Standing there at Mestalla, it no longer felt impossible for them to compete to be champions for the first time since the late Jaume Ortí wore an orange wig
Rodrigo Moreno sprinted towards the near post, slotted the ball past Marc-André ter Stegen and ducked behind the goal at the north end of Mestalla, team-mates racing to join the celebrations. In front of him, Valencia’s fans went wild; behind him a ballboy in a grey bib was busy reaching into a plastic carrier bag. David Vassilev is 14, he plays for Valencia’s Infantil A and in the middle of all the noise and excitement, the gathering crowd, players piling on, he had a job to do. He pulled out a big fuzzy orange wig he’d been hiding and handed it over. Rodrigo put it on and, taking a step back, pointed to the sky. Referee Ignacio Iglesias Villanueva headed over, card ready, but something stopped him, as if on his way it dawned on him what this was.
It was Sunday night at Mestalla, Valencia versus Barcelona. That morning at the parish of José María Escrivá they had held the funeral of former Valencia president Jaume Ortí, who passed away on Friday after long being ill with lung cancer, aged 70. On his lapel, son Jaume wore Ortí’s Valencia badge, given to those who have been members 50 years. Among those gathered was club president Anil Murthy, along with four former presidents. At a club too often divided, few united like Ortí. Few won like him, either. Bonico, they called him – roughly, Mr Nice Guy. The mourners were joined by the presidents of Levante and Villarreal, and ex-players gathered too. It was match day and current players couldn’t be there, but some had been to the chapel of rest the previous afternoon.
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