In Spain (and perhaps in other countries as well), there is also a national tournament, El Campeonato de Espana-Copa de Su Majestad El Rey or La Copa del Rey. This tournament allows all of the professional teams in Spain (all 126 of them) to compete regardless of the level of their league. Of course, the teams from La Liga dominate the tournament, but there can be interesting upsets by teams from lower-ranked leagues.
So, why are we writing about this now? Well, tonight is the final of La Copa 2020, which was delayed a year due to Covid, and not only is the team from San Sebastian, La Real Sociedad, in the final, but they will be playing their arch rivals Athletico Bilbao in the first-ever final meeting for these teams in almost 120 years of La Copa.
To say this is a big deal in the Basque Region would be an understatement. News coverage has been extensive for several weeks, but the last few days have been crazy. In yesterday's paper (no paper today because of Semana Santa (holy week)), the first 40 pages were dedicated to the game, with additional articles in each major section of the paper -- politics, economics, culture. And, this was the day after they published a 62-page (!) special insert. It is like the Super Bowl on steroids.
Frankly, we really did not understand why this was such a big deal. And, since we are not huge soccer fans we had not been following the build-up closely, although we were aware that Real was in the final. But then, yesterday, The Guardian newspaper out of England published an article that explained why this is such a big deal, so we decided to write about it.
It turns out that the Basque Derby (which is what the Real-Athletico rivalry is called), is more than just a rivalry. Up until 1989, both teams maintained an unwritten policy of not signing non-Basque players. Athletico continues that policy to today. Of the 25 players to appear in La Liga for Athletico this year, 21 are Basque and four are from Navarre, which was historically a Basque territory although not part of the modern Basque Region of Spain. The numbers for Real are 17 Basque players and two from Navarre of 28 who have appeared. In essence, this final is like a civil war. However, it turns out, it is a very friendly civil war with fans of the two teams mixing both in the stadium (normally) and among the population. In the end, the people put their Basque identity above the rivalry.
At the 1976 final, which took place less than one year after the death of the dictator Francisco Franco, and during a time when the Basque flag was still illegal, the captains of Real and Athletico (which won the game against a team from Sevilla) carried the flag into the stadium:
As you can imagine, this relationship goes well beyond futbol.
Given the nature of this rivalry, both teams agree that having their fans present for the game is of utmost importance. So, when the final was first delayed because of Covid, the teams agreed that they wanted to wait to play the game until they could do so in front of their fans (the game is played at a pre-determined site, this one in Sevilla). Unfortunately, the final for the 2021 Copa is scheduled for two weeks from today (Athletico is in that one as well against Barcelona, the most successful Copa team of all time with 30 titles), and the people who organize the tournament said they would not allow the 2021 final to happen before the 2020 final. So, the game will have to go on without fans in the stadium. But, you can bet that almost every TV in the Basque Region, including ours, will be tuned in to the game at 9:30 pm tonight.
We can't wait to see what the post-game news coverage looks like. Especially if Real Sociedad wins!
Hasta pronto,
Jeff and Shana
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