It was 22 hours 44 minutes. Asturian referee González Díaz raised his hand, after a painful stretch and almost 130 minutes of madness. He blew his whistle three times and decided that overtime, the game and the draw were to end. Pepico Amat was blown away with joy after Castilla won 2-3 with a much protested penalty in the 116th minute.. Eldense hadn’t lost at Nuevo Pepico Amat in 14 months. and it would be cruel if it coincided with the most important day in its recent history.
Juanto Ortuño drew three in the 116th minute and unleashed the frenzy. The three-way draw opened the doors of victory for the Barça team. After 59 years, he turned to the second professional. 4,089 spectators filled the stadium, bursting into the air. Many took the field to celebrate their success with their players. Some, like the injured Álex Martínez, who lived through the last moments of the conflict, could not believe it.
the dream had come true. The city of shoes will once again get a taste of professional football. Sunday, June 25, 2023 Elda will leave its mark on football history for life.
It was a day filled with great tension, nerves, emotion and tears, in which the drama was felt for eight minutes.
Two hours before the match, the surroundings of Nuevo Pepico Amat already had the atmosphere of a big day. With Barça jerseys and scarves, the fans waited for the large crowd gathered in Plaza de la Ficia to warm the atmosphere.
Meanwhile, two coaches of Real Madrid Castilla arrived., with his coach Raúl González Blanco at the helm. Some relatives of the players at the White subsidiary said hello and encouraged whenever they got the chance.
And shortly after half past six in the evening, a caravan of fans appeared on Avenida de Ronda. Chants, fireworks, flares in Barça colors and the typical hymn “Deportivo, Deportivo”.
The stands were packed 1.5 hours before the game.. As the players left the field, Eldense played the anthem. A banner “For those before and now” was hung in one of the backdrops with the loudest Barça supporters. We remember that we had to wait 59 years to see Eldense again in Spanish professional football.
However, everything started to go wrong with Real Madrid Castilla’s two goals, which was celebrated with joy by a hundred white fans in the other background. In the midst of the sweltering heat, dark clouds appeared as the electronic scoreboard reflected 0-2 and the tie was turned upside down.
From disappointment to illusion
With the goal of Nieto, which opened the door of hope, the pulses and illusion began to recover on the verge of the break. During the festival, the Barça players were accompanied by the slogans “Yes, yes, yes, it will”.
In the second episode, tachycardia rose and brought hearts to the brink of heart attack. Carlos Hernández equalized the match. A result that led to overtime, but Eldense’s encouragement was well worth it. But there is still so much left and so much more.
very severe punishmentThe match, which meant Castilla’s 2-3 draw, left its place to death silence in the whole stadium. The tension can be cut with a knife. All the effort of a long season seemed to have gone to waste.
Until the 114th minute, Juanto Ortuño again drew and left the Catalans in the Second Division.
We had to wait almost ten agonizing minutes extra. There was even a possible penalty for whites. It could have been clearer than the first. However, the target was marked with blue and red colors. It was an unforgettable afternoon at Pepico Amat that was well worth it. Because 60 years later, Deportivo Eldense is once again in the Second Division.
Fernando Estevez
Eldense coach Fernando Estévez appeared in the Nuevo Pepico Amat press room after celebrating the promotion on the field. The players and the team delegate even interrupted their explanation by soaking him with kava.
When asked if he already believed in this, he said: “When my son sees Eldense in FIFA, I will believe it”commented with a smile.
Thanking his players and their assistants in the technical staff for their hard work, Barça Coach congratulated the fans and was touched by his late father, whom he said “helped us”.
Estévez highly valued his team’s capacity to overcome adversity throughout the season. They were left without a direct rise as they scored, we lost to Álex Martínez due to a cruciate ligament injury. In the decisive match, some couldn’t count on one of their key players like Toni Abad. And as if that didn’t take long, Real Madrid took a very harsh penalty that put Castilla 2-3 on the scoreboard.
For all these reasons, he emphasized: “I feel like we had to rise twice. We went through a terrible ordeal that forced us to reinvent ourselves. We were better than Castilla and we managed to win the game in 90 minutes. And another controversial move (penalty) forced us to swim against the current once again. But thanks to hard work, we succeeded.