It’s not easy to find someone who believes in you. When it happens, it is also not easy to realize everything that it means. There are times when it is difficult to value yourself. When you doubt and when you don’t know if it’s worth continuing, It is providential that someone appears to show you that they believe in what you do. Eating work that goes nowhere with potatoes is a heavy, lonely and bitter digestion.
That’s why I went to see Chema. I found out from a friend who is in the hospital, that she had had a heart scare and was now impatiently waiting for some wounds to close. I hadn’t seen him for more than twenty years, but I haven’t forgotten him. Chema always believed in me and, with his tough, strong and serious ways, with very little nonsense, he made me notice it and knew how to bring out the best in me.
I brought him some chocolates and Marca. He can’t eat and it’s not meringue at all. He told me quickly, without diplomacy, but I didn’t care. He had the Futsal brand jacket on his shoulders, made of that kind of synthetic sports suede that was so fashionable a thousand years ago. He was excited to see me and explained to his family who I was. “You don’t see much on TV,” he told me in a demanding, realistic and authentic way.
Chema always believed in me and, with his tough, strong and serious ways, with very little nonsense, he made me notice it and knew how to bring out the best in me.
Chema called me up and made me the starter. He let me choose a number. We were runners-up and, the following season, champions. Once, during a break, he got so angry that he wanted to hit us and they had to take him away while he shouted “we’re boring the sheep!” In a final, I made a hat in the center of the field with my back to the rival goal, I suppose without any need. He sat me down without blinking and I watched the rest of the game from the bench. That was also, in a way, believing in myself.
Another day, he was in the audience and at the end of the game he came to scold me for try a Vaseline with the game tied. He grabbed me by the neck and gave me two capons. He wasn’t my coach at the time. I was laughing, but I understood the message. Chema is tired because he has been in the hospital for a long time. He has endured the worst and is eager to get out. I encourage him with words that he understands: “We are winning in the middle of the second half. “We have to cool the game down.” He laughs a little, but makes a face that says “yes, but I’m the one who’s screwed.” Chema, as he has always done, will win the championship with courage and without boring the sheep. I believe in him.
