The true final of Julen Martija

The pandemic snatched from Julen Martija the sensations that surround a Couples final two years ago. The Navarrese defender put on his txapela with Ezkurdia in an empty pediment. «I won, and there was nobody in the stands. It was all very strange.” What’s more, he played the last semi-final match on a Friday and the climactic clash was on a Tuesday. “Easy to manage it was not. It all got a little weird.” This time, Etxeberri will have the opportunity to experience a true final. In fact, throughout these two weeks since he qualified, he is already experiencing different emotions. “And with 3,000 people in the stands, including your friends and family, it’s going to be amazing.” It will be the first time that he jumps onto the field with a crowded stand and in a charged atmosphere, “and we will have to see how I am that day because everything influences.”

The one from Aspe has once again established himself as one of the most solid bodyguards in the competition despite having several punchers in front of him who initially started as favorites. However, his good form has allowed him to be familiar with them and leave them in the lurch. “Working hard, everything is achieved. It is true that it is not easy at all because they are capable of bursting you, but I am doing things well and I am happy ». Having a striker like Altuna III also helps. At the beginning of the championship he had some pressure to play with the best player today, but he has managed to overcome it. “Given the moment my partner is going through, if you lose all eyes are focused on you.” Things began to roll and he dominated the situation.

The hands respected him, something fundamental for the Navarrese. “This year I haven’t had any problems and I’m enjoying myself, and that has been noticeable on the court.” The numerous headaches that gave him last year are now forgotten. “I got desperate. I’ve never had such major problems. He finished the games with them loaded and he couldn’t train. I tried different masseuses, who were right at first, but then he relapsed again. I spent a lot of time thinking about the situation, and I even had doubts as to whether they were going to recover.

On this occasion he has shone in the main showcase for the defenders. Couples is everything to them. His space to vindicate himself “because if you do things well, it is seen that you are there”. However, it is not easy to maintain the peak of shape during the four months that it lasts. “You can’t let your guard down at any time, you have to train hard and they have to respect injuries.” Everything has come out to order.

Un rival similar

All that remains is for him to finish off the job on Sunday at the Bizkaia fronton against Laso and Imaz. Contrary to what even he expected, he will have in the long frames a rival with a game quite similar to his. When everyone was waiting for the striking defenders, the one from Oiartzun has arrived. “And many times the match can be more complicated than against one that lets you loose a lot. You are aware that you are not going to suffer so much at the back, but it does not fail either, so it will be a very tough game.

For Martija, managing the tension that day will be “very important.” “I’m pretty laid back, but we’ll see.” From his point of view, starting well will be essential to settle on the field and shape the script they carry from home. “You have to go out 100% because in matches of these characteristics if they take advantage of you then it’s very difficult to turn them around”. Imaz with his right touches the ball well and delays it, so he will seek to bring her close to the wall to complicate things. “You have to measure your forces well because in the second parts of the matches I am usually comfortable and that is when you have to give everything.”

The man from Etxeberri has done almost everything well so far and is where he wanted. In the perfect showcase to enjoy a big game with all the incentives that he did not have before. A true ending.