Real Madrid's Greek week, an apparent trap along the way, turned out to be another coup of authority for this amazing team at the dawn of the season defending the European crown. He won in Piraeus on Tuesday and won at OAKA last night, again with those brates (Hezonja and Musa) who are pure talent as the spearhead of the Euroleague leader, a train launching that not even Ergin Ataman managed to stop. [78-90: Narration and statistics]

37 points for Hezonja and 37 for Musa. The Croatian is unstoppable against Panathinaikos, nine triples in two nights for the Bosnian. An increasingly involved couple, Madrid increasingly theirs, ready to mark an era. They have plenty of quality for it and the contagion with the penultimate dances of Llull, Rudy and company can be fundamental for their careers.

Panathinaikos was its umpteenth victim. Ataman tried to propose to Madrid a battle of high pace, contacts and intensity, to push to the limit a team that has been spreading terror and that only Fenerbahce has managed to stop, last week. But the white success appeased the local ardor, the efforts of Mitoglou and the first brushstrokes of Nunn. When Hezonja first appeared in what was his home (and he is still very loved, he even asked for forgiveness) everything changed, such is his influence, the moment of a superlative player. After two triples from Llull, Chus Mateo's men were nine up.

One could conclude that they had lowered their hand to OAKA, but nothing could be further from the truth. In that first crisis, an even more aggressive Panathinaikos emerged, taking advantage of Tavares's absence to strike a tremendous run of 17-2, with Lessort beating Poirier, and a completely unleashed Kendrick Nunn, showing the dimension of a guy who was important in the NBA and seeks, like so many, a European redemption. Only a last effort by Hezonja and a basket at the buzzer by Campazzo maintained the white lead at halftime.

And, as always, those small details are key. A squeeze in time. Upon returning, the PAO tried to continue pushing, but in the face of talent, nothing can be done. Two triples from Musa anticipated the storm. In the hottest moment, Madrid left the greens without scoring for six minutes, a run of 1-22 to kill the night, to remain at the top of a Euroleague that they overwhelmingly dominate.

In three days, between Hezonja and Musa – wonderfully accompanied last night by the power of Tavares and Deck – they have scored 74 points to silence Athens.

In 1995, the International Rugby Football Board, now World Rugby, decided to allow South Africa to rejoin the World Championship after not participating in the New Zealand 1987 and England 1991 editions after being sanctioned for its apartheid policy.. Nelson Mandela's victory in the 1994 elections and the construction of a young and fragile democracy needed a symbol. And for this symbol, Mandela, chose rugby.

“It was a way to neutralize threats from the extreme right,” says John Carlin, a British journalist who was then working as a correspondent in the South African country.. Carlin is the author of the book The Human Factor, which analyzes Mandela's ability to unite the South African people, which crystallized when the Sprinboks team qualified for the final of the 1995 Rugby World Cup, in which they would have as their rival the fearsome new zealand. A party that holds a curse.

The death of Hannes Strydom, South African second line, was recently known after a car accident. He was 58 years old.. It was not the first incident he had with his vehicle.. Strydom had already had to spend several days in the ICU after an attempted kidnapping while driving his car through the streets of Pretoria. The former player faced several assailants.

Strydom's death was not that of any athlete. His was the seventh death of the participants in that mythical final.. All of them have disappeared before reaching the age of 60.

Cancers claimed South African team coach Kitsch Christie (58 years old) in 1998, and flanker Ruben Kruger (40 years old) in 2010.. Jonah Lomu, the only New Zealander affected by this curse, also died at the age of 40.. Kidney disease ended his existence in 2015.

Later, in 2017, another of the best players from that 1995 World Cup, scrum-half Joost van der Westhuizen (46 years old), died from a neurodegenerative disease.. Two years later, heart attacks claimed James Small and Chester Williams (50 and 49 years old, respectively).

Strydom is the last of this tragic list that, although coincidental, already raises the eyebrows of many in the African country. “It never occurred to me that it was a case of bad luck.”. It is true that it is curious because they are young and were physically well in their day,” answers Carlin, very empirical.

There are many speculations, most of them unfounded, that try to explain what happened to these athletes.. 30% of that Springbok team has died. It is true that there is an ongoing investigation that affects the premature death of 400 former players of this sport and that has to do with brain injuries caused by blows to the head, but due to the variety of causes in this case, I would not enter this section. It is not an explanation, but it is a rumor that speaks of possible doping of the players, a matter fueled by the testimony of a great protagonist.

François Pienaar, the Springboks captain, admitted in an interview a few years after that final that he consumed supplements that helped performance. “I started taking pills because everyone was doing it,” he explained about some stimulants he took in 1992.. “They helped get through the hard 80 minutes if you had physical problems,” the captain confessed.

INDIGESTION

To add more mystery to that final, it is worth remembering Suzie, a waitress who appeared in the All Blacks kitchen staff the day several of the New Zealand players suffered food poisoning.. Years later, Nelson Mandela's bodyguard assigned to the New Zealand team claimed that the team had been poisoned.. However, the All Blacks coach blamed it on spoiled milk.. «These guys were in extraordinary condition and that happened two nights before the final. If the spoiled food had been consumed a day before the game, it could have affected them,” says Carlin.. The journalist also assures that there was talk of a patriotic initiative or a conspiracy but that it could never be verified.

The fact is that South Africa ended up taking the title. “They won because they wanted it more strongly, because of the great responsibility they felt toward their nation and toward Mandela,” says Carlin.. The game ended 15-12, without a single try, and with two players Stransky and Mehrtens scoring all the points for their respective teams. Many remember Small grabbing Lomu's neck in every throw. “When he knocked him down on the first play they saw that Lomu was not Superman,” reveals Jon Carlin.

The real Superman of that story was prisoner number 46664. The one who wanted to make rugby the glue of a country. Thus, that final, that victory, achieves what Nelson Mandela was looking for since the beginning of the championship. «It absolutely achieves its political purpose. There was tremendous euphoria, whites and blacks throughout the country celebrating equally,” says Carlin. What was a blessing for more than 40 million people was a curse for seven protagonists of that match.

Point guard Andrea Cinciarini has decided to leave Casademont Zaragoza, where he arrived last September, to return to Italy, unable to bear being away from his wife and two small children, a seven-year-old boy and a barely twelve-month-old girl.

The team's coach, Porfirio Fisac, has indicated that the player “is suffering on a personal level”. “The children and his wife are in Italy and he is feeling uncomfortable with this situation,” he acknowledged.

In an interview on Aragón Radio, he explained that “he has tried to bring his wife, but she has not been able to leave her job there.”. Andrea is delighted with the club, with the coaches and with his teammates in Zaragoza, but he needs his family. “There are much more important things than winning or losing.”

The player himself said goodbye this Thursday in a message addressed to the club, his teammates and fans.. “A special thanks to a very professional and organized club like Casademont Zaragoza, which has always given us its support and we have never lacked anything since the first day I arrived in this beautiful city. And to you, fans of the Red Tide, for the continuous encouragement you give in every game, for that rasmia that characterizes you and for all the love you have for the team and for your city of Zaragoza. “I will follow you, I will encourage you and I will always wish you the best.”

And he thanks his teammates “from the bottom of my heart all these months, I had fun with you and I appreciate all of you: your availability, your character and your qualities, first as people and then as players.”. A sincere thank you also to all the staff who have supported me and helped me a lot in recent months. I will follow you and encourage you. A hug from your 'Grande giocatore di Pallacanestro'”.

Cinciarini, 37, joined Casademont Zaragoza last September as a replacement for Stefan Jovic, who had just signed for Valencia Basket after paying his termination clause.. He arrived from Reggiana, and endorsed for being the best passer in the history of Italian Serie A.

He has participated in 12 Endesa League games, with records of 5.8 points, 1.5 rebounds, 2.8 assists and 5.4 rating credits per game.

Meanwhile, he has participated in seven FIFA Europe Cup matches, with figures of 4.6 points, 3.7 sacks, 4.6 basket passes and 7.9 overall points.

The point guard started in Pésaro and then went through Montegranaro, ASD Pavía, Cantú, Reggiana and Armani Milan, where he remained for six seasons (2015-21).

Later, he returned to Reggiana (2021-23). In his last year there, Cinciarini scored 10.9 points, 3.9 rebounds and 9.8 assists per game in the 29 games played in the domestic competition.

Rafael Nadal, who announced last week his return to official competition at the ATP 250 in Brisbane (Australia), which takes place in the first week of January, said this Thursday that “it is normal for it to be” his “last year” in active, although it cannot be 100% guaranteed.

“There is a good chance that it will be my last year without a doubt. There are chances that it will only be half a year, that it will be the full year, and there are chances that we won't be able to get to all of that.. “These are things that right now I do not have the capacity to answer and I am only in a position to say that I am competing again,” he stated.

In a video broadcast through his social networks, Nadal assured that he will “enjoy each tournament as if it were” the last, after having spent 2023 inactive, since January 18, and undergoing surgery on his iliopsoas. of the left leg and hip.

“I think it's going to be like this. I don't want to announce it as such, because in the end one doesn't know what can happen, and one always has to give oneself the opportunity and not say something that could later be a slave to what one has said.. I can't be one hundred percent sure.. “If things and my physique allow me to move forward and enjoy what I do, why am I going to set a deadline? I think it doesn't make sense,” he added.

“I fought”

Nadal, 37 years old and winner of 22 Grand Slams, acknowledged that he has thought that it made no sense to compete again, although, just as when he announced that he was going to stop a year ago, he believes that he deserves to end his career on the court, despite “all the doubts in the bad and very bad moments.”

“I have fought and I have maintained my enthusiasm at all times. I think I have had the right people around me, as I have always had throughout my career, family, team, friends. Everyone has helped me decisively to be where I am today, which is with the option of competing again.. Also the desire of the people who want to see me play has had a very important impact in my daily life in some way,” he added.

The life of Virginia Torrecilla (Cala Millor, Mallorca, 1994) changed forever twice: in May 2020 and in June 2021. First they detected a brain tumor and then he suffered a car accident after which his mother was left in a wheelchair.. “It hurts more about my mother,” he admits in a sincere talk with EL MUNDO. The one who was Spain's best soccer player in the 2019 World Cup was forced to stay away from the grass and go to hospitals, putting her body and mind to the limit.. Now, little by little recovering normality and feeling like a footballer again in Villarreal after leaving Atlético, tears fall when he remembers what he experienced. It's all told in the pages of the book 'No One Regrets Being Brave'.

How did the idea of writing come about? I have always loved writing, although I am a person who does not open up much to people about their feelings.. Since my cancer was detected and I went to Pamplona, I began to write for myself, so that tomorrow I could remember everything that had happened and the feelings I had had.. Then the publisher wrote to me and told me that they wanted to make a book telling my story.. And I didn't hesitate. How do you handle talking about what has happened to you? There are times when I feel sorry, when I cry, and other times when I laugh after seeing everything I have experienced and what I have assumed as a person.. I have not been able to read the book. I am very sorry. I remembered my grandmother, what I have suffered, my mother's accident… Things that I had forgotten and that when I go back hurt because I have not really been aware of everything I have experienced despite having suffered a lot. But when you go back and see your head's ability to forget… Going back is very hard. What things had you forgotten? A lot. It's crazy. But there are memories that talking with people… Like when my mother happened. I had forgotten the moment when I get up in the car after the accident and my mother tells me: 'Virginia, I can't feel my legs.'. My mind erased that completely. I remembered getting up, but my head had erased that. Also tell my partner: “But have I overcome cancer?” The head has an incredible ability to erase things that have hurt a lot. I also didn't remember how my mother had gotten to the hospital in Toledo, I don't know what I talked to my father after that moment… I only remembered being in the hospital. That is what has shocked me the most when writing. What has been the hardest? My mother's accident, without a doubt. (…) And I get excited because when you go through it yourself, well, you go through it, you know how you feel, what you can do and what you can't, but when it happens to the person next to you, who is the who came to take care of me during my illness and unfortunately this happens to him… You have a feeling of guilt. It is true that I was not to blame for the accident because we were hit from behind, but I was the one driving.. It was very difficult for me to assume everything that I had to assume as a person.. My life changed when I was 25 years old and I thought: “How can it be that life is hitting me so hard?”. And without a doubt, and I have always said it, I have gone through cancer and I would go through it 10, 15 and 20 times more if my mother could walk again.. I don't doubt it and I mean it from the bottom of my heart. What was your reaction to the world, destiny or whatever you want to call it? Is there a moment when you say “that's it, I can't take it anymore”? Yes. There have been moments…. (…). At the end of the chemo everything was being very hard, I had lost many kilos, I was no longer eating and I honestly don't know how I lived, and I said “I don't want more chemo”. It's just that if I died I didn't care. I couldn't take it anymore, I had no strength. They are words that you say because you are weak, but when what happened to my mother happens to me, when I see that I am not working in football either, psychologically I fall into a very deep depression, a depression to which I cannot find an end, well of course I thought about it. , who no longer wanted to live. He told me: “Why do I want more suffering in my life?” Even today when something goes wrong I think about it, I don't want to be suffering in life. But then I think about it and after everything we have experienced, my parents are still alive, my brothers are fine… There are weak moments, but what can I say, I always try to move forward. How are you now? Good, getting better every day. I'm fine emotionally and what affects me the most is football. I always demand a lot from myself and sometimes I don't enjoy everything I should enjoy, I put a lot of pressure on myself. I want more as a footballer and that makes me suffer. How can it be that after all I get like this because of football? Well yes. Are you more demanding of yourself now than before? Much more. I want to find the best version of myself and it's like… “Fuck, Vir, you have to give more.” And it is true that I have had an incredible journey all these months, I have very good things that I did not have before and I am happy, but I always want more and that makes me feel less good than I should. How has your body changed and how have you been assimilating those changes? Imagine… In two years I haven't had time to be the Virginia that I have always been. I came to training with 47 kilos when before I weighed 73. It has been a very slow and very hard process because I have suffered a lot, not only on a mental level. On a physical level, it has been very difficult for me to get back to 70 kilos, until almost two months ago. With a lot of effort for months and months, mornings, afternoons, drinking smoothies, eating twice as much… I have never felt so sore when I got out of bed.. What was the worst moment? It's clear to me. There have been many, because I had a radio and chemo process for almost a year and before that I went through the operation, the post-operation… It has been a very hard process and not only for me, but also for my family. I remember my mother when I had surgery, I was going to sleep and I was suffering because I heard my mother crying. There have been many hard moments, but the worst have been the last two months of chemo. Horrible. I didn't eat anymore, I didn't get out of bed, the chemo was very damaging to me, psychologically seeing myself in the hospital for so many days, feeling ugly, with a dry and pasty mouth that tasted like iron… They were the worst months of my life. . From crying so much, so much, that my mother didn't even leave the room because she saw that I was very bad. How has it been for your family? Very complicated. It has changed our lives, not only because of my illness, but also because of having my mother in a wheelchair.. My father went to live in Toledo for 7 months because my mother was in the paraplegic hospital there, my sister was left alone with a newborn child, my brother was left alone at home working…. It has been difficult for them to experience everything from outside, from Mallorca, they went when they had a free day. Today we are much better. We lived in a country house with stairs, we didn't have an elevator, we also had to change the shower, the doors…. My mother has also suffered a lot, but we have overcome it as a family and here I highlight my father. He is the one who pulls with everything, I am sure he is the one who has suffered the most and now he pulls on my mother. He has a lot of merit at 70 years old. Has all this changed your relationship with your mother? I think we have always had family love, but as a result of what we have experienced we have become much closer. We have opened up about things we had never talked about before.. And I tease my mother a lot even though she is in a wheelchair. It has taught us to suffer but also to value what we have. At what point does football reappear after the illness? When I got sick, football took a backseat, logically, but as I recovered, and my family was already in a stable state, my dream was to play again.. For me and my parents. I know they want to see me enjoy. I lost all hope after leaving Atlético de Madrid, after not playing, after seeing that I didn't matter as a player, and that's why I came to Villarreal. Did you miss any more opportunities at Atlético? I think they were very good to me and I will always have them with me, but it is true that I believe, although I understand it, that I deserved more minutes to not see myself like this, with my head bowed and without feeling like a participant in many things. What was it like on the first day when you returned to play?It was amazing. She was skinny, with shaved hair…. I didn't know how to coordinate or hit the ball. How could it be! It was nice to see how he was improving.. Then I made my debut in the Super Cup and I will never forget it when the Barça players supported me after the final. At what point do you feel like a person and a footballer again? If I'm honest, I think this summer. I left Atlético hurt by many things and felt that it was not me. I suffered a lot, I had no enthusiasm for anything, I wanted to leave football… Now I am better for coming to a new club and being a part of something. Look, in the summer, when I hadn't trained for a week, I went to the gym and ran into a man. He saw me training and told me “how well you train, but you walk around with your head down because you don't believe the person you are.” And I realized that it was true, that I didn't want them to look at me, I didn't feel safe, I didn't feel like a person or an athlete. And then when I signed for Villarreal I started to feel better, good and loved again. Speaking of football, world champions. Who was going to tell us! Do you have a little more football rage there? No, no… Not really. I am very happy for the selection. The only thing that bothered me was the people who in the end couldn't go to the tournament, who stood up and said “no” after everything they had experienced.. And the World Cup is also their merit even though they have not played in it.. I have a grudge about that. I am happy that women's football continues. Very proud. How have you experienced the demands of the last few months? I have been outside of everything, but I have always been with them. I am aware of many things because we have lived through very critical moments. For me, Jorge (Vilda) was always very good to me, when I got sick he was one of the first to come to see me and he has behaved very well.. Obviously I wasn't in the Euro Cup and I'm not aware of what happened, but in the last year I'm on top of my teammates. Unfortunately all this had to happen to realize what we asked for.. They have opened doors for those who come from behind so that they know that they do not have to go through what we have gone through. What atmosphere did you notice in the Federation? I think what they have asked for are changes in the Federation with respect to who was there before. Everything that has to do with the person who was there before, we don't want. It is something fundamental for women's football. And I think they have said it: “We want to dedicate ourselves only to football.” Did the kiss surprise you? Yes, it surprised me. It doesn't have to happen in any way, much less live. I was very disappointed with women who did not defend Jenni with images. It seems absurd to me. What if it happened to your daughter? And for the men who have defended him: What if it happened to your partner? If there had not been a kiss, nothing would have changed? Of course. Unfortunately. But thanks to that people have realized that things were not going well.