Carmelo Navarro, popularly known as the Beckenbauer of the BayHe was a footballer for Cádiz between 1987 and 1993. The central is one of those unforgettable players for the cadista fans. In his career he went through many clubs, such as Portuense, Salamanca, Betis, Recreativo de Huelva and Cádiz, where he retired. Carmelo lived a great era of the cadista club. Many years in the First Division have given him the option to face great teams and, above all, huge world-class players. The Cádiz was his last club and, therefore, AS has spoken with him in the run-up to the match against Real Madrid. The ex-footballer warn to the white players that they are not trusted, since the yellow ones can return to give the surprise.
Currently, the former soccer player is dedicated to working in the family business called Vinagres de Yema, which is dedicated to making the oldest denomination in the country. A company with great international projection.
– How are you seeing Cádiz this season?
– Regular. I see it quite regular. On Monday I was watching him with Granada and you could see that they were going to tie the game. I don’t see it like last year. I see him much more gripped, he has changed the game system and I think he does not find the dynamics he had last year. I don’t see the team well.
– It is said that the second season in the First Division is more difficult than the first. As a former footballer, do you agree?
– Yes that’s how it is. The first year you arrive new. Every time you go out to one of the Primera courses, you are very excited. Obviously they know you little because you have been the previous year in the Second Division. This year you already know the game system that Cádiz has, it is much more studied and then it costs much more to deploy its game. I refer to the tests. Even if I were Real Madrid, I wouldn’t trust myself because last year Cádiz won at Alfredo Di Stéfano. In other words, I would not have them all with me.
– In the end there are games, Real Madrid, Barça, Atleti… in which the players have an extra motivation.
– Being in First is the best. And that leads you to think, I am in the elite and what I want is to be here for many years. What the footballer wants is for the team to settle down, for Cádiz to take a few years in the First Division, because in terms of football and personally what he wants is to grow and be a little better every day.
– Are the days before these matches special?
– That’s the biggest there is. What the footballer wants is to play against the big teams because that is where the media impact he has really is much greater, with all due respect, than if you play with a Mallorca or an Alavés. Playing and beating Madrid or Barcelona, as Cádiz did last year, puts you on top of everything, puts you on the crest of the wave and the impact it has is much greater. What the footballer wants is to enjoy those games because it really is the dream of every footballer, to reach the First Division and play these games.
– You have faced Real Madrid on many occasions and have achieved draws and even victories.
– I have been lucky enough to play against Real Madrid many times and not only at Cádiz, but also at Betis and Salamanca, I have enjoyed playing against Real Madrid and thrashing them, not just beating them. With Betis I remember two years that we beat him 4-1 at Benito Villamarín. I really enjoyed when Valdano, Camacho and so many great footballers were there. Those were the moments in which the blood comes up, that you go out with the nerves to the field, but once you go out, being on the pitch with these monsters, what makes you is that many times you think you are at his level although it is not like that.
– And it leaves memories for a lifetime.
– Yes, the memories are indelible. For many years that pass, having been able to play against those footballers and having visited the Santiago Bernabéu, the Nou Camp and all these fields, are indelible memories. And having been able to enjoy these games in the First Division with the best that has been in world football is what you take with you, it is what you stay. When I start to remember it, it is very exciting.
– I remember a 1-0 goal by José González in minute 1. That match had to be a total tension.
– Yes, because José also scored as soon as the game started and I think we spent 80 minutes under our goal. But hey, they are games that take place like this, we were really good and everything went well for us and for Madrid, things didn’t turn out the way they thought. That comes out once in ten or twenty, that the small fish eats the big one and that is what happened.
– Returning to the current situation in Cádiz, what does Carmelo think about Álvaro Cervera?
– I think that Cervera should be made a monument. It has been five and a half years after taking a team in Second B, promoting it to First and hopefully this year, God willing, to see if it can consolidate a little more in the First Division and logically it will be a success for Cervera. We will see in the second round what it does. Now things are regular, but what you have to do is give him a margin of confidence and above all support the team. When the team is up and well, no one needs to support it. What you have to do now is row all together, pull forward and all go in the same direction. And surely with everyone’s help, Cádiz stays another year in the First Division.
– In the end Cádiz, historically and with few exceptions, the seasons in the First Division are complicated and permanence is achieved in the last days.
– Of course, that’s what happened to us, that in the end we were always on the wire and in the end we saved ourselves, until it could no longer be. But it is true that it is important for a team like Cádiz to be in the First Division for two or three years in a row because then the consolidation period arrives. Then you can strengthen yourself, the money from television is a lot, the money that the Professional Football League gives allows you to make higher disbursements, and then that’s when you can already make a very solid base to achieve better goals. And that’s what I think Cádiz is about.
– And it is something very good for the city and even the province.
– Well, I believe that Cádiz is a benchmark, it is the standard. And not only the people of Cádiz are going to see Cádiz. I believe that Cádiz is the team of the province. The other day I was watching the team and people told me that every day more fans from the province go. I think that’s what it’s all about. Unite the entire province around Cádiz.
– What signings would you make in this winter market for Cádiz?
– I would sign a companion for Choco Lozano, because I think Cádiz needs another attacker. And then, to accompany Álex Fernández, he would sign another attacking midfielder. I think that Cádiz from the center of the field to the back is very good, they have very good footballers. I think what is missing is from the center of the field forward. Those two are the ones I would sign.
– Will we ask the Kings?
– We will put the Three Wise Men, under the little tree, a postcard so that the wishes are fulfilled because I believe that with that Cádiz would take a quality leap forward. It is what Cádiz lacks.
– Of your entire career at Cádiz, what moment would you stay with if you can only choose one?
– The day we eliminated Málaga on penalties when we were in the First Division and we were at stake to stay in the playoffs. We played with one less for most of the game, we beat Málaga 1-0, we played extra time and we beat them on penalties. I had to shoot the fifth penalty. I believe that the field did not fall that day because God was up, but it was the best. It was as if we had won the European Cup. Crazy.
– The cadista knows that he is not going to win much, but what little he gets he celebrates well.
– Imagine that day. The field to burst, it was the second leg after having lost 1-0. They threw Mami Quevedo out of us as soon as the first half started and then José González made it 1-0. We played extra time with 10, we followed the whole game tied and on penalties we beat Malaga. It was a special game, especially for the people. The field was full and people enjoyed it a lot, which in the end is what you want, that people when they go, enjoy. Because that is what it is about, that the fan, the supporter of Cádiz, enjoy when they go to the pitch.
– Sunday’s game, you already told me. That Madrid, that does not trust too much, right?
– If I were a Madrid footballer, I wouldn’t trust myself. Celta was also entrusted, Athletic Club de Bilbao was entrusted and Cádiz won. The world of football is unpredictable and, although logic dictates that Cádiz will win one of twenty games, let’s see if the team is inspired and is able to tickle Madrid.
– So, Cádiz is saved this season …
– I am convinced that Cádiz is going to be saved, of course. Also, now we have to take advantage of the casualties. They don’t have Modric, they don’t have the lighthouse, they don’t have the guide and that’s where Cádiz has to be used.