Since most two-syllable words are flat, two-syllabic players often err on the flat side. The Asturian derby last night, full of two-syllable footballers, was a plateau game, as befits the brown grammar of the Second Division, where the trotter prevails over the talented, and the stride over the dribbling.
Do the math: Jimmy, Jony, Djuka, Cali, Cote, Rama, Pichu, Rosas, Rodri, Calvo, Viti, Luismi… a sindios to which it is necessary to add –oh, blessed!– also Christ. For a two-syllable footballer to go down in football history, he has to be acute, accentuate the last syllable on the last syllable. In other words, like Pelé, Vavá, Didí or Kaká. It is not the case of some templates, those of the Asturian antagonistic bicolors, where talent is not abundant. From there, no matter how much currency the Mexicans put in, “superfragile” teams cannot come out; rather “spicy”.
The derby was decided on a penalty, which is the most hurtful way to lose the three points, since in most cases the referee indicates a catastrophic error by the defender rather than a hit or mischief by the attacker. This is what happened last night at the Tartiere, where Cali’s foul on the edge of the area, the stomp on Koba, was as clear as it was unnecessary. The Argentine center-back, seasoned in a thousand battles, screwed up like a youth and put his team in countless trouble, as Oviedo’s goal turned the last minutes of the game into a Tourmalet for Sporting. Izquierdoz cannot be denied the character of a player with an impressive spelling. In other words, it is a graphic “Cali”, of a footballer who has the old canchero precept written on his face: if the ball passes, the striker does not pass. The ball did not pass, but neither did the blue attacker. And for that seam, Sporting lost at least one draw, which would have been the fairest merit.
It is a very difficult task for a derby to become a monologue. To those who remember young people there has not been a single game in the last decade that one of the two contenders has imposed on the other in a resounding and forceful way. This time, the same: a single goal and a penalty. Very well executed, yes, by one of the few two-syllables with an accent: Bastón. If Sarabia, Soler and Busquets had launched in the World Cup tie against Morocco with the same strength and placement of their shots from nine meters, maybe this afternoon another rooster would crow for us in Qatar. And the sportinguistas would not have to take this maximum penalty back to Gijón.
