Product of the quarry on the Utrera highway, Jesús Mora Nieto, They did in the world of football (Seville, 1978) he experienced both sides in the Sevilla FC. From his consolidation in the first team in the Second Division, to promotion or returning to the … avernos in 2000, which caused him to say goodbye to Nervión bound for Vigo, upon his return to experience the first golden era of champion Sevilla. “In football everything happens very quickly, you go from joy to sadness in a short time,” says the former skilled attacker.
From the capital of Spain, where he now continues his life outside of football, Jesuli observes Sevilla’s current situation with concern. With faith in Matías Almeyda, with whom he shared training during his time as a Sevilla footballer, the one from Torreblanca does understand that the entity needs a change. “I don’t know how or why, but the club needs a different injection,” says Jesuli.who this Monday will go with his Sevilla despite facing another team as beloved as Celta.
-First of all, how is Jesuli feeling now?
-Good, super good. After finishing in football it is complicated, but things are coming up and now I dedicate myself to clubbing. It is a flexible job that does not demand too much. The world of football makes you known, I am a guy that people love and they keep calling me.
-Have you missed football since you left?
-Yes, the soccer player, the one who becomes a professional, is practically what he has dedicated himself to since he was little, it is your lifelong thing. It’s a game until it’s not a game, when you start charging for playing and money is involved, we are a product and we are no longer the neighborhood kids. It can be complicated, but I put my mind together very well, I didn’t have that problem of desperation that some have had.
-What has football given you in your life?
-Football has given me joy, but also since everything happens so quickly, joys turn into sadness in a short time and we have to handle that well. Football is like that, if you sleep a little you go from glory to the grave. It’s difficult to keep winning every weekend. Now the issue of mental health is working, that pressure that football has when you are a professional is complicated and in the past it was not talked about much.
«In football, if you fall asleep a little, you go from glory to the grave; “That pressure when you are a professional is complicated.”
-You came out of the quarry very young, was that jump difficult for you?
-I prepared a lot and it was not an unexpected leap. I was a well-known youth player in Spain, I practically knew I was going to debut, although when they call you for the first time you break the ice and see how cool it is. I remember the first day against Espanyol with Julián Rubio as coach, it is a very nice memory. Then I did the preseason in the Second Division year, it was a very nice time, when you are a child what excites you is playing in the First Division and if it is with your team, imagine.
-They were not simple times in that Seville either…
-It was difficult, yes. Making your debut and having the team do well is not the same as playing in the Second Division. That is added pressure on a club like Sevilla, which had the pressure to go up. They were difficult years, then when I moved to Celta in 2000 things were better, I was at a very high level. When you are in a team that has a great squad and fights for big goals it is easier. It happened later when I returned to Sevilla with the great team we had.
-Do you see similarities between this Seville and the one you experienced in the relegation of 2000?
-We didn’t play badly at that time. When we went down with Marcos (Alonso) in ’99 we played very well, but we didn’t have that luck to finish. It was a wonderful squad, we played well, but 1-0 and losing, 2-1 and losing again. Little by little everything became complicated. Now I see the most lost team, from the outside, it doesn’t give the impression… There is also a dangerous line of the fans. The Sevillista is not the same when it goes well, which is wonderful, everyone flies and every player wants to go out on the field, to those fans who see what you are seeing. The fans pay and the team does not work. I see this tension between fans, players and management as dangerous, because it is everyone’s thing.
-In addition, now Sevillismo comes from living a golden era…
-When the fan has become accustomed to good things, it is difficult to eat choped… In these last few games, we Sevillistas are scared. It’s not that we don’t have a squad, but the players need the hope of playing a game well and having that inertia that comes when you win, and the opposite is happening. I hope we have a good game soon, the kids cheer up and we don’t have a bad time this season.
-Playing at the Ramón Sánchez-Pizjuán when things don’t work out isn’t easy either.
-I lived it during the Second Division, with that pressure that there was. Barcelona B came to you and scored 0-3… It’s very complicated. I hope everything changes. The fans are the best thing we have and let’s hope that the team gives to them to change that attitude. I remember our first Europa League, which the team won but 90% went to the fans. Sevillismo was excited and went to the field and cheered. This is how you can do everything.
«A change must be made, I don’t know how or what, but Sevilla needs a different injection; “It is important that you handle it well but that it is from here.”
-On Monday there is a game against a team that is also very dear to you. Are you clear which one you are going with?
-When they both play… But Sevilla needs it much more. Celta has a very good squad, (Claudio) Giráldez is very good, he knows and there are people from the club. This is what we talked about, they have given it their time and it is working. I hope out of necessity that Sevilla wins, but if we lose it means that Celta has won. It’s going to be very difficult, for both of us, one is very hungry, and the other is at a very good level. The important thing is to win, but if you play well, the better.
-You talk about Giráldez and he is doing very well with people from the quarry…
-Matías (Almeyda) is also doing well, I don’t consider that to be the problem. He played here, although not for long, but I like how he sees football and how he leads the team, but it is football. I hope everything changes, he is given his time and it is seen that he is suitable for Sevilla. I knew him, he regularly trained with the first team. I consider that he has values that are very similar to those of the entity and Sevilla fans.
-In your time the quarry was also the solution for Sevilla, sportingly and economically.
-The shame is that in recent years we have earned a lot of money with transfers, but when they sold Marchena and me there was nothing. Roberto Alés knew that neither he nor I wanted to leave, but they gave 1,000 million each and we went to Benfica and Celta. That injection of money was really needed, otherwise we would have stayed here all our lives. Sevilla is lucky to have a wonderful youth team, players come out at any time and they can be sold at the prices they are sold for.
-The Sevilla player also suffers from the institutional crisis…
-The footballer stays on the sidelines and it doesn’t affect him, but the fan, for sure. If you are burned and the ball doesn’t go in, you burn more, and if you don’t agree it’s an atomic bomb.
-There is a lot of talk about a change of ownership. How do you see this issue from your experience and friendship with many of the protagonists?
-When things go wrong, it is normal to talk about changes. I’m not going to get involved in anything, I have friends with everyone, but anything that is good for Sevilla is welcome. I don’t know if it needs a change or not, but when the fans are burned out and such, a change has to be made, I don’t know how or what, but the club needs a different injection so that people start again.
-There is talk of owners from outside, there are people from Seville… Would you watch Seville with people without reference to the city?
-Sevilla is a powerful club within Spain, like Valencia, which has people from outside. The equipment has to be carried by people from the city. In football we move on a feeling, it was injected into us by our family, our parents. If someone comes from outside, what are they going to do? Look at the one from Valencia. It is important that the club is treated well but that it is from here, that it loves it, that it lives it in the sense that it knows what Sevilla Fútbol Club is. Someone among us is always more attractive than a millionaire or an investment fund that wants to raise money and not feel it.
