The street derby

The Plaza de España acts as an improvised Patio de Monipodio for two of the most mischievous strikers that football Sevilla has given, one from each team, practically contemporary with each other. They are Antoñito Ramiro Pérez (1978) and Dani Martín Alexandre (1981), one from the Polígono San Pablo and another from the Tardón de Triana, in the antipodes of the city and also of soccer. A Sevilla player and a Baetico who starred in some of the hottest moments in the history of derbies. Antoñito, in addition, had the opportunity to score some important goals that made the verdiblanca parish very angry. Then they would forge a good friendship by playing together at Atlético Baleares. Ace quotes them together and the joke is constant, although this week there will not be … at least until after the game on Thursday.

And that both know that they are facing a strange derby, the most: without an audience in the stands of Nervión. “What you see on the rival field or at home … you have to live that and for a Sevillian it is a dream. It is the best match you can play in the First Division. Antoñito and I have played at the Camp Nou, at the Bernabéu … but the atmosphere that exists in a pre-derby and a derby is going to miss him a lot. That motivation, which is gigantic, has no equal, “subscribes Dani.

“The atmosphere is unmatched. Now there are not going to be people cheering, but knowing how Monchi works, I am convinced that the players are going to come out at two hundred percent. It is the most important game for a youth squad from Sevilla and Betis. Dani and I are sevillista and bético de crib, he from Triana and I from Polígono San Pablo and we have sucked him “, the ex-striker from Sevilla supports him.

Antoñito and Dani lived in a time of dialectical wars and something else between Lopera and Del Nido. These days, Loren, Pedraza, Caparrós or Del Nido himself have made the previous one spicy, but nothing to do with what happened 15 or 20 years ago. “Now the directives measure their statements more. Before the derbies were much hotter and with many more provocations. But that rivalry will always exist. When the week of the game arrives, Dani is no longer such a friend of mine nor am I so close to him, “says El Polígono.

Those derbies, with a hobby but without VAR, played much more with the arms of the usual footballer, those represented by Antoñito and Dani, two youth squads whose football grew up on the street. “I like to define myself as a neighborhood player, a player, rather than a rascal. I don't know if that football is being lost, but yes that way of being on the site, of having opportunism or looking for a move. Now soccer is much more physical, they want athletes. Before, the game was more anarchic, “says the Sevilla player.

“Now a game is stopped to see if it's a penalty or not. Six or seven years ago, when we retired, that was unthinkable. Soccer has become much more physical and it is difficult to find people like Antonio, who have that quality and mischief. That is not taught in a soccer school, I know because I have one. You learn from one who is ten years older and is more rogue than you, “concludes the triana.