Joaquín Caparrós (Utrera, Seville; 68 years old) lived a very special day at the Ramón Sánchez Pizjuán. Sevilla, the club of his soul, awarded him a very special distinction: the II Ramón Encinas Golden Bench for being the coach with the most games coached, 241, and the greatest number of victories achieved with a total of 111. The first went to him handed over the Andalusian club to Manolo Cardo, also present at the event.
Surrounded by his family, dozens of players he trained at Sevilla, Deportivo, Athletic and Villarreal, with world champions at his side like Sergio Ramos, Jesús Navas and Carlos Marchena, Caparrós, very excited, took a short break in means of tribute to attend to this newspaper. “I want to continue training. I am 68 years old, but my life is football. Football is passion and feeling, but also a lot of knowledge. I am indebted to him. Today an entire life dedicated to this sport crossed my mind in an act of pure feeling. It is something unforgettable and I am very grateful. Feeling all this love excites me,” explains Caparrós.
“I can’t stop watching football, it feeds me. The thing is that I am indebted to this sport because it turned a 12-year-old boy who dreamed of being a Sevilla footballer into a professional coach. I’m a coach, I feel that way and I’ll die that way. I always want to be prepared to lead a team, a group of players, which is what I like,” warns the former coach of Recreativo, Villarreal, Sevilla (three stages), Deportivo, Athletic, Mallorca between continuous greetings. , Levante, Granada and Osasuna. He also coached the Armenian national team between 2020 and 2022. “I don’t know what the secret could have been, but I have always tried to maintain a line of unity in the message and a lot of righteousness in the treatment of the players. Times change, without a doubt, but football has a foundation that remains the same. You have to be very prepared and know how to send your message honestly,” indicates the Utrerano coach, who recognizes that he had the virtue of adapting to the environments of the teams he coached, such as Deportivo or Athletic.
“In Bilbao they named me Jokin and we returned to play in a Cup final many years later after defeating a great Sevilla team of Luis Fabiano and Kanouté in the semifinals. To my team. You have to be aware of where you are, what the symbols mean. Today José Ángel Iribar is here with me, a myth of world football. Feeling that affection shows you that you must have done something right,” Caparrós reflects.
“You were a visionary and a sports father to me. Of all the coaches I’ve had, I’ll stick with you.” Sergio Ramos’ words make an impact on Caparrós. “I have had the fortune of giving debuts to two world champions like Sergio and Jesús Navas. And I have seen how two of the best left-handed shots that this Sevilla youth team has given, Reyes and Antonio Puerta, have gone away from me. That the best center back in the world says that about you…”, agrees Caparrós, who has no doubts in referring to a possible return of Sergio Ramos to the Spanish team. “Of course Sergio Ramos can play for Spain again. Of course, everything will depend on the performance he can give now with Sevilla, but I see him fully capable.”
The names of Jesús Navas, Sergio Ramos, Antonio Puerta, José Antonio Reyes and Iker Muniain open the door to a very special chapter in Caparrós’ career: his passion for the youth team. “I have always had that ability to look down and give options. I have always liked to offer opportunities and at Sevilla I had incredible people, like Pablo Blanco, who told me to watch players like Jesús Navas, like Sergio, Antonio or Reyes. Later, at Athletic, I also had no qualms about taking out players like Iker (Muniain). If it’s worth it, inside”, he proclaims tirelessly. Now, Sevilla seems to have cut that transmission thread with its lower categories. There is the eternal Jesús Navas (just yesterday he turned 38) and Juanlu, the under-21 international who usually relieves him on the right wing. “Well, perhaps the time has come to analyze, to see how it was done before, when three world champions were won. I think we shouldn’t go crazy and keep looking down because we have a lot of talent there. But yes, let’s leave aside so much data and so much new area. Seville and its province breathe a lot of football and there is no choice but to take advantage of that great talent,” the coach explains.
Sevilla is now experiencing moments of anxiety in the sporting and institutional aspects. José Luis Mendilibar was dismissed after winning the Europa League against Roma and Diego Alonso has arrived. The Andalusian team is 13th and has accumulated six league games without winning (five draws and one loss). In addition, they are bottom of their Champions League group with two points from two draws, although they could qualify for the round of 16 if they defeat PSV at home and Lens away in the last two days of the top European competition. Caparrós has the recipe to face the problem.
“The first thing you have to have is a lot of calm. The coaching staff has to trust his idea and we also have to be patient with him. Calm must be conveyed by the sports management and the president. This Sevilla needs calm. There is raw material in the squad, so trust,” insists the man whose life changed a conversation with José Castro in the summer of 2000. Then, with Roberto Alés in the presidency and Monchi recently appointed technical secretary, he was He proposed to be the coach of a Sevilla team that was in the Second Division.
Caparrós and a team led by people like Javi Navarro and Pablo Alfaro achieved promotion to First Division the following year. “You turned us into competitive beasts,” said Pablo Alfaro. From there, to Europe. Meanwhile, Iribar was talking. “An award has never been better. I couldn’t miss it with Joaquín in the middle. He is my friend “. Word of the Txopo.
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