Óscar de Marcos (Laguardia, 31 years old) is one of the captains of Athletic and one of the players with the most charisma in San Mamés. If he plays tomorrow against Madrid, he will match a legend in Bilbao like Aduriz in games. In addition, he is one of the seven lions who know what it is to lift the Super Cup, along with Muniain, Williams, Balenziaga, Ibai, Herrerín and Lekue. All of them won it in 2015, against Barça.
Very strange what the other day: they leave Bilbao, they take a few laps through a snowy Madrid, and they return from it.
We have had to live many things these years: not being able to land in Bilbao and having to go to Pamplona or Vitoria … If the plane doesn't move much, or not so bad, you come back, land and that's it. The pilot announced that we were going to be circling until they gave us permission to land. It could not be and there was no fuel left and there was no risk.
They slept at home not knowing if they would play at Wanda on Saturday.
Early that day they informed us. There was an option to play in the afternoon, but the normal thing was postponement.
Zidane complained that El Sadar was unworkable.
I watched the whole game and on TV I didn't appreciate that the field was bad. Each one says what they believe, I can't get in there.
He scored in the Super Cup in 2009, although they didn't win it, and he lifted the trophy in 2015. Is that your best memory as a lion along with that European match at Old Trafford 2012?
It is a memory that is among the best, for sure. We didn't enjoy it that much because of how it was. We won four to zero and we went to the Camp Nou thinking: let's see if we're going to mess it up. People took it for granted that we were going to win, but we were clear that they could put a few of us there. Then it was a relief but not of great victory but of: we have not messed it up. Then the reception and the celebration were brutal. You get long teeth for a barge.
Do you see more difficult to win with this format?
Nooo, there is a terrible illusion in the dressing room for this Super Cup. There are people who don't care about it, but they do. The games that are most remembered for years are the titles. Perhaps it is more complicated than before, but that gives it more merit. Winning Madrid and then Barça or Real Sociedad gives a lot of value to the road.
Was Garitano's fault for everything?
Of course not. The most logical thing is to dismiss the coach, because he is the most visible head. And it is easier to dismiss one than 25. But it is everyone's fault, from the first to the last. What we have to do is give thanks for these years of dedication. He took the reins in a not easy moment and took us out of the pot, until he took us to a Cup final that we are going to play thanks to him and that if we win it will be partly his.
A final that seems increasingly difficult to see with an audience.
This is not over. Months go by and we continue to be very similar or we go backwards. You have to be patient, we dream that that day in Seville there are people in the field, but the reality is that right now any event with people becomes strange.
You know what it is like to have COVID. It was hard?
No, it brushed past me, like the flu. I had a fever, malaise and headache, but from the third day on, I started to feel well. Luckily, you generate antibodies and now I am very calm.
When all this exploded, he had the good news of being a father.
We were not aware of the impact of the coronavirus. It was a week after the confinement, we were with that illusion of being parents that separated us a bit from the rest. We had the logical fear of the news that came out and the sadness that our parents could not meet their grandson, but fortunately solutions to the coronavirus are now being found.
He has 406 games as a lion, one from Aduriz and 31 from Athletic's historic Top-10. They are 12 years in the club. What does it suppose?
It is something unthinkable, an important personal satisfaction, because when you arrive at no time do you consider being able to reach those figures. I entered the Top-20 and it was already having achieved a lot. Every little step you take is very big. I am proud to be close to Adu, a historic man in Bilbao, to a match! Let's go little by little to see how far we can go.
Aduriz has always been an example for you.
There are people who always leave a void that is difficult to fill. And he is one, it will cost us a lot. Colleagues like Gurpegui, Iraola and Aduriz are people who, no matter how much you try to replace, you always notice a void.
What do you think of the current Madrid?
A great team, as always. Benzema is in one of his best moments of confidence, he is the striker who scores the goals. He is always the one who takes the most account, he is the key piece in Madrid.
Ramos is back with its renovation.
I do not know, I already read more than once things about his renovations, but it is not a subject that concerns me.
And yours? He said he wanted to wait, but if it is at this level, it deserves to renew.
I don't know, we will go little by little and at the end of the season it will be decided. You have to be calm, I get into phases in which year after year the club and I will see how we assess the situation and decide what is best for everyone.