Pacheco’s new adventure: “In Poland you feel like a star”

“I couldn’t be happier. I’m delighted from the first minute,” discovers a Danny Pacheco (Pizarra, Málaga, 1991) full of life for whom the opportunity to play for Górnik Zabrze came practically out of nowhere. After terminating with Aris Limassol, the Andalusian was training with El Palo, from Tercera RFEF, when he received the news: “I thought no one was going to call me anymore, but the phone rang. As soon as I hung up I told my agent that I was going to Poland. He didn’t even know the conditions, but he was clear that he wanted to sign for Górnik. When you want to play you don’t even think about it. At the time she was my only option and I didn’t let her get away.”

Pacheco did not receive the call from any club. On the other end of the phone were representatives of Górnik Zabrze, the second most successful team in the history of football in Poland. “Arriving at an important club after a somewhat difficult time was a rush of energy,” discovers Pacheco, who does not mind having to go back to 1988 to see the last title that the mining club incorporated into its showcases: “After It has maintained its greatness for so many years and you can see that from the first moment. It has details of an important entity, good facilities, they give you all the facilities in the world… Being here is wonderful”.

Dani Pacheco has the confidence of the coach, an old acquaintance of Spanish football as Jan Urban, but he has the bar very high: three Spaniards -Dani Suárez, Igor Angulo and Jesús Jiménez- wore the Górnik Zabrze shirt before him and all had an outstanding time at the Polish club. “They let you know from the first moment. They say: ‘All the Spaniards who have been here have done very well. Let’s see how you do it.’ He is a true legend here”, confirms Pacheco, who will share the lead with a world champion like Lukas Podolski: “When I looked for the squad on the internet and saw him, I was happy. If he’s here, it’s because he’s fine. We haven’t talked much yet, but he looks like a very open boy. They have a lot of respect for him, but he’s a horny guy and he gets along well with everyone.”

It was precisely Podolski who gave him the assist for his first goal with Górnik. Dani Pacheco made his debut with the miners losing 0-1 at home and was in charge of scoring the tie when his team was outnumbered. “It couldn’t be better. I played 15 minutes and scored the equalizer, although we thought we could still win because we were dominating. The shot wasn’t very clean, but it went in. I wanted to celebrate, but we had to resume play as soon as possible,” he recalls. Pacheco, who would have liked to be accompanied by his partner or his family. However, there will be more opportunities since “my intention is to stay here”: “In Poland the stadiums are wonderful, there is a great football atmosphere, a lot of cameras… You feel like a star. I think it is a league in which I can perform very well and I am delighted.”

An enviable resume

The signing of Dani Pacheco by Górnik Zabrze raised a stir in Poland. It is not every day that a player trained at La Masia arrives at the Ekstraklasa who also wore, among others, the shirts of Liverpool, Betis, Alavés or Getafe. “They have seen my CV and that is another of the things for which I am obliged to pay”, discovers the man from Malaga, who stood out from a very young age and he joined the FC Barcelona academy at just 12 years old. “I don’t know how parents see their 12-year-old children now, but I was a monkey. Children now seem older,” jokes Pacheco, for whom “it was not difficult” to separate from his parents: “I was delighted, but there were a lot of kids my age who cried at night.”

Dani Pacheco signed for Barça “being very much a part of Madrid”. “Real Madrid was also interested and had planned a visit, but we started with Barcelona and I didn’t want to see anything else”recalls the Andalusian, who spent four years at La Masia and later changed his residence to England: “Benitez called me, I traveled to Liverpool and on the same trip I already signed. Barça found out and wanted to improve my conditions, but there was no I was already signed. I thought that at Barça I no longer had anything to do. Then Guardiola arrived and they began to give more importance to the quarry. Who knows what would have happened”. Pacheco only made 17 appearances for the Liverpool first team. Shortly after he earned the nickname ‘promotion man’ as he got three in a row with Betis, Alavés and Getafe. Málaga, Logroñés and Aris Limassol were his last teams before landing in Poland, where he hopes to make history.