Youth is a state of spirit

From the beginning, Natan and Llorente escorted Betis Deportivo’s two debutant full-backs, Arribas on the left, Ortiz on the other wing. Sergio Arribas from Burgos fulfilled his mission, concentrating on defense, without allowing himself too many rises. More surprising was Ángel Ortiz’s performance: not only did he win all his duels, exasperating the Mallorcan attackers, but he boldly joined the attack. His was the assist in the 96th minute, so that Bakambu scored the winning goal with a header. Pablo García, forward from the Sevillian neighborhood of Alcosa, also made his debut. In the minutes he was on the pitch, he gave a pass over the baseline, which Juanmi was unable to finish on goal, and caused a penalty that the referee could have called. The mischievous kid, only 18 years old, unsettled the vermilion defense. He had entered the field of play in the 71st minute, replacing Jesús Rodríguez, who was disabled by a very harsh tackle by Mascarell, sanctioned with a direct red card. Jesús, MVP of the match, once again revealed himself as one of those creative players, who do not seem to need aggressiveness to overcome the rival, based on breaks and associations with teammates. He even added something that only the most experienced masters: tempo, to slow down the game when it deserved it and add rhythm to the attacking play, if the game was promising.

Faced with the brilliance of the youngsters, several of the regular players in the first team were once again subdued. Abde’s face on the bench, after being substituted in the 65th minute, was a poem. Neither Marc Roca, nor Altimira, nor Juanmi showed why they are First Division footballers. Not even Isco rose to the height that we are accustomed to. Of the established players, only Bakambu, Adrián, Natan and Diego Llorente – a colossus in defense, once again – earned the day. But, without a doubt, those who shone the most of all the footballers who took to the Son Moix pitch were Jesús Rodríguez, Ángel Ortiz and Pablo García, who only needed a few minutes to demonstrate the mischief that is learned in the streets of the neighborhood. , where the kids learn to outwit their burly opponent with cheeky pranks.

Many times in history, the decline of veterans has led to the entry of new blood to revitalize the group that has collapsed physically and psychologically. It happened in ancient Rome and it continues to happen today, even in forgotten wars, such as the one fought in Myanmar, the former Burma. Recently, some BBC reporters were on the warpath and observed how young insurgents, who long for democracy, are gaining ground against the military regime. In the BBC report, boys appeared wearing Spanish League t-shirts and painted nails, as many kids in Spain who dream of making their debut in the First Division like.

The good thing about young people is that they believe that anything is possible and that they can win a battle in war or on the grass, it doesn’t matter if the veterans have faltered, or who the opponent is. As the 16th century Sevillian novelist, Mateo Alemán, said, “youth is not a time of life, it is a state of the spirit”, that insolent spirit that allows Mallorca to be defeated in its own fiefdom. Let the footballers of the first team, the Board of Directors and Pellegrini take note.