Valdes, Casillas, and the politics of Spain
Victor Valdes’ irrevocable announcement that he does not intend to renew his contract with FC Barcelona prompts me to suggest a possible solution to the antagonisms between Catalunya and Madrid- have Iker Casillas replace him.
The Real Madrid goalkeeper is at loggerheads with Mourinho, but enjoys good and enduring friendships with other players in La Roja , among whom are some Barca players. The presence of Iker in Barca would bring perhaps the best goalkeeper in the world – better than Valdes without a doubt-to the city that boasts not only that it has the best football club in the world, but also that this is more than just a club. Together with Catalans- his friends Xavi and Pujol- and non-Catalan players of the quality of Iniesta, Villa & Messi, Iker would help turn Barca into an example of a possible federal constitution, both consensual and consented , and leaving those who chant Independence when the clock strikes the 17th minute without a convincing argument.
Casillas has a noble and generous personality. He is also a consummate professional, both brave and talented. He belongs to a lineage of legendary goalkeepers who have graced the Spanish game over many years, both at club and national squad level. I am thinking here of The Divine One Zamora (who played for Barca and Real Madrid and RC Español), of Ramallets, Iribar , Zubizarreta, Cañizares, Pepe Reina. By contrast who can forget another great Spanish goalkeeper who failed at the decisive moment? I am thinking here of Luis Arconada , letting in Platini’s goal in the final of the European Champions in 1984. The Spanish goalkeeper, as I argue in my book La Roja, is a Quixotic figure. He personifies those high ideals of imagination and sacrifice, a bastion against the enemy as well as an excuse for disaster.
So let me appeal to the sectarian politicians of Catalunya and the Castilian right to stop making our lives even more miserable with their extremisms. It is time, as Vicente Del Bosque has argued, for football to teach Spaniards of whatever region or alleged nationality how to be civilized with each other.
Comments