The coach of Real Betis, the Chilean Manuel Pellegrini, recalled at the official reception to the delegation of his team at the Seville City Hall, after winning the Copa del Rey on Saturday, that they said they had to “come to the Plaza Nueva”, in the center of the city, “and here is the Cup”, an achievement for which he blamed Beticismo.
“The Cup is yours. Thanks to you it was achieved, you are responsible for me being here”, said the Santiago coach in the Colón Hall of the Seville town hall, “the place of great occasions”, as the mayor, Antonio Muñoz, stated in his congratulatory speech to Betis. .
Between chants in his honor started by the captain, Joaquín Sánchez, and before the Betis expedition offered the trophy from the main balcony of the town hall to the thousands of Betis gathered in the Plaza Nueva, Pellegrini said that he has spent “two spectacular years” in the city and that he could not imagine “this affection”.
“We have sown a very important illusion and, through good football, we reached the final. From the first minute we looked for the title. It happened in a more dramatic way and we would have liked to get it earlier, but it was also a joy. I congratulate my players. Here is the Cup; thanks to you it was achieved, you are responsible”, stressed the Chilean.
In the act, Joaquín, who burst into song “Yes, yes, yes, the Cup is here” and also encouraged his teammate Juan Miranda, who converted the decisive penalty to win the title, to speak, thanking “all the love and the support received from the first moment” in this tournament, and ironically with his number by indicating: “what a coincidence that, after 17 years, the Cup returns to Seville, with the Betis”.
He asked for applause for “this piece of team, which deserves it”, he recalled that he returned to Betis to “achieve important things” and that they have achieved it based on “effort, sacrifice and everyone’s work”, and stressed: ” here is the Cup, it is yours; enjoy the moment, there are still many things to come and much more beautiful”.
The youth squad Miranda was exultant and pointed out that last night his “happiness” was already noticeable, after scoring the last penalty, “after fighting for many years with this club”, which “needed joys like this, the city already what Betis is”, in addition to thanking Beticismo, which “is always there”, and ensuring that he is “one more fan”.
The mayor of Seville, a self-confessed Sevilla fan, highlighted that the Salón Colón was opening today “because Betis is the Copa del Rey champion” and added: “thank you all; if this competition had been decided by points, Betis would have won it too, because you were the best team in the Cup”.
Muñoz congratulated the Betis fans for giving “an example as hosts with Valencia, without a single incident”, he assured that on Saturday they set “an example as a city and as a fan” and that, with this success, Betis also “distributed happiness to all” at a time when “good news” is needed, in addition to requesting the continuity of the veteran Verdiblanco captain: “Joaquín cannot retire,” he stressed.
The president of Betis, Ángel Haro, recalled, for his part, the club’s first title in 1935, that of its only League, and pointed out that now they also offer “the Cup to the city”, because “there is nothing more Sevillian than Real Betis Balompié” and “it is fair to give the title to the Sevillians, to each neighborhood: Seville is verdiblanca”, he remarked. (D)
Source: Eluniverso
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