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Despite his goal, Osasuna striker Ante Budimir only thought of one thing after scoring: taking out this jersey with the inscription “Fuerza Valencia”.
FOOTBALL – Spain is still in shock. The continuation of the 12th day of the Spanish championship provoked mixed reactions in the context of the deadly floods which hit the Valencia region at the start of the week, but certain gestures on the pitch have the merit of giving balm to the heart.
Because during this football weekend in Spain, a striker from the Osasuna club stood out for his tribute to the city of Valencia, and therefore to the victims of bad weather which has caused at least 211 deaths since Tuesday night October 29.
Croatian Ante Budimir first stood out by scoring the only goal of the match against Real Valladolid from the penalty spot. But after scoring, he immediately got a jersey, which he then held up in front of the spectators and the cameras.
Visibly moved, he exposed for several seconds this unique red on which it was written « Force Valencia » (« Force à Valence » in French).
It must be said that the Osasuna squad is particularly affected by the dramatic events of recent days. Coach Vicente Moreno, for example, comes from Massanassa, a Valencian town very hard hit by the floods.
“It makes no sense to play”
In a pre-match press conference, the Spanish coach shared his deep emotion. “ I don’t know if I’ll be able to… (…) I wanted to have a few words for my land, for Valencia. It’s very difficult not to be able to be there with them “, he declared on Friday.
A very difficult context, which does not suit one of La Liga’s star coaches, Diego Simeone. Antoine Griezmann’s coach at Atlético Madrid protested against the continuation of this championship day. An opinion also shared half-heartedly by Barca coach Hansi Flick. This weekend, only two matches (Valencia-Real Madrid and Villarreal-Rayo Vallecano) were postponed, because they were planned in the disaster areas.
“It makes no sense to play tomorrow, everything that is happening is very hard”estimated Diego Simeone, whose club must play Sunday against Las Palmas. “There are a lot of people who are having a very bad time, it’s very sad for everyone. But we were told to keep playing so… here we are”he continued, referring to the statements of the president of the Spanish Football League.
Indeed, Javier Tebas settled this debate in a message on a terrible situation », « the best message is not to stop, except in affected areas”.
“The best message is to be on the front line in our workplaces, like workers in all other sectors, to give visibility (to the situation), to generate resources and to explain to the world that we must be all mobilized to move forward. »
Source: www.huffingtonpost.fr
