Hundreds, thousands of Uruguayans went up the Alameda de Recalde, in a joyful demonstration on the way to San Mamés, behind a banner: “We are charrúas, claw and heart.” He played for his team in the Cathedral, which is not new, because it has been a century since the first two times he did it, back in April 1924, on the way to the Olympic Games that they would win in Paris. It was the Uruguay that amazed with Andrade, Scarone or the Galician Cea. He won both games against Pentland Athletic. Then he returned again, in 2003. This time he lost, and he appeared again at San Mamés, now four, and only Spain has played more games with its national team in Bilbao than the celestial ones.
That first time in San Mamés, the referee was a Uruguayan named Ángel Minoli, who appeared on the field wearing a blue and white striped jacket, matching cap and white pants. He created the mess. Some Bilbao newspaper headlined: “Mr. Minoli beats Athletic by two goals to one.” This time the same thing did not happen, but almost, because the Basque team was on the verge of having to play the last twenty minutes with ten players, because Marcelo Bielsa, genius and figure, was opposed to Arrasate making more than the five substitutions of a official match, which was not, and De Burgos Bengoetxea, once he whistled in San Mamés, almost messed up, because for almost ten minutes he prevented Jagoba Arrasate from making the substitutions he intended. Until the Argentine coach signed a paper agreeing to the expansion of the quota, he did not allow the changes. The never seen.
Uruguay had taken the field as if it were their home, which for Marcelo Bielsa, their coach, who left Fede Valverde off the list, was, and the Basque team struggled in the first minutes, until the sky tide went down, and then he began to play better, under the leadership of Iván Martín, the Girona organizer, who took the reins until he left at half-time. San Mamés was also looking forward to seeing Álvaro Djaló, Athletic’s confirmed signing for next season, live, and he did not disappoint. He showed his cards: fast, skillful, and also a scorer. First it was his cousin, Adu Ares, who tested Franco Israel with a cross shot, and at the limit of half-time, Djaló received it in the area, got rid of his marker and shot hard to put the Basque team ahead.
But Uruguay came out on top in the second half, and in the initial play, Guillermo Varela overtook Dani García on the left and Matías Vecino scored from close range for the tying goal. Uruguay continued to dominate for a few minutes, although the Euskadi team became loose again. Moncayola had the chance to put his team ahead, but his shot hit the goalkeeper.
Then, a deflected shot from Torres gave rise to Villalibre’s reply, with a diving header that could have unbalanced the score, although the mess of substitutions, Bielsa’s fight, Arrasate’s anger arrived and the game cooled down almost to the point. the end. Rodríguez had the opportunity to give Uruguay the victory in the finale, with a shot that hit the post, but everything ended in a tie. The thousands of Uruguayans who took San Mamés, somewhat disappointed by their team’s game, left. Bielsa, who refused to appear at a press conference, angry at the number of changes, has many things left to change for the Copa América.
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