The Cup arrives in Spain emptied

The Cup has reached the Spain emptied, to deep Spain. Several teams from the elite of national football will visit this week some of the most remote locations in our country to experience the magic of the ‘ko’ tournament. It will Espanyol in Medio Cudeyo, Cantabria or Cádiz in Fortuna, Murcia, and one of the most special duels will be lived in Utrillas tomorrow at 7:30 p.m.

The little town from Teruel will receive the Valencia in a clash in which the team of the population of fewer inhabitants of all those who have advanced in Copa, against the team that will play this round with the most King’s Cups in their showcases. The appointment is historic for 3000 inhabitants that make up the 39 kilometers of surface of the town and it is not for less, the Utrillas, of the Preferential Regional of Aragon, you have arrived where you would never have imagined.

The rival that Valencia will face was in its beginnings a company league team. After almost 20 years like this, in 1958 the club was federated and so far its greatest achievement had been playing in Third in the 80s, where they visited stadiums like La Romareda or El Sadar, but as the president of the Pedro Asensio Club comments “that was nothing compared to this.”

Because of the importance of the duel, when they were paired with Valencia the whole town set a goal: to play in Utrillas. “Before the draw I received a message from the RFEF telling me that we had to find a field, which could not be played in our stadium, La Vega “ the president points out. “I never responded, we wanted to play in Utrillas, it’s something historic for us and we were going to do everything for it,” says Asensio. So it was.

Two additional stands of a thousand people each solved the problem of capacity, the installation of ten led lighting bulbs and the fact that the club and the City Council had invested 600,000 euros a year before in the field of play prevented the team from having to move: “The field was a quagmire” acknowledges the team president, who will only train one day this week to prepare for the game since most of its players are from Zaragoza, located 100 kilometers away.

The investment to achieve these changes in such a short time has valued the work of the people, because between the City Council, the club and companies have financed the 60,000 euros that it has cost. “The most important companies in the area have contributed 3,000 euros each, only with the sale of the 2,500 tickets we will cover costs and we expect income of 150,000 euros,” says Joaquín Moreno, mayor of Utrillas, the most fashionable town in the region.

Sports town

Despite its few inhabitants, Utrillas has invested in sports. The town has a pavilion, a bullring, a rally circuit, a fronton and a heated swimming pool … that Vicente Del Bosque inaugurated!. “Until now, coming to Utrillas Del Bosque was our greatest milestone,” says the mayor. Utrillas is part of the ’emptied Spain’, but it has managed to be attractive to people: it has the same number of children in daycare as in 2008, 26. And its tourist activities, among which the museum of the mine and an old coal locomotive that they start up on weekends, have increased visits. Tomorrow they will live a dream for which they have fought for years and that they deserve so much. It is time to enjoy it.