LaLiga: Betis’s Joaquin looking to retire in style with cup win
When Real Betis winger Joaquin announced last November that this would be his final season after 21 consecutive years of top-flight football, he would not have dared to dream that he would have the chance to sign off by lifting the Copa del Rey.
“Sacrifice and effort lead to glory,” an emotional Joaquin, 40, told his team mates after Betis eliminated Rayo Vallecano in the semifinals last month to advance to Saturday’s decider against Valencia in his hometown Seville.
“Our fans have been suffering for years and I learned from my uncle that there is nothing more beautiful than making others happy. So let’s make it happen.”
Joaquin was referring to Betis’s 17-year trophy drought. Their last piece of silverware was Joaquin’s first, the 2005 Copa del Rey.
“I’ve already won a Cup with Betis and another with Valencia, and played a cup final with Fiorentina… I love a cup,” Joaquin said.
Regarded as one of the greatest characters in Spanish football, Joaquin’s talents stretch far beyond the pitch.
He has become a social media hit with his behind-the-scenes videos, pranks, dancing and jokes as well as a star of television shows and adverts.
An entertainer off the pitch, but also Betis’s captain and leader, a vital cog in Manuel Pellegrini’s team who are fighting to finish in LaLiga’s top four and secure a Champions League spot for next season.
“He is very important for us and is still in good shape, but he is past 40 and, as much as he wants to keep playing, his body told him otherwise,” Pellegrini said when asked about his skipper’s decision to retire at the end of the season.
Joaquin’s numbers support Pellegrini’s assessment.
Despite competing for a place with the in-form Sergio Canales and Nabil Fekir, Joaquin is a regular having made 31 appearances this season.
He started eight of their 10 Europa League games before they were knocked out by Eintracht Frankfurt in the last-16.
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The final against Valencia will present a clash of styles between Pellegrini’s possession-based, attacking mentality and Jose Bordalas’s solid defensive block and speedy transitions on the counter-attack.
“We need to be cool-headed and don’t fall into the trap of their the provocations and pounding,” Pellegrini said.
“They are a difficult opponent that like to play closed-down. Hopefully it will be a good football game but it depends if both teams go in willing to play a good game.”