, but only to be a good youth. I never really had any options to make a living from athletics.. Very soon I saw that I was not going to become a supercrack like my father, that that was not my path,” accepts Martín Fiz's son, Alex Fiz, who as a middle distance runner ran in events throughout Castilla y León from the age of 14 to 18 years old, but he didn't know the stadiums.

The three, Javier Ballesteros, Miguel Indurain junior and Alex Fiz, followed in the footsteps of their parents, observed the sky in golf, cycling and athletics and stayed on the ground before takeoff. In Spanish sport there are examples of the opposite, such as Manolo Sanchís or the Hernangómez brothers, but these three confirm that talent is not always in the genes and they agree on something even more important: that nothing happens because it is like that.. Despite being the children of who they were and staying far from the achievements of their parents, the three continue to practice golf, cycling and athletics for pleasure with childhood as a happy, constructive, free memory.

“I'm a fan of your videos”

«My father never forced me to play golf. When Jannik Sinner won the last Australian Open he thanked his parents for letting him choose a sport and I was the same lucky. In fact I played soccer for a year. But in Pedreña I spent every afternoon and every weekend in the countryside and I fell in love with golf.. My father always told me that becoming a professional would be difficult.. I tried to make my way, I worked very hard, but in the end it didn't turn out as I expected,” recalls Javier Ballesteros, who studied Law at the Complutense University of Madrid and now works in an athlete representation company, All in Sports.

At 33 years old, he keeps his father's memory very alive through the Severiano Ballesteros Foundation despite his death 12 years ago.. «My shame is not having seen him play his best golf. Of course I have seen his videos, I am a fan of his videos, and he was magical, unique, unrepeatable, but I couldn't see him shine in a field. I also have your example very present. Around 2000, when I was nine or ten years old, my father had been playing badly for some time, but he got up every day at six in the morning to train in the gym.. For me it was hilarious, before going to school I would go down with him and entertain him, but now I think about it and say: 'What need did I have?' He had already been number one, he had already won five majors, he could no longer find his game and also early every day,” says Ballesteros Jr., who, yes, in 2006, was able to have the pleasure of acting as his father's caddy in his last British Open.

Years later, in 2014, he turned professional, played some rounds with Tiger Woods or José María Olazábal and Miguel Ángel Jiménez and there were those who thought they saw the great Seve in his swing.. But that, he assures, did not affect him. «All children want to be like their father, but I always knew how to separate my dream from reality. I know that physically I look alike and I have some similar gestures, but I never noticed the pressure of being his son.. In fact, if I'm honest, it was an advantage for my career because thanks to my last name they invited me to tournaments that I would never have been able to access based on level,” concludes Javier Ballesteros in a confession that is repeated by the other two interviewees: if there were comparisons, there were no They were to blame for not reaching the summit.

“I didn't feel pressure, I enjoyed the bike”

«I never experienced anything strange either, no pressure or anything. They were also different times, there were no social networks, we did not know the opinions of others as much.. I would go to the races, do my thing and come home.. Nothing else. I didn't pay attention to other things. “I simply enjoyed riding my bike,” notes Miguel Indurain Jr., who, like Javier Ballesteros, has finally managed to combine work and passion.

Graduated in Business Administration and Management, for six years he has been in charge of the Giant store in Palma de Mallorca, where the majority of customers already know him and he is Miguel, simply, not the son of the legend.. At 28 years old, he has not pursued the dream of devoting himself to cycling for several years, but he continues pedaling every other Sunday and Sunday too.. «When I left the competition I tried to put the bike aside, try other things, but it lasted six months. My father never insisted on the bicycle, I played football until I was 12, but it tired me and I got hooked on pedaling,” explains who, although he doesn't do it, could boast of having appeared in Marca or L'Equipe before even step into the nursery.

In the 1996 Tour de France the peloton passed through Pamplona as a tribute to his father and he was the protagonist, a cute eight-month-old baby, protected with his white Banesto cap.. Unfortunately, like Ballesteros, he was also unable to see his father's best performances.. «But I have seen something on YouTube, it is clear. I have seen the video of the climb to Plagne in 1995, when he cut Zulle down several times,” he reveals.

Three years ago, the two, father and son, competed together in the Titan Desert, a mountain bike race through the desert, and the experience was surprising: “I saw him, almost 60 years old, and thought: 'How can he Could it be that he walks so much?' Watching him pedal is incredible. When I go home we go out to train together and we always have fun because we are similar.. “Now we are both getting older and worse at the same time.”
Father and son, learning from each other, training together.

“We weren't traveling, I didn't want any trouble”

This experience is repeated in all cases, including that of Alex Fiz, despite the fact that his father continues to win marathons and half marathons all over the world at 60 years old.. To follow him you have to be very fit, but now everything is enjoyment. «Now I have been able to travel with him and it is nice. When I competed in World Cups and Europeans it was something else.. We almost never accompanied him because he wanted to isolate the family, he didn't want to upset us if it went wrong, make us all go through that moment,” recalls Alex Fiz, 31, who studied business management and financial management and works as an accountant at the Kliner company.

Like Javier Ballesteros and Miguel Indurain junior, he started in soccer and ended up late in his father's sport by his own choice, even against family wishes.. «I think my father thought that in athletics they could put more pressure on me, give me that label, and that's why he preferred football.. In some races I did sense stares, maybe it conditioned me a little, but I never felt real pressure. I didn't have the level for that,” analyzes Fiz, who, in fact, goes further: “Looking back, sometimes I think that my father could have pushed me more. I could have started athletics earlier, I could have put in more hours.. But I also understand. I was afraid that the last name would weigh on me and affect me on a personal level.. “It was a decision based on that father's love.”

There have been almost 30,000 kilometers of travel in less than 20 days: from Arizona to Cancún, from Cancún to Las Vegas, from Las Vegas to Malaysia and from Malaysia to Oman. It is not surprising that even when the clock has not even struck nine o'clock at night, David Puig has to make an effort to keep his eyes open on the other side of the screen. At only 22 years old he is the new fashionable boy of Spanish golf. He is playing his second season at LIV Golf and what he is achieving should be included in the dictionary as an explanation of the word “machada”.

Puig achieved his second professional victory in Malaysia just a few days ago. The Spaniard won the IRS Prima Malaysian Open, after a marathon trip and being a foot and a half outside the cut. “On Friday, with four holes left, I needed two birdies to make the cut and I made it,” he explains.. What followed was an extraordinary ode to golf, a unique recital with 18 birdies in 36 holes without any errors.. A wild rhythm of birdies every two holes, which in addition to the victory, gave him a very special prize. «I made 20 birdies in the last 40 holes, 20 birdies and 20 pars is something hard to believe. I know that I have the ability to throw very low laps, I have done it during the preseason and last year, but to have two in a row and under those circumstances was something very nice. It is the fruit of all the preseason work,” adds the Spaniard.

And the real reason Puig put himself through 14,000 kilometers to compete in Malaysia was not simply to play in an Asian Circuit tournament; At stake, in addition, were three places for the Open Championship at Royal Troon, the third major of the year, which will be played in July and for which Puig already has a place.

The balance between the LIV and the world ranking

«I am young and I have a lot of room for improvement, I have the level and I have all the desire in the world to be able to play those majors. The objective was very clear: if there was an option to play my second major, I was going to do everything possible to be there,” adds Puig, who already qualified for last year's US Open in the previous rounds and finished among the forty. top.

But David, like all LIV Golf players, has to get out of his golden cage to achieve world ranking points.. Furthermore, the Catalan started from scratch, he jumped from professionalism directly to the Saudi tour, so the fact that right now he is within the Top 135 of the ranking is a kind of miracle.. Without a doubt, he is currently the LIV player with the best progression in the world.. In 15 months it has gone from position 2819 to 135. «In preseason I set goals, not so much world ranking numbers, like qualifying for the Open and US Open, which depended a little on me, and getting my head in the Olympic Games to be the second player who can represent Spain.. But with the LIV calendar and without world ranking points, it is very complicated. “Now I can dream a little and see if I can get to the PGA Championship and Paris.”

To qualify for the PGA Championship he would have to reach the top 100 in the world ranking and to accompany Jon Rahm in the Paris games he will have to surpass three players who, by ranking, are currently ahead: Pablo Larrazábal (103), Jorge Campillo (109) and Adrián Otaegui (121). Complicated, but not impossible, especially because Puig will not have too many cartridges. This week he competed in another Asian Tour tournament, in Oman, and placed tenth there, another coup d'état. “I will do everything possible to get into the top 100,” he warns.

The difference is that his rivals compete every week in tournaments with world ranking points, while Puig has to leave LIV Golf to accumulate. That is a handicap for its purpose.

In Sergio García's team

Another of his great obsessions is winning at LIV Golf. «When you leave university the level is very high, but having an immediate step to play with players like Dustin Johnson, Koepka, Cam Smith…. puts you in your place quickly. It was the decision that motivated me to come to LIV, to have that competitive level. If I don't have a good week, it's difficult to see my name up there and I know I have the level to even win in the LIV.”. Puig started with a discreet 41st place in Mayakoba, suffering from back discomfort, and in Las Vegas he already reached the top 10, finishing in 17th place.

He also doesn't want to erase the European Tour from his mind: «Playing in Europe is difficult, but I would be very excited to play the Spanish Open and the Estrella Damm in Andalusia.. The dates are going well for me, so if the option is given, I will be there.”. The Spanish has very clear ideas.

The player signed this season by Sergio García's Fireballs recognizes that playing alongside the golfer from Castellón and Eugenio López Chacarra makes him feel “a little at home” and, like everyone, he awaits news that normalizes the golf situation from the launch of the Saudi circuit: “I hope that if one day something happens, the world of golf comes together again and we could all play everywhere, it would be ideal”. Meanwhile, he does not lose sight of his objectives: “Qualify for one more major and the Paris Games.”. He thinks about it and reaffirms himself: “Why not?”

When a guy like Toni Kroos, a player carved out of an iceberg, explodes like that due to a non-transcendental mistake by the referee, we are facing a bad matter.. Icebergs break off or melt due to global warming. The Kroos iceberg does it because of the referee warm-up, a loop that Madrid has gotten into, something that never suits those with the most quality, because it takes away their energy.. Talent differentiates; the discussion equals. Luka Modric entered the dance to tell his playing partner where and how to win a match, where and how to break a loop. [Narrative and statistics (1-0)]

Sevilla's visit was already hot due to the Andalusian club's denunciation of the signaling videos that have become a tradition on Madrid television. Not all traditions are good. The turn was for Díaz de Mera and it was the referee himself who was the first to feel the wrath of the Bernabéu, by annulling the first local goal due to a previous foul by Nacho after the VAR indication Delayed, but correct indication. The man did not have his day, as he had to retreat to the sideline, injured, shouting “Let Negreira whistle!”

The tension left by the action was not the best for the creativity necessary against the five-man defense designed by Quique, whose Sinbad the Sailor beard fits his hours of sailing. He tightened his first two lines to close the spaces for driving in a Madrid, yesterday, of drivers: Vinicius, Rodrygo and Brahim. Later, Isaac Romero and En-Nesyri to take advantage of the spaces. They could have done it very soon, but the Moroccan incomprehensibly threw a center from this youth player who had become a franchise player for Sevilla.. Always powerful from above, En-Nesyri's legs are not always with him, especially his right.

From inferiority

Sevilla's disposition had its toll, such as reducing the play of Ocampos or Oliver Torres too much, but Quique knows that Sevilla is not there to be familiar with Madrid at the Bernabéu. Playing from inferiority is a plan, not a betrayal. The strategy initially bore fruit, only broken by the genius of Modric in the outcome, because the attempts of Vinicius, persistent on the left, did not find subsequent clarity, except for the goal annulled by Nacho's previous foul on En-Nesyri. The defender touched the Moroccan's boot, something that did not require so much suspense in the VOR room.

Ancelotti was taken out of his usual temper, so the coach saw the yellow card when Díaz de Mera was going to the monitor. It was the only time that a Madrid player found free space in the Sevilla area in the first half. The place where Sergio Ramos played like a free man, well wrapped up. Another smart decision from Quique. He wants his hierarchy, his tactical intelligence and his leadership, but he compensates for his loss of speed in anticipation.. The former Madrid captain was received with just the right amount of confetti, and there are scars that take time to heal. The Ramos who raised the stands at the Bernabéu was Topuria, the fashionable puncher in these times when there is too much hitting and protesting.

Valverde provided the Tomahawk solution to Madrid's difficulties in the approaches. Nyland's flight was equal to his shot and Lunin's shortly after to respond to Romero's shot.. Stops of this type are reasons to love you, now that Courtois faces the last phase of his recovery. We will see. The one who won't see it is Kepa, a good goalkeeper who hasn't managed to find his way.

Madrid managed to accelerate the match during a stretch in which Valverde, once again, was the closest to the goal. The ball went to the wood. He needed more from the attackers, their ability to eliminate pieces and their inventiveness. Ancelotti did not have the solution on the bench this time: Joselu, the player who has best tuned in to the goal in recent games, games, of course, without Bellingham.

The Italian then called Modric and removed Nacho to place Tchouaméni as central defender. The Croatian's step forward is always a step of quality, someone who, at his many years, knows how to distance himself from contamination. The oriented control and the goal is the demonstration that this desperate Madrid must interpret without reasons to despair. It's Modric's advice. Listen.

The Danish apostle has already merited to be named honorary ambassador of Galicia. Jonas Vingegaard, an effective tourist attraction, sells the virtues and charms of the community like few others. During the week, the runner born 27 years ago in Hillerslev placed O Gran Camiño at the center of the stage, a new round that strives to open a path in the most select calendar. The two-time Tour champion opened his season with an identical performance to that of the previous year. This Sunday he scored his third and overall victory in the event, the same thing he did in the 2023 edition.. Galicia is yours. And the organizer Ezequiel Mosquera is delighted.

Six stages and two consecutive general classifications in a round that was once again hit by hostile weather. If the times were not recorded in the inaugural time trial due to the danger of the wind, this Sunday the route between Ponteareas and Mount Aloia, in Tui, was altered by heavy rain. The two climbs to the last summit were reduced to one. The Dane from the Visma team, who broke the race with three kilometers to go before the finish line, was 15 seconds ahead of the Frenchman Lenny Martínez and 45 seconds ahead of the British Hugh Carthy, who led the chasing group that included Egan Bernal (48 seconds), Jefferson Cepeda (49) and Cian Uijtdebroeks (57).

In the general classification, Vingegaard surpassed Lenny Martínez (second) by 1.55. Third place went to Bernal, at 2.11. The best Spaniard was Raúl García Pierna (tenth), at 3.01.

All honors for the fine runner, son of a specialist in salmon farming, who is very comfortable in Spain. He trains on Teide and is passionate about paella and pinchos. The campaign has started in a full way, like last year. His main objective is to reconquer the Tour, where he will fight again with Tadej Pogacar, who this year has changed his usual planning to prepare for the Giro d'Italia. Both monsters, which feed each other, will barely coincide before the Grande Boucle.

Against Van Aert and Wellens

Vingegaard was one of the main protagonists of an electrifying Sunday, with a quadruple cycling offer. In addition to the Gran Camiño, the Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne was held, the first classic of the year in Belgium, where Oier Lazkano surprised. The Vitorian from Movistar, the best Spanish classicist this season, got into the good break and fought for the victory against the Belgians Wout Van Aert and Tim Wellens, almost nothing.

The trio imposed an infernal pace in the face of the helplessness of the peloton. The Spaniard tried it in the last kilometer with an attack from behind. Mission impossible, but very worthy. The Basque was third (the best place for a Spaniard in the 76 editions of this race). Van Aert, Vingegaard's teammate at Visma, won.

Before the Belgian classic, the closing day of the UAE Tour was held, with victory and overall for the Belgian Lennert Van Eetvelt. Pello Bilbao was second in the stage and third overall.

Juan Ayuso, huge again, was second in the classic Faun Drome Classic, won by the Swiss Marc Hirschi, the Spaniard's teammate in the UAE. The weekend was memorable for the kid from Jávea, since on Saturday at the Faun Ardèche Classic.

At 23 hours and 47 minutes on August 31, 2005, René Ramos, Sergio's brother, and Pedro Bravo, the footballer's representative, gave Manuel García Gurruchaga, head of Competitions for the Professional Football League, a check for 27 million of euros in the name of Sevilla Fútbol Club. At that exact time, thirteen minutes before the summer market closed, Sergio Ramos paid his termination clause to leave Nervión and sign for Real Madrid. Tonight, almost two decades after becoming Florentino Pérez's first Spanish galactico, the Camas defender will return to the Santiago Bernabéu to face Real Madrid for the first time since he said goodbye to the white team on June 17, 2021.

He will do so with a tribute from the fans whom he once captained, whose life changed with a header in Lisbon and to whom he had to say goodbye almost three years ago after having “expired”, according to him, the offer of renewal that the Madrid board had put on the table. He left Chamartín and went to PSG, where he was never the same again, he lost his place in the national team and now, at 37 years old, he is trying to recover the time and the lost relationship with Sevilla and Pizjuán. The same stands that swore eternal hatred towards him on August 31, 2005, when at 19 years old and after a year as a starter he accepted Madrid's offer in a delirious last week of the market.

“My job was to get him out of Sevilla because we believed he was up to it,” Pedro Bravo, his representative, recalls to EL MUNDO.. And the calls started to fly. “I remember talking to Milan's sporting director, Ariedo Braida, who told me: 'When I'm worth 50 million, call me.'. I replied: 'If you don't sign it now, you'll never sign it.'. So it was”.

Del Nido's refusal

When Madrid came into play, the wishes of the footballer and those around him began to become clearer.. The big problem for Pedro Bravo and René Ramos, the young player's main influence, was José María Del Nido, president of Sevilla.. The manager did not want to let a youth player escape, much less to the white team and even less for a figure different from his termination clause, and neither did Monchi, architect of the squad that a few years later would lift several Europa Leagues.. There Bravo appeared again: «One day, we were in Del Nido's office, the president, Monchi and I. And I said to Monchi: 'How do you think you can make a better team? With Ramos and without 27 million or without Ramos and with the 27 million?'. Your answer helped. Del Nido was reluctant, but at that time 27 million for a player who had barely been in the League for a year was outrageous.. But despite that, it was very hard. At some moments it seemed that it was not done.

The “joking” with the white suit

The signing took on documentary overtones when the Spanish team gathered in Las Rozas to play a friendly and a qualifying match for the 2006 World Cup.. Ramos landed in the sports city of the national team with an outfit that is still remembered today: white suit, large black glasses, immaculate straight hair…. «I remember a lot of fun with the suit. The veterans were a little hesitant about him, but he took it on very well,” recalls a Federation worker.. In that locker room was, among others, Carlos Marchena. «Sergio is Sergio. It is as it is and always has been. That personality is what makes him different from the rest and is what has led him to win everything he has won,” the former player explains to this newspaper.

The pressure that Ramos tried to apply with the white suit did not have much effect at first, because Del Nido continued to reject the 22 million that Madrid was putting on the table at that time. It was Monday, August 29, there were 48 hours left until the market closed and everyone around the footballers was starting to get very nervous. The media situation in Nervión was irreducible. «That day the 29th was very hard because it seemed that the signing was not going to happen. His whole family was crying in a hotel,” says Bravo. On the 30th, nothing changed. «I tried until the end. And on the 30th I went to bed again thinking that it wasn't going to be done,” he adds.

On the 31st, however, everything changed. The meetings in Chamartín between Florentino Pérez and José Ángel Sánchez resulted in the final decision: Madrid was going to pay the clause. The white team had just lost the League by four points against Barça, in the summer Walter Samuel had gone to Inter and between Woodgate, Helguera and Pavón it was considered that the center of the defense was very weak. Going for a Ramos already consolidated in the First Division and in the national team sounded logical.

The petition to Luis Aragonés

The departure of Michael Owen to Newcastle accelerated the signing of the Andalusian in the last hours of the market. «In the morning, I was in Seville and suddenly they called me from Madrid: 'Where are you? Come here!'. And there I stood. “Everything was going to close,” recalls Bravo.. «I went to the Bernabéu and we closed the signing, but there were still the signatures and handing over the check to the League. “I called Luis Aragonés, who at that time was the coach, to ask permission to enter Las Rozas and for Sergio to sign the contract, and at night we had it.”

The clause remained to be made effective in the League. «It was René and I. And we were circling the League building to arrive at the horn, we wanted the signing to have an impact. We had the check for 27 million and everything was very controlled. With less than half an hour left, we went up to the League, deposited the check, signed the agreement with the head of registration and left.. “It was exactly at 11:47 p.m. on August 31.”

The signing, logically, was a before and after for Ramos and his family. The Camas defender went from living in a rented apartment to buying, at the age of 21, Ronaldo Nazario's house in La Moraleja when he left Madrid, in January 2007.. The rest, you already know: fourth player with the most appearances in Madrid's history (671), five Leagues, two Cups, four Champions Leagues…. Statistics that force the Bernabéu to pay him a tribute tonight that is more passionate than institutional. There will be a giant banner from the stands and a standing ovation, but nothing at club level. His early departure to PSG left him with 22 titles, three less than Benzema or Marcelo, two less than Nacho and Modric and one less than Gento.

Between the first leg of the Champions League round of 16 against Inter and the return leg of the Cup semifinals against Athletic, Atlético de Madrid showed up in Almería very disconnected from their league reality. It may sound logical given the possibility of fighting for two titles, but it is dangerous when Athletic continues to push in the standings and when Simeone's team faced the most needy team in Spanish football. Two left-footed shots by Luka Romero prevented the Colchonero victory and tied the goals of Correa and De Paul.

Without Griezmann and with Morata called up but on the bench, Cholo gave his attack to the originality of Lino and the impetus of Memphis and Correa, two substitutes forced to take advantage of the unexpected opportunity that has been presented to them due to the injuries of their teammates. And the Argentine landed before anyone else in Andalusia.

In minute 2, Reinildo, an expeditious center back in defense but with gaps in attack, invented an extraordinary slalom between two rivals, pipe included, to stand on the back line and assist Correa in the center of the area. The forward did not fail, relieving the little red-and-white tension and stabbing the spirit of Almería, who had not yet won in the League.

The locals, without Arribas, a substitute, but with Viera and the young Luka Romero, decided not to lose air with the game and with the League, aware despite everything that the dream of salvation is almost impossible. Perhaps for that reason, for breathing like someone who knows that he has nothing more to lose because he has barely won, they reacted.. Garitano has relied these weeks on winter signings, clear of the negative trend of the first months. Lozano was the first to try with a long shot and a header, both occasions after a red and white loss.. Atlético fell asleep, tired muscularly and mentally from Milan's effort and thinking about Thursday's duel in San Mamés. And he suffered.

In the 26th minute, Luka Romero, that boy who debuted at 16 with Mallorca in the Second Division (now he is 19), tied the game with a colossal left foot shot that surprised Oblak.. All after another red-and-white loss that resulted in Pubill's unopposed start up to three quarters of the rival field.. Simeone's face was a poem. And the relaxation of his team, too much.

The goal gave wings to an Almería that saw itself with enough virtues to knock down the worst version of the rojiblancos, sustained only by the attempts of Samu Lino. Slow and imprecise in the midfield, neither Koke, nor Barrios nor De Paul performed at their level and Atlético never found rhythm.

Simeone's changes

After the break, Simeone's pulse did not tremble (it never trembles) and he left the locker room with a decided double change. He sat Koke on Lino and brought on Llorente and Riquelme. A notice that spread to the rest of the team. In the 56th minute, a remote-controlled clearance by Nahuel Molina found De Paul in the center of the field, with space. The Argentine drove to the area while Robertone and Radovanovic were bailing, and tried a shot that deflected the center back and ended at 1-2.

Riquelme sent a ball to the crossbar in the best minutes of Atlético, who saw the 1-3 decision up close, but between Viera and Luka Romero they invented the tie. The Canarian saw the Argentine inside the area and he, with the calm of a veteran and the quality of a world-class footballer, defined with magic against Oblak.. His first two goals in the League to give life to the bottom of the table.

Simeone squeezed his bullets in the final stretch, bringing on Morata in attack and Saúl and Witsel in the center of the field, always looking for the energy he was missing on the pitch. The Spanish forward had the two clearest chances in the final minutes, but he was not successful. Two volleys, one with the left and one with the right, which he couldn't send into the net. Melero, in '94, also had one to give the Andalusians their first victory of the season.

The cliché is easy: the result does not serve either of them. Atlético drops points again and could be trapped by Athletic in fourth place and Almería is 11 away from salvation.

Maybe this summer, walking along Samil beach (Pontevedra) there will be a woman doing sprints in the sand with a ball attached to her foot.. Practicing controls and the occasional Chilean. You probably don't recognize her, but that woman has already been World Champion, European Champion and captain of one of the best women's teams in the history of Spain.

“Beach soccer is a very lonely sport during the year. You train alone,” Andrea Mirón, the Pontevedra native who had to emigrate to Portugal to play for the 11-a-side soccer club FC Famalicao, tells EL MUNDO.. “I can't leave football because it's my livelihood,” he reveals while explaining how he must include clauses in his contracts to allow him to practice the sport he likes above all.. “If we could dedicate ourselves to beach soccer, 90% of the women's team would do it,” he says.

And beach soccer is gaining more and more followers. A discipline that is on the rise and that this Sunday celebrates the final of the World Cup that has been taking place in Dubai. Spain, which has played a discreet role, did not pass the first phase, has attracted attention because it presented a coach who deals with the men's and women's areas at the same time.. Christian Méndez is an atypical case. This February he was chosen as the best coach in the world.

The vast majority of the players on the national beach soccer team, number 1 in the world ranking with double the points of the second-placed team, England, are players from the First or Second division of soccer or futsal.. The difference from when this sport arrived in Spain, a time when we could see Quique Setién showing his quality in the arena, is that many of the current players are no longer back from their sports careers.

“What brought me to beach soccer were my uncles, I was 13 years old,” says José Oliver, Levante soccer player, who is now 20 years old.. He is the youngest of the senior men's team, which was playing the Beach Soccer World Cup in Dubai. The boys hoped to obtain a great result, as the second team in the world ranking only behind Brazil, the country where this sport became official at the end of the 20th century.. But two unexpected defeats in their first two games ended up throwing them out at the first opportunity.

It is one of the first disappointments for Christian Méndez, an atypical coach, since he is in charge of both the senior men's and women's beach soccer teams.. The men's team arrived in 2019 after the departure of Joaquín Alonso, one of the pioneers of this sport in Spain.. In fact, he scored the first goal in the history of the Spanish beach soccer team back in 1996.. He did it to the female one a year before.

“It's twice as much work, twice as many concentrations, different tactical and technical aspects,” Méndez himself tells EL MUNDO.. He also points out that the boys, having started earlier, are mostly beach soccer professionals and the girls, on the other hand, come from 11-a-side soccer.. The main difference lies in the structure of men's beach soccer, much broader and more continuous, while that of girls is more sporadic.. What is common is the training, similar between both genders, but “logically with a different physique,” recalls the coach.

The physicality is evident in the spectacular nature of the actions.. If in the men's game acrobatic shots and long-distance shots abound, in the women's game “we play more from below,” highlights Andrea Mirón.. However, the uneven surface of the sport forces players to be more technical when controlling the ball and hitting it.

Then, there is something about this sport that makes those who practice it fall in love with it.. “I have played soccer since I was 3 or 4 years old, but with beach soccer always in my head,” explains José Oliver who, despite being on the Cartagena youth team, in the honor division, “enjoys playing soccer much more beach”.

The same thing happened to the current coach when he tried it. He was from 2011 to 2018 playing for the national team and had a “bad time” when he left, but once he took it up, although he continues to play 7-a-side and 11-a-side football with friends, sometimes he has never played a game of football again. Beach Soccer. He has not done badly just in training, this year he won the award for best coach along with Laura Gallego as best goalkeeper.

The one who escaped, for the third consecutive year, is Andrea Mirón. The Brazilian, Adriele Rocha, won the award again ahead of Mirón and the also Spanish Adriana Manau. “It was hard and even more so after this year of collective and individual successes,” says Mirón.

Like the girls from the women's soccer team whose victory in the World Cup in Australia last summer does not exactly help beach soccer.. “It is impossible to be a native of beach soccer, the reference is women's soccer and everyone wants to get there. It's complicated for a 16-year-old girl to just get into that,” Mirón laments.. If we also talk about the possibilities of these girls having a future after sports, Andrea says that, for now, she needs plan B, C, D and E for when she retires.