An unlikely dream of joining Europe’s elite were improved by a draw with Real but the fact they wanted more said much
The first time anyone noticed Jaime Mata he was standing there half-naked and even then no one really cared for long. He was a galáctico, sure, but not that kind of galáctico. A university student studying business and international commerce, he was also a pretty average striker at his local club Pegaso Galáctico in Spain’s Tercera División, which despite its name is a long way below the third division: there’s a Second; a Second B, 80 teams spread across four regional divisions; and then Third, with 366 teams in 18 provincial groups. Pegaso were in trouble, so Mata and his teammates posed for two photos: the first on the pitch with their shorts down, the second in the dressing room wearing nothing but pieces of paper to cover their modesty, lined up to spell out the club’s bank account.
If you can spell out numbers. Anyway, the plea was out there, the press called, attention drawn. But that didn’t solve the problem. It was 2009 and Mata was 19. He was lucky enough to still be living at home with his parents in Tres Cantos, north of Madrid, but Pegaso soon disappeared, unable to survive. And Mata did much the same. You had to travel to tiny grounds with imperfect pitches to find him, but now he might well soon be looking out at you as the camera pans across his face and the modern-day adaption of Handel’s Zadock the Priest booms out.
Related: Luis Suárez: ‘Any player would like to go to Liverpool now. It was different then’
Highlights: Watch back the best of the action as @GetafeCF picked up a first @LaLiga point against @realmadrid since 2012 ⚽https://t.co/gcEunA1OoE#GetafeRealMadrid #LaLigaSantander pic.twitter.com/4hKLMlwheb
Related: Huesca and Rayo drag each other towards hell in theatre of the absurd | Sid Lowe
Huesca 2-0 Eibar, Valladolid 1-0 Girona, Alavés 0-2 Barcelona, Atlético 3-2 Valencia, Leganés 0-1 Athletic, Espanyol 1-1 Celta, Levante 4-0 Betis, Sevilla 5-0 Rayo, Real Sociedad 0-1 Villarreal, Getafe 0-0 Madrid
Continue reading...