With the twists and turns that life takes and how wide the football market seems to be, fate and roads sometimes intersect as capriciously as they will. next Saturday February 20 between UD Las Palmas and the Albinegro team, with the possible confrontation against players like David Simón, Rubén Castro, Alberto de la Bella, Nacho Gil and Leandro Chichizola, all of them former members of the UD.
Maybe with some nostalgia or maybe not, depending on the protagonist who is named, seeing the Cartagena of the last dates could well bring him many memories to the yellow fan for the sum of footballers with a past on the island which houses in its ranks both the recent one in the Second Division, with Rubén Castro at the flag, and the failed project in the First Division.
Rubén and de la Bella, two meaningless outings
“El Moña”. Who else is the first one who can come to mind after his great service record: 30 goals in the last two seasons and having passed an operation with four months off in the last year, at 39 years old. It is said soon. Undoubtedly, an incomprehensible departure in the summer to Cartagena that, more than one, should blush, as the numbers continue to prove La Isleta right, with 12 goals in 24 games this season.
Another of those who return to Gran Canaria is the Catalan side Alberto de la Bella, a footballer who in just two years left great affection among the fans for his great professionalism and good work being, in addition, a fixed both Pepe Mel and his predecessors in office. His 57 games confirm this, as the Madrid coach's own words when saying goodbye in the summer. “A great professional and a better person. Thank you very much, Alberto,” the coach posted on his social networks who, visibly upset at the press conference, affirmed that the decision to leave the footballer “belongs to the club, not mine. “. Little more to add.
David Simón, a fixture on the rise
After spending the last two seasons at Deportivo de la Coruña, the Gran Canaria winger once again sees his faces against his home team. A key footballer in the time of Paco Herrera in the ascent of the 2014/2015 season, in which He played 37 league games, plus the four promotion games, but little by little he lost prominence in the best league in the world until having an almost testimonial role in the last season in the First Division, with only 11 games played, to end up leaving the club at the end of that season. However, his 109 games as yellow speak of his good work for many years at the club.
Chichizola and Nacho Gil
The last two footballers who return as visitors surely do not enjoy such a good reputation among the yellow stands, empty next Saturday, since unfortunately their time at the club did not enjoy high esteem.
With the departure of Javi Varas to Granada, in the summer of 2017, the yellow club was looking for a guaranteed goalkeeper to replace the good performance given to date by the Sevillian by hiring Leandro as a free agent for one season, with an option of three more Chichizola from the Italian Serie B Spezia. His time at the club counts alone, to tell the truth. In 29 games in goal he conceded 51 goals and his position was discussed by Raúl Lizoaín, who came to play 11 matches that season in the highest category of Spanish football.
And, finally, the case of Nacho Gil was another of the “misfortunes” of that “annus horríbilis” in terms of transfers, with his arrival in the winter market, from Valencia on loan, with whom he had played until back then four games. He played 14 games, of which he started in eight of them with Paco Jémez.
In this way, next Saturday the yellow fan will have to settle for living that afternoon of reunions in Gran Canaria on television, with both longed-for footballers and others who suggest how bad things were done in past times in the past. UD offices.