“We have to be brave and hopefully it will be a competitive match”

Only a few days left before the real Madrid ‘get down in the mud’ and compete in your 1/16 round King’s Cup he is new Minera Sports Cluba humble but courageous team from Group IV of the Second Federation belonging to the Cartagena municipality of El Llano del Beal.

And as a preview, the coach of the mining team, José Pérez Veiga ‘Poppy’was kind enough to answer Mundo Deportivo exclusively through a phone call that happened shortly before starting his night shift, because he is a municipal police officer in Los Alcázares.

First of all, how is the town? Real Madrid will be the main theme of Christmas…

“Yes, the issue is in everyday life, absolutely. You go down the street and people ask you, wish you luck, tell you that there is little left… My friends and family try to give it a normal but the fans are against you asking about it.

And how does the group experience it? Are you a bit ‘decentered’ by this whole topic?

“Yes. Not only Real Madrid, which is more. But the Copa del Rey has distracted us from what feeds us and what is important to us, which is the competition in the league and what allows the us who are there.” The ‘post-Cup’ and ‘pre-Cup’ results are different We will fight with Antoniano (League) and we will lose, we beat Tudelano (Cup), then Almería B (League) and. “We are losing. Something similar happened to us and Alavés… In the end they are bad results that distract us from what we really want. So, let the game come, let’s enjoy it and that’s it.”

And beyond the physical wear and tear, there’s the mental wear and tear. Also for organization and everyday. You are a police officer and you combine work with football…

“I’m handling it well. Without going any further, tonight I work, last night I worked… It doesn’t affect me much, it’s just that I usually sleep less than I should. There are days when I go out. at night to work, I get home at 6:30 am and I get up at 8:30 am to go to training but we try to be as professional as possible and prepare for the games as much as possible because that’s what we want , physical The journey to Tudela (to play in the first round of the Cup) is a 10-hour drive and less than 48 hours of rest between games, that’s how it is.”

And have you visualized your shield next to the Real Madrid shield, or Ancelotti on the side? From humble football to elite football…

“Mud football is the closest to the fans. The elite is for the few. Right now, what we really enjoy is this moment before the preparation for the match and trying to study the rival. See where think we can hurt Real Madrid, study their weaknesses and strengths and from there we will try to play without fear because we know that the best in the world and the most important team in the world are ahead of us for titles. “

How will Deportiva Minera play against Real Madrid?

“We will try to be ourselves and have our own identity to play a game that we have been playing all year. A game with a goal, a dominant team that tries to get the ball in the opposing goal and be combinative but know that it is difficult to front we will have players who will chase you, who are very aggressive and when they steal the first thing they think of is that we have to be brave and count as much as we can, but hopefully it will be a game and we will live a good party. ”

And what is your opinion of Ancelotti? Do you see him as a coach?

“Maximum respect for one of the best coaches in the world. Together with Guardiola and those selected, they are the best, but it is true that I like the ‘clay’ coaches better who are not ‘clay’, they are elite but come . from below. “He gave his life to play against the best after a lot of work.”

And for those who don’t know the team yet, how was your first season in the Second Federation?

“If at the beginning of the year they told us that you look at the classification and see that we are eighth, three points from the play-offs in our first season in the category, we would have signed it. We will have that bitter aftertaste of having able to reach the break in this league that is crazy and super even if football is equal in itself, this group IV of Second RFEF is more equal than ever We are ambitious and permanent.

And lastly, are you a club player too, did they put the ‘Popy’ thing in there?

“Yes, well, in the football world people know me by ‘Popy’. When I was little, when I was five or six years old, I was playing with the older people and people called me that and it stuck it’s mine. I played for Deportiva Minera for four years since I jumped from the youth team and with me in the team we were promoted to Third after almost 55 years and still haven’t dropped team under the Third Three years was given the opportunity to train and in the first year we saved two weeks in advance, last year we were champions and now we are here Our relationship with Deportiva Minera is love and I hope it will last longer.