The day Stoichkov played for Espanyol and hid his name

It is counted as one of the players with the most Sabadell posterWithout going any further, he landed in Mallorca in the summer and was linked in the same market with Granada or Espanyol itself. Not in vain, Juan Diego Molina ‘Stoichkov’ will visit the RCDE Stadium this Saturday, where one day he performed no less than as a local, with the first team parakeet, right now his rival. A passage from his career that very few remember.

Oblivion has its reason. Stoichkov debuted under his real first name. And he did it in a friendly match that dismissed the 2011-12 season, against Egyptian Al Alhy, and what came to be called Solidarity Cup. Especially for the parakeet club, which for the commitment (televised in Catalonia and Egypt) pocketed a little more than 100,000 euros net. The fact is that between Mauricio Pochettino and Toni Jiménez, to whom the Spanish-Argentine gave the bench that afternoon of May 18, 2012They bet on trial players, such as the short-lived Romeo Castelen, and on the quarry. This is how the current Sabadell footballer played the final minutes, entering as replacement of an entire institution like Walter Pandiani.

The man from Cádiz had arrived at Espanyol just five months before, in January, and due to his age (18 years) he played during that half of the season in Juvenil A parakeet. Despite his debut among the greats, and his projection, he did not enjoy excessive fortune and in July he left for Cacereño.

There he could be called Stoichkov again, the nickname given by his father in deference to the former Bulgarian Barcelona player, whom he had attended in his bar. At Espanyol, however, they had been discouraged for obvious reasons. Juan Diego Molina played at the RCDE Stadium, this Saturday Stoichkov returns.