The start of Valverde’s press conference before last night’s derby against Alavés surprised us who have been following Athletic news for years. The red and white coach sent “hugs to the family of Igor Gurtubay, our former youth soccer player and former physio who died this morning. “It’s a very hard blow for all of us.”
Gurtu, whose serious knee injury halted his future as a footballer, is one of the many professionals who belong to the Athletic discipline and have carried out their work in Lezama. In our last meeting I was with Eneko Mezo, also a coach for several years in the youth ranks of the Bilbao club. We then spoke about his long-awaited departure from Athletic and his reflection reflected the real and true red-and-white feeling.
“Like one day when Athletic called me, one understood that my services were no longer needed. If I didn’t ask myself why in the first place, I won’t need to later either. The good of the club must come first because Athletic is Athletic,” he came to tell me more or less literally with all the naturalness in the world.
Guru’s words. God damn!
Source: La Verdad
I am Shawn Partain, a journalist and content creator working for the Today Times Live. I specialize in sports journalism, writing articles that cover major sporting events and news stories. With a passion for storytelling and an eye for detail, I strive to be accurate and insightful in my work.
