The squad explodes: “The time has come to say that we are fed up”

Captain Alberto Zapater, accompanied by Cristian Álvarez, Eguaras, Guitián and Javi Ros, has acted as spokesman for the squad and has read a statement in which the players, in the same line as the club, have requested the end of the competition and the rise of Real Zaragoza: “The effort to not finish the championship is making this League has gone from being the best in the world to raising a playoff adulterated ”.

The full statement from the Real Zaragoza squad is as follows:

“During these difficult months, the staff of Real Zaragoza have responsibly fulfilled their duties and all the protocols required for the return of football, but the time has come to say that we are fed up. The improvisation in which we live, the lack of organization and the negligence of those who govern our football are unbearable. It does not fit in the head that at this point we continue training without knowing anything about a playoff that is already adulterated. The sloppiness of the sports leaders will prevent us from competing with one of our teammates, when both Real Zaragoza and the footballer, Luis Suárez, have met all the requirements that were demanded of them. The competition has lost the smallest values ​​of fairness and integrity and has completely departed from the parameters of the 'fair play' sport that FIFA maintains. We want to give our solid support to Luis Suárez, who has been unfairly prevented from fighting for his great enthusiasm, taking Real Zaragoza to the First Division. Their determination, dedication and today their tremendous disappointment will strengthen us as a staff and will help us meet that challenge. We agree to the club's request to request the completion of the competition. The effort not to end the championship is causing this League to go from being the best in the world to planning a playoff adulterated, which also corrupts the planning of the next season. We are not going to stop preparing to play a playoff Although it has been completely denatured, but we trust that our arguments, which are the same defended by all of Real Zaragoza, will reconsider the leaders of soccer so that they end the season with the alternatives proposed by the club, which include the promotion of Real Zaragoza. Despite the sadness over this situation, the squad maintains its spirit and a unity that is the guarantee to move forward and achieve that goal that we are all excited about, returning Real Zaragoza to the First Division.

After reading the statement, Zapater has responded to questions from the media, at a press conference in which he has continued to be accompanied by the other four captains of Real Zaragoza.

“How is this whole situation being managed from inside the locker room?” Has the AFE contacted you?

—I spoke yesterday with the AFE to say that today I was going to hold a press conference. Players, like the club, many times we have to be calling to know. We are coming to train and not knowing what rival you are going to have or if it is going to be a date or it is not going to be a moment that affects. Now we have been confined, it is a very atypical season and despite this we have to value and thank the behavior of all our colleagues for the enthusiasm and professionalism with which we are training. In a very rare situation, since everyone is on vacation and we and other teams are preparing something that we do not know when it will happen. Despite this I think the team is training very well and we are going to prepare to play that playoff and get what we all want, which is to move up with Real Zaragoza. And if it has to be in the field, then in the field.

—If the legal services of the club consider that the best thing is not to appear to play the playoffWould the template support this position?

“It just doesn't arise.” The club tells us that what we have to do is play and that is why we are training. Later they will be the ones who will fight for the interests of the club and for what I believe that all Zaragocismo demands, for what is fair and for equality, since we are going to lack a player. I do not like to individualize, but there are some data that are very clear, since it is the top scorer of our team. What is clear is that we go hand in hand with the club in everything they tell us. We are all together and our mission is to train and prepare ourselves as well as possible for the playoff.

– What hopes do you have that the proposal from Real Zaragoza will finally be accepted?

—The footballer is always a footballer and all he wants to do is train and play soccer. I don't even know when the last game was, you have to think about it. It is in our hands to prepare ourselves as well as possible to play even knowing that we are in August and that everything is unreal, but everything else is not in our hand nor do we know what will happen. We always have to think that our grain of sand here is to play, to be physically best and to prepare for the playoff against the ‘x’ team, with the difficulty that this entails, both for us and for the coaching staff because that is the uncertainty. We talk among ourselves and there are days when one says that “this is no longer normal.” You also see fellow professionals who are already on vacation and we are here training but without any real objective. Now it seems that it is approaching, but it is not something that you are sure will occur either. Here are five players who have a contract, but there are other teammates who do not have a contract with Real Zaragoza for the next season and it is worthy of appreciating the professionalism with which they are carrying all this.

– You, as soccer players, are feeling ignored by everything that is happening? Have you been able to speak to any player from Almería, Girona or Elche?

“We are errands.” It is true that we have had meetings that are not usually given, with video calls, in the months of March, April and May between us and with the captains of Segunda and the AFE. The situation of the last game is not normal because there was no equality if we did not play all at the same time, but they cannot ask you for an opinion at 19:30 if it is played at nine at night. What are we players going to do? We want to play, but if they ask for your opinion, you say that there will be no equality. The next day I saw that Aganzo had called me several times an hour before a game, but I was playing as a starter and they already tell you to stop using your mobile because you have to mentalize yourself. With the AFE we have held many meetings, there has always been transparency and everything has been discussed, but many other times when they have wanted to participate in meetings with the Higher Sports Council, LaLiga or the Federation I do not know to what extent we have weight and power because it is a situation in which we all had to contribute in order for it to succeed. And now every thing they tell us we listen. We cannot do more. Now, ours is to get psyched and prepare ourselves to compete and win on the field beyond what the club and the fans ask for, which we believe is fair.

—As a zaragocista, how would you define the season after everything that has happened?

—It's a script that not even the best screenwriter in Hollywood. It is a rare year for the entire world, we have to adapt and it is true that beyond the coronavirus, if you look back, many misfortunes have happened to us. Even so, the team has known how to react, it has always stood up, and now we have one more setback, which is that we lack a partner who wanted to be here and cannot be. We have one more reason to continue believing that it is possible to advance to the First Division.

“How do you feel?”

—We feel like professionals who do what they tell us. And I will go further: we are part of this club. Real Zaragoza, as I said before, many times have to go calling to ask what is going on. That they have to find out through other ways when we are one of the clubs involved … We are talking about not knowing tomorrow when planning a training. Soccer is the most important of the least important things and we are doing everything possible. We put ourselves in the shoes of the fans, who are eager to know what will happen. When they ask us we have the same answer: “We don't know.” Both us and the club. And logically we want answers. From there, the footballer, and more now that it seems that the day of the most important games for the club is approaching, we have to try to prepare ourselves as well as possible physically and mentally to face those games.

—What do you think about Deportivo-Fuenlabrada and everything that surrounds that match?

—I repeat again that nobody knows anything: if it will be played, if it will not be played, what will happen, what will not happen. I can say one thing, that in a few hours something else comes out and turns the omelette again. Logically, we are people and mentally affects. There are so many things to talk about in that game… It would have been fair if we had all played at the same time.