A miracle against the tide

In the middle of the first decade of the 20th century, the Unión Deportiva Las Palmas did not disappear by a miracle. A miracle that began to take shape in the summer of 2005 and that was meat on June 24, 2006, when a goal by Marcos Márquez at the Gran Canaria Stadium burst his own and strange eardrums and got the club into professional Spanish football.

In full bankruptcy, Las Palmas' subsistence could well have undergone that rise. If he had not succeeded, it will never be known that he would have been one of the most prominent sports entity in the Canary Islands, but there are many clues that invite the fatal outcome that never occurred. Nauzet scored in Anoeta the goal of his life, and Márquez in Siete Palmas that of so many people.

To remember the 15 years of that feat, sports miracle with so many institutional and economic problems, Diario AS echoes the testimonies of four fundamental protagonists of that feat. Come and read.

Marcos Marquez.

Icon of Las Palmas during the first decade of this century, the testimony of the Sevillian striker seems essential. “I remember that day with great emotion,” insists Márquez. The idea that promotion was mandatory continues to permeate him. The club was dying: “It was a difficult and complicated moment due to the situation at the club and we were forced to promote yes or yes. After how everything turned out, the feelings are of pride after having achieved that promotion.”

Márquez also remembers the perfect communion with the fans of Gran Canaria. “We lived in the streets, we were very supported by the fans, we were one. I remember that we made radio spots to make an appeal and they did not fail us. They took us flying from minute one,” he says.

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Who was more decisive than anyone in that crowd remembers, again, Nauzet Alemán: “I remember that in the tie against Real Sociedad B we were out, but Nau scored a goal at the last minute and we were in. Then, in the first leg against Linares, a game that is not talked about much, the tie to two. I remember the subject of the stone to the fan of the UD and it was a war that we had to carry out yes or yes “. A few days later the definitive victory was certified.

Victor Afonso

The central Gran Canaria, today coach, returned on time to his house”. A few months before, however, they had been rivals. “I perfectly remember that promotion, the first one for Ramírez at the helm. I returned to the club, which I consider my home, from the Casillo; we had coincided in Second B”, recalls Afonso. He recalls how he was presented with Siro Darino, another key footballer in that promotion, before starting “a season in which we had a hard time getting on top.” So much so that there was a change of coach: “That caused Josip Vijnic to be fired. With Juanito we improved a lot, which led us to promotion.”

Impossible to forget, neither for Víctor Afonso, that match against Rayo in the final league stretch. “The match against Rayo, with 30,000 people, was very tense, but in the end Marcos (Márquez) penalty put us ahead. Then we won in Lanzarote to certify the passage to the qualifying rounds”, evokes excited.

In the qualifying rounds he had to make up when all was lost, especially that afternoon in Anoeta. It was playoff times. “Real Sociedad B was our turn, we won 1-0 at home and, although we had everything under control in Anoeta, they put us first, then second, and we had to score”, account. With surgeon's precision, this is how he narrates the miracle: “I remember that I started the play on the wing, I put the ball to David Rodriguez and Nau scored that goal.”

“Then we got Linares”, third, “a team that had been very strong throughout the year at home.” A hellish environment gave wings to Las Palmas: “In the first leg the treatment was very bad; in fact, they slashed the head of one of our fans with a stone and, in the end, we tied at 2.” Not that they were the two heroes of that ascent, again he remembers, of course, Márquez and Nauzet Alemán: “In the second leg, with the stadium full, the fans pushed us towards victory. We played a very serious game. We started the second half and I remember very well, the play was perfect. Nauzet's ball towards the heart of the area and Marcos scored the goal that put them at a disadvantage because they had to score two goals. The team was promoted. “ And so much that was seen.

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Juanma Marrero placeholder image

The current Fuenlabrada footballer had a prominent role in the promotion of his hometown team. “We were very happy for all the accumulation of things that we experienced that year. People were very happy because they saw that everyone's effort made the promotion a reality. In addition, achieving it with the team of your life makes it even more special”, the defender counts.

It was a truffled template of Gran Canaria players, at least 8 in the starting team on the decisive day: along with Juanma, Ione, David García, Alberto Hernández, Víctor Afonso, Nauzet Alemán, Aythami Artiles and Aday. “The footballers here feel this team from the heart and soul”, Marrero insists. “It's that it's what you've lived all your life. For that reason, having achieved promotion with so many players on earth makes you feel even more proud of what you've achieved”, Add.

Juanma completed his third season in the team that year, so he was as aware as most of all the financial problems that Las Palmas was going through by then. “Ascend in these conditions has enormous merit,” he confesses. First the box and then the team game. Everything went wrong. This is how he recalls: “We were all season rowing against the current, we faced all possible adversities. The fans, of course, were not comfortable. But we recovered. Despite all that we achieved the great goal; that was more gratifying, you give it more value. “

“Nothing would have been possible without that goal by Nauzet Alemán in Anoeta. There we laid the foundations for promotion against Linares”, Marrero insists.

There, in the middle of the Jaén territory, Las Palmas lived a real hell. “But even before that game was played in Linares. There was even an attempt to buy players”, remember, still amazed. “They tried to destabilize us from all sides, and each one had to row where he could”, insists. On a stage of “war” the UD was finally successful: “In Linares they tried everything possible, such as with the stands, with their fans so close to the touchline. That was a war in which everything was worth it. I remember as if it were today. The team came in a very dynamic situation. good, we dominate “.

That “war” of Linares crossed with the psychological battle that the team of the Sports Union lived in their day to day. The subsistence of the club, bankruptcy present, was at stake. “In the day we had it in mind, of course. The club was going through very complicated moments, and you end up getting soaked”, justifies. The pressure, in his case, as a Gran Canaria player and a footballer in that group, multiplied until it is unknown where: “You are representing the club of your life, and you know that the promotion was the objective to be able to save it financially. We talked about that pressure a lot with Nau (German), David García, Aythami…”.

After that promotion, Juanma lasted two seasons at the club before making a career across the Atlantic. It stayed, like this, an unfinished history with the UD. “I was going through tough times. I barely played my last season, and I needed a change.” relates with some regret. “I do not regret”, clarifies. But his wish, already past, could also remain valid: “Of course I would have liked to go back and be able to play for my hometown team without as much pressure as we suffered that year.” Not that it was necessary, on the other side of the phone it is sensed that he betrays a sly smile.

Miguel Angel Ramirez

Sportingly speaking, to Miguel Ángel Ramírez, president and maximum shareholder of Las Palmas, his life was going on that climb. At least the club. “The promotion that was one of the keys to achieving success in managing the entire economic crisis. It is not the same to face a creditor agreement in Second Division B than in Second A”, qualifies the leader.

The year of its premiere in the presidency, where it remains today, could not have ended better. It is impossible not to coincide, in addition, in the best moments: “The club's possibilities were different and thanks to the promotion, in my first year as president, I keep a fond memory. The goal in Anoeta in the last gasp of the game by Nauzet and that tremendous goal by Marcos Márquez, a pass from Nau , I will never forget them. “