GironaOn time, Marc Gasol entered La Cooperativa every afternoon. It didn’t matter if the training had come out better or worse or if the weekend game had been won or lost. Gasol was there, with Rosa. They were interested in each other. Things were explained, little secrets that remained between them, in that table that today the owner, president and player of Bàsquet Girona made his own after 20 years. “They made me feel special here, they got me to value myself,” he said in an interview with ARA. He has never forgotten.
Every day she leaves the kids at school, Cristhian Stuani keeps smiling. When he arrives, the adults, the parents of the classmates, and even the teachers, become creatures, at the height of their children. Some ask for photos; others, autographs; the more timid ones remind him of a goal scored or give him encouragement for the most imminent match. “It’s crazy that they love me so much,” said the footballer a thousand times. He has never forgotten.
This weekend, Gasol and Stuani will try to advance to the Primera with Bàsquet Girona and Girona. The first organize the final four of the LEB OR in Fontajau and this Saturday they play the semifinal against Força Lleida (20 hours, Esport3). The second play this Sunday the return of the final of the play-off in Tenerife, after the 0-0 lived in Montilivi. But the bond between the two stars goes far beyond what ends up happening.
They feel in debt. While Gasol considers that his passage through the city was essential to end up being the sporting figure he is, Stuani appreciates that he has been given a status of legend that he did not know existed. What neither of them knows is that they have already given much more than the two entities expected to receive. And even if they want to be promoted, they go beyond any category: they have brought charisma, credibility and feeling to both projects. This is priceless.
Faster growth than expected
It is unforeseen that Bàsquet Girona is struggling to get on the ACB. Because not even in the best of dreams could Marc Gasol intuit that eight years after founding the entity, only one step would separate him from the highest division. In fact, he has not spent eight years competing, because he was born without a senior team, so the evolution of sports has gone even faster. Basketball, however, is not everything, and this is where they are differentiated.
Able to win the NBA and volunteer for Open Arms at the same time, the Catalan has made a model in which everything revolves around how. “Sport is a tool to educate and demonstrate the values of this club, which are different. For me it is just as important to win as to give a good image,” he said. Transcend socially, the great title of Marc Gasol in Fontajau.
Romanticism still exists
It was 61 minutes into the match. It was August 23, 2020, the return of the final of the play-off against Elche. The stage, Montilivi; the player, Stuani, chosen as the franchise footballer that Girona had never had. Everyone had idealized the scene early on, with the Uruguayan scoring the promotion goal. But nothing can be taken for granted in life: he was sent off and Girona lost the tie in the 96th minute.
“It will be difficult for me to recover from the pain, but I have a chance of revenge,” said the top scorer in the club’s history. If Gasol isn’t just basketball, Stuani isn’t just football either. With his fidelity in a time when everyone is constantly changing his shirt, he has said out loud that in life not everything can be bought. Money does not give prestige; love stories, yes. The image he has projected has been reinforced when, after seeing him suffer for an action that made him feel guilty when he was not, everyone was by his side supporting him until they stood up, ready to please try again. Together, of course. “My history with Girona is for life.” It is not uncommon for some to ask for a statue in the middle of a city paralyzed by sport.
