MADRID, 6 May. (EUROPA PRESS) –
Thousands of RC Deportivo fans have passed through the Arsenio Iglesias burning chapel, installed in the changing room tunnel of the Abanca-Riazor Stadium, to bid farewell to the former player and coach of the Galician team, whom he led to win their first title.
The funeral procession of ‘O Bruxo de Arteixo’, escorted by the Local Police of A Coruña, arrived at the blue and white coliseum minutes after 9:30 p.m. on Friday, surrounded by hundreds of sportsmen who have sung songs in his memory and who have paid tribute to him a warm applause
The funeral chapel, after a few first minutes for the family and the current board of directors, coaching staff and soccer players from Dépor, Dépor Abanca and the club’s veterans, was opened to the public for two hours, with the coffin covered with an RC flag Deportivo, and received fans again this Saturday from 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.
Former blue and white presidents such as Augusto César Lendoiro, Tino Fernández and Fernando Vidal or the director of Institutional Relations of Real Madrid, Emilio Butragueño, wanted to say their last goodbye.
After the chapel closed, the sportsmen gathered at gate 0 of the Riazor to give their last ovation to the former ‘Superdépor’ coach, who will be buried this Saturday in Arteixo (A Coruña), his hometown.
During the passage of the hearse with his mortal remains, full of sports flags, the people of A Coruña surrounded him on both sides of the street with applause and chants such as “Arsenio, you are God.” Subsequently, hundreds of fans joined the funeral procession.
Arsenio Iglesias, the coach who was the creator of Deportivo de La Coruña’s best era and who also had a brief stint on the Real Madrid bench, died on Friday at the age of 92.
Known as ‘O Bruxo de Arteixo’, Iglesias was famous for directing Deportivo, nicknamed during his time as ‘Superdépor’, which he returned to the First Division and with which he won the Copa del Rey in 1995, defeating by 2-1, with a goal from Alfredo Santaelena in extra time, against Valencia at the Santiago Bernabéu, in a final that had to be suspended due to rain and which meant the first title in the club’s history.
Before, in the 1993-94 and 1994-95 campaigns, he fought for the league title against FC Barcelona and Real Madrid, losing the former in the last league match at the Riazor against Valencia, with the remembered missed penalty by Miroslav Djukic. In 92-93 he was already third in the domestic championship, four points behind the champion, the Catalan team.