“The Gipuzkoan quarry is better than the Biscayan one”

Anda 'Bixio' Górriz, it seems that he is going to play the Cup final. The plus of being the Real player with the most matches makes him a precious object of value for the media and for the fans who stop him for the street to wish you luck

He is playing the final without playing it …

It is logical. La Real and Athletic have been facing each other their whole lives and had never done it in a Cup final. In addition, there is the delay of one year and the strange feeling that they will not be able to celebrate the party that would have been for Basque football a packed stadium. In the game, the two teams are in a good moment. Ours is a strong rivalry, but healthy. We have always wanted to. In my day, we 'scratched' ourselves well. La Real historically has suffered a lot with Athletic. They were far superior. We ‘suck’ the suffering of the generation before ours …

The style of play of this Real is not very similar to its Real of the two Leagues …

Ours dominated the games in a different way. We had a very strong defensive block with Arconada behind. Then we had Roberto (López Ufarte), Zamora, Satrústegui… They made a difference. We were a very involved, hard-working team. The current bet more for the ball, for the continued attack and, nevertheless, he may not defend like us.

Every time you see that you stayed in 599 games, just one of the resounding 600, do you remember J. B.?

Ha ha ha… Toshack was like that, a little bit of his, a little arrogant, he always wanted to be right. The players itched a lot. He had the habit of having several men warm up after 15 minutes so that those who were playing would think they could replace them. Mine was a disappointment. I turned 599 in Atotxa. It was the last game in our stadium. I started 20 minutes against Tenerife. Toshack had asked me where I preferred to play to say goodbye, if the penultimate game at our house or the last at the Camp Nou. I told him I preferred Atotxa's, of course.

And at the Camp Nou he had him warming up… for nothing.

As I had chosen, I could not complain. I thought I could give myself a few minutes in Barcelona. We were not risking anything. It kept me warming up for most of the second half, but not for a minute. Now, over time, I see the 599 and I like it, but the 600 would have been round. The things of J. B. You know him well.

Goiko says that Athletic's philosophy is more genuine than that of Real …

Everyone chooses what they want to do at home. We are proud of Zubieta. It's fundamental. It is showing. We try to take care of it as much as possible because if someone doesn't come and bring us players. The quarry is what makes us great, although we may catch a signing outside. The La Real quarry, the Guipuzcoan one, is better than the Biscayan one. I do not have any doubt about that. They rely more on Navarra, La Rioja.

Of the Cup final that they beat Atlético (86-87), what comes to mind?

That La Romareda was an oven. It was a very close match, but attractive for a final. Four goals. We got to overtime dead. We were thinking about penalties, really. We risk it. We had Arconada. We knew that Luis was going to stop at least one. He impressed pitchers a lot with his mere presence. When the batch arrived we realized that we had the handicap that they had changed López Ufarte and Zamora, who were two of our specialists. Toshack looked at me and said “you are ruined.” He had to shoot players who were not usual, but we got them all. They missed two. Arconada stopped the penultimate to Quique Ramos. There was no fifth. It was an intense emotion. Unforgettable.

He commented with Goiko that there are no longer centrals like you.

We were of a different kind. Athletic and Real always stood out for the strong, tall, great centrals of everything. I remember that Goiko and Lizarazu when they went up in the corners they took you ahead. Now, the centrals come out with the ball played almost by obligation. I was two-touch. One to control and the other to give it to a partner to play. Without complicating my life.