The derby, present in Qatar

One of the names that gave the most talk in the preview of the World Cup was Peter Møller. From Denmark they made a very strong opposition to the tournament dispute, saying that they were “ashamed” to participate in such a championship and hiding the team’s shield on the kits. The person responsible for these decisions is the former Oviedo striker. Eugenio Prieto opted for him after his appearance in the 1998 World Cup, where he scored a goal in the round of 16 against Nigeria. That goal and his good resume, since he was the Pichichi twice in the League of his country, raised the illusions of the blue parish, but the reality was very different. Møller left a very bittersweet taste in the carbayones and two years later he packed his bags back to his native Denmark.

Before being under the orders of Xavi and Juanma Lillo, former Oviedo coach, sharing a dressing room with Santi Cazorla and being the star of Qatar, Akram Afif had a brief stint at Sporting. The winger came to Gijón as the Qatari Maradona”, but reality put things in their place. On loan from Villarreal, his youth and inexperience took their toll on him and he could not demonstrate the self-confidence he promised. He played 266 as rojiblanco, divided into eleven matches and after that he returned to his country, where in 2019 he was named the best Asian player.

After making a splash in the group stage, leaving Uruguay out of the round of 16, Paulo Bento now has the difficult task of eliminating Brazil with his South Korea. But 20 years before taking charge of the South Korean country, he came to wear the Oviedo captain’s armband. The Portuguese spent four years in the blue discipline, leaving a great memory among the carbayones. His idyll with the color blue was close to having a second part, since the club was about to hire Paulo Bento as coach after the dismissal of Sergio Egea, but finally the one chosen was Generelo. An exrojiblanco suffered in his own flesh the defeat of Spain in his debut against Costa Rica. “La Bala” Ronald Gómez arrived in Gijón in an unexpected way. Albacete played a friendly in Costa Rica against Gómez’s team, LD Alajuelense, a match in which he signed a great performance. A few months later, Sporting was looking for a young forward and, when asking the man who was the Albacete goalkeeper, the name was clear. His time as a rojiblanco was very short, since he only spent one year. He is now the second coach of Costa Rica and one of the “culprits” for Spain being out of the World Cup for five minutes.

One of the men who prepares Spain’s rival in the round of 16, Morocco, not long ago worked at the Mareo facilities. Eduardo Domínguez, physical trainer for the Moroccans, arrived at Sporting in 2020 at the hands of David Gallego and two seasons later, after giving up a year of his contract with the Gijón team, he decided to leave Gijón in search of new professional challenges. Since August he has been part of Walid Regragui’s team, coach.

One of the many shareholders of Oviedo wore the number 1 shirt for Mexico during the World Cup. “Memo” Ochoa, one of the best players for the Aztecs during the tournament, bought shares in the blue capital increase even before the arrival of the Carso group. A few years later, in 2017, the carbayones tried to sign him when he was in the ranks of Málaga, but his file prevented the move. Joaquín del Olmo, Carso’s adviser at the time, tried to offer himself shares in the club to convince him, but in the end the operation did not come to fruition.

Although he barely had minutes in the World Cup, a former Vetusta player also had his chance at the World Cup, in his case under the United States flag. Shaq Moore, a right-back who in January 2016 joined the blue team led by Carmelo del Pozo, but failed to make his debut with the first team. After going through Tenerife, Nashville paid two million for him this summer to take over his services.

All this without forgetting the great Asturian representation that exists within the Spanish team. Beyond Luis Enrique, four of the Asturian’s staff members have a past as rojiblancos. Óscar Celada, doctor; Juanjo González, goalkeeper coach; Lorenzo del Pozo, rehabilitator and Joaquín Valdés, psychologist; They have a past at Sporting. In addition, within Spain there are three other members born in Asturias. Pablo García-Cuervo, communication director; Rafa Zapatero, audiovisual manager; and Álvaro García, cameraman, are part of the Asturian delegation sent to Qatar.