Minute 83 of the game and the fourth referee raises the sign. Vicente Moreno has ordered the change and Melero López gives the go-ahead. In red, Iddrisu Baba's 12, in green, Luka Romero's 41. The cadet, with 15 years and 219 days, broke the precocity record of Spanish football who scored in the 39-40 Francisco Bao Rodríguez 'Sansón' as the youngest rookie in the First Division.
The Hispanic Romero, born in Durango in 2004 and with an Argentine and Mexican passport, with his half-mane, colored boots and a more technical game, has little to do with the Vigo player. Samson, in his cotton shirt and embroidered coat, short hair with a stripe to the right and a portentous physique which earned him the nickname of this well-known biblical character. History has joined their names for more reasons than it seems. It's time to answer. Who was Samson?
Francisco Bao Rodríguez (April 20, 1924 – February 13, 2012) was born in Lavadores, Vigo, now a neighborhood, formerly a municipality, nicknamed 'Little Russia' by the force that the workers movement had there and the active militancy of its residents in parties and unions. A neighborhood mostly occupied by cannery and shipyard workers. That effort that Bao saw so closely ended up transferring him to soccer. As the local press reports, Celta found him playing for Vigués and dressed him in light blue. “I still think they took me to Celta because of my physical strength. I was very surprised,” recognized Fernando Gallego years ago at the Vigo Lighthouse.
His debut came in 39/40, another campaign that like this 19/20 was a restart although for different reasons. The Spanish Civil War had come to an end on April 1, 1939, Francisco Franco established his dictatorship and in December, it was decided that the league would return. Thus, on the fourth day, in the middle of the winter of '39 and a few days after the start of the '40, 'Samson' traveled to Seville and jumped onto the Nervión lawn covered in light blue, becoming the youngest rookie in Primera with just 15 years and 255 days. As in the case of Luka Romero with him, there was also someone before Bao. It was Pedro Irsastorza, who in 33-34, played in the First Division with the Real Sociedad shirt with 33 more days than Samson.
That December day was historic for the League, for Samson and for Celta, who with him on the field prevailed by 1-4 in Nervión to Sevilla obtaining the first victory of the vigueses in the maximum category of Spanish soccer.
Later, as explained by Bao himself, Celta, who gave him the alternative so young, rejected him because of his age and tried his luck away from home playing in Cultural Leonesa, Sporting de Gijón and Oviedo until 1950. More done, the olivic club gave him the opportunity to return home and until 55 he became the wild card of the squad, playing in almost any position.
55-56, a Samson recently entered his thirties decided to hang his boots at Jerez. The Galician, who confessed at the Faro de Vigo not to enjoy modern soccer so much, died in 2012 and did not see how Luka Romero, with the 41 on the back of a shirt full of advertising, broke a record achieved in mud soccer , rougher and amateur. Both are already Spanish football history.