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Football Matters: Athletic Bilbao, True Colors (III)
Football Matters: Athletic Bilbao, True Colors (II)
Football Matters: Athletic Bilbao, True Colors (I)
The great painter Pablo Picasso has a painting called Guernica (Guernica), the historical background of the origin of this painting comes from April 26, 1937, during the Spanish Civil War, the German army carpet-bombed the small city of Guernica in the Basque Country, the bombing almost flattened Guernica, thousands of people were killed or injured, and almost all of them were weak and old, and almost all of them had no ability to fight back, Picasso used this painting to Picasso used this painting to denounce the violence of war and to speak of mankind's desire for love and peace. There is a famous anecdote about the artist's work during the period when the German army tried to provide Picasso with enough coal to get him through the winter, but Picasso politely refused. When the German officer saw Guernica before leaving, he asked Picasso: Did you create this? Picasso responded: No, you did! With Franco's acquiescence and even encouragement, the German bombing of Guernica changed the history of the Basque Country and Spain forever. Guernica represented Basque pride and became a symbol of resistance to Spanish centralization. Most of the current Basque population must have seen the painting of Guernica when they were growing up, and I'm afraid that as much as they love Bilbao and the Basque Country, they hate Madrid and Spain, right?
To this day, large-scale wars in Spain are no longer fought, but the Basque resistance is still there, and Basque identity, politics and nationalism are still spread through the tool or weapon of soccer. The Basque Country and Barcelona's Catalonia share a certain similarity in that they were both oppressed by the central government during Franco's rule, and both seek various opportunities for independence to this day, and the soccer clubs are a representative presence of the spirit of both places. Remember the 2015 Copa del Rey final between Athletic Bilbao and Barcelona, when Barcelona still had the MSN connection and they were still the Cosmos, but apart from the artistry of Catalonia and the spirit of Basque bravery, there was another unforgettable spectacle: the fans of both sides waved flags representing the independence of the regions and united to disrupt the playing of the Spanish national anthem, and all of this played out right before the eyes of Spain's King Juan Carlos! Basque soccer teams, besides Athletic Bilbao, include teams such as Real Sociedad, CA Osasuna, SD Eibar and Deportivo Alaves, who also play an active role in preserving Basque culture, traditions and emotions, except that, as mentioned in the previous article Athletic Bilbao is the furthest (or the most extreme, depending on which way you look at it). However, this is a rather extreme case, as most of the time Bilbao's fans are non-violent and sincere in expressing their love for the team and the Basque Country, and this love extends to the athletes as well, such as Joseba Etxeberria, Bilbao's former captain, who played for Bilbao without pay after his contract ended!
On match days, when you enter San Mames, the home stadium of Athletic Bilbao, you can hear the huge, almost breathtaking sound of cheering. Fans call San Mames a cathedral, and it's not so much the building itself that makes the stadium famous, but what goes on in it, as Marcelo Bielsa, the unique coach, says. Marcelo Bielsa, the coach of the St. Mamés, says that St. Mamés has its own way of communicating with the players! However, where there is sunshine, there are shadows, as is the case with almost everything, and it is rumored that the armed and violent Basque independence-seeking group ETA (Euskadi Ta Askatasuna- Basque Homeland and Freedom) has had an on-again, off-again relationship with Athletic Bilbao (which, of course, is strongly denied by the officials of the club). In its heyday in the 1990s, the ETA also tried to interfere in the operations of Basque soccer clubs to raise funds, and even resorted to extorting money from players (famously, Bixente Lizarazu, for example), and fans' expectations of Basque players have been high.
transfer to another club (professional sports)
The players are not always supportive and sympathetic, and sometimes even cause physical and psychological trauma to the players. In the next article, we'll look at the dark side of Basque soccer, starting with two footballers who went from "saints to villains" ......
