Santi Denia left the stadium with nothing hanging around his neck. “No, there are no Olympic medals for coaches,” he clarified. “But they will give us some replicas,” he said through clenched teeth to the surprise of the battalion of journalists waiting for him in the Parc des Princes. He also did not offer any great explanation as to why he had left Samu Omorodion out of the list, the regular replacement in the second half for starter Abel Ruiz. “I had a medical issue, private, which I do not want to comment on,” the coach said. But this move allowed him to give a clue to the hero of the afternoon at the Parc des Princes, Sergio Camello, included in the initial list as a reserve.
3
Guillaume Restes, Kiliann Sildialli (Mathis Cherki, min. 110), Adrien Truffert (Bradley Locko, min. 90), Loic Bade, Castello Lukeba, Michael Olise, Joris Chotard (Maghnes Akliouche, min. 51), Kouadio Kone (Soungoutou Magassa , min. 105), Enzo Millot (Désiré Doué, min. 77), Lacazette (Arnaud Kalimuendo Muinga, min. 52) and Mateta
5
Arnau Tenas, Marc Pubill, Eric Garcia, Pau Cubarsí, Juan Miranda (Miguel Gutierrez, min. 97), Álex Baena (Beñat Turrientes, min. 82), Fermín López, Aimar Oroz (Jon Pacheco, min. 88), Pablo Barrios Rivas, Sergio Gómez and Abel Ruiz (Sergio Camello, min. 83)
Goals 1-0 min. 11: Enzo Millot. 1-1 min. 17: Fermin Lopez. 1-2 min. 25: Fermin Lopez. 1-3 min. 28: Alex Baena. 2-3 min. 78: Maghnes Akliouche. 3-3 min. 93: Mateta. 3-4 min. 99: Sergio Camello. 3-5 min. 120: Sergio Camello.
Referee Ramon Abatti Abel
Yellow cards Kouadio Kone (min. 36), Loic Bade (min. 50), Adrian Bernabe (min. 76), Álex Baena (min. 78), Juan Miranda (min. 91), Jon Pacheco (min. 93) and Sergio Camello (min. 121)
The Madrid striker had only scored four goals for Rayo last season: three in the league (a brace against Getafe and one against Betis), and one in the first round of the Copa del Rey against Lugones. Of the 32 matches he played for the Vallecanos, he only scored in three afternoons, two of them in the league. He had not done so since mid-March. That was the starting point for this Atlético youth player, bought by Rayo a year ago for five million, when he appeared in the 83rd minute of the Olympic final. The afternoon that will remain with him forever.
“The goalkeeping coach (Rubén Martínez) told me that he had dreamed of scoring the goal in the final,” he said in the midst of the euphoria. He scored two. No one had ever scored a double in extra time in an Olympic final. “There are not many secrets in football,” Denia explained about Camello. “You have had the example of Oyarzabal in the senior team. Someone who does not start scores the winning goal in the Euro. Camello was a bit of the soul of the team, the one who pushed, without having minutes he was always supporting,” said the coach.
The uniqueness of the Games, with a roster of 18 plus four reserves, forced him to leave four out in each match, a complex situation in the management of the locker room that he had to deal with before traveling to Paris. He had never had to deal with this scenario before and he dealt with it with the four reserves. “I explained it to them and they were all clear about it,” he said on Friday. Alejandro Iturbe (goalkeeper), Juanlu Sánchez (defense) and Cristhian Mosquera (defense) were the other three. Curiously, two of them resolved the semifinals and the final: Sánchez, against Morocco and Camello, against France.
In any case, the rules allowed a certain flexibility so that a player could come and go from this squad throughout the tournament. That allowed Camello to play, and as captain, the third match of the group stage, against Egypt. An intraday with everything resolved that did not continue until this Friday of glory for the Rayista. “He has worked as hard as anyone, he is the one who deserved it the most,” said Alex Baena, his roommate in the concentration. The midfielder, who has played the Euro Cup and the Olympics, is now joining Villarreal to play two matches and then will go on vacation.
Only France had won two European Championship titles and more Games in one summer, in 1984. The milestone encouraged the national team coach, Luis de la Fuente, to swell the Spanish footballing spirit. “Let’s see if we are aware of what we have achieved this year and put value on Spanish football,” he began. “Let’s get rid of our complexes and say how great Spanish football is. Almost no one else can do this. This is an epic, historic night that will go down in the history of football, of the Olympics and of Spanish sport,” he concluded. This Saturday, at 11:00, the Olympic champions will receive a tribute at the federation headquarters in Las Rozas.
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