technician Elche CF, Sebastian Beccacece offered the press conference ahead of the eastern meeting this Saturday Sunday (2 p.m.)inside Martínez Valero stadiumin front of the bottom Cartagena. The Argentinian coach said that despite the good dynamics of his team in recent days, the Elche team is only one point away from the play-off positions and three points away from the direct promotion places. He has not yet “earned” the status of candidate and favorite to advance to the First League. At the same time, he warned that facing Cartagena would be “very difficult” and that “no game will be won without playing” given the Franjiverde prefer to play at home and against last in the standings.
How do you evaluate the Cartagena match?
He is a competitor at his best and so are we. We are preparing for the match with great excitement. A very solid team that has recently gained points in difficult venues such as Tenerife or Oviedo, finished second at home against Sporting de Gijón last week and also qualified for the Copa del Rey after being eliminated. Alcorcón. The best antidote is to enjoy the game. Despite the difficulties the game will present, if we can manage it well, enjoy it, play it and play with the support of the fans, we will move forward. We must all be united. People ask us to do this and we have to give it to them.
And Gonzalo Verdú returns…
He is an actor for whom I have great appreciation and love. When I arrived after my first training there was a Centenary event at the Grand Theater and as captain he had already said what a great experience the team had had. This is something that should always be valued. Besides the results he achieved with Elche, he is also a great person, like his family. What remains are personal ties that go beyond the decisions taken with their continuity. He should be deservedly remembered because he defended the Elche jersey with pride. Footballers who receive this recognition do so because they deserve it.
Elche has a good dynamic and is one of the candidates and favorites for promotion, while Cartagena is in last place. At first glance, it might even seem that the match would be won easily…
Not at all. It will be a very tough match. We don’t think about it. I still think we are not candidates and favorites for promotion. There are better teams in the division and we are on our way to becoming them. I’m not saying this to take the pressure off the players. We are growing, but we still have a long way to go to earn this privilege. We are in that process and we cannot continue with that mentality. This is an individual and collective process. Sporting de Gijón are co-leaders and lost to Cartagena on the final day, and that could happen to us too. We are only thinking match by match, we have three finals left until the end of the year and the mid-term break.
How are Raúl Guti, Álex Martín and John, who could not play in the cup due to injury?
Raúl (Guti) has been training with the group for two days. John is training normally, but this is mostly due to lack of rhythm and the only loss in principle is that of Álex (Martín). The rest are all there and that makes me happy. As in the cup qualifying matches against Europa and Linares, only 11 and 5 substitutions can be played and everyone needs to be prepared. Footballers such as Diego (González), Carreira, Salinas, Cristian (Salvador) showed that they are ready to play when necessary.
What is your opinion about Murad? Because even though he doesn’t score goals, he contributes a lot to the team…
He scored an important goal and made several assists in the cup tie against Europa. Although he does not score a goal, he is a player who directly intervenes in the completion of games. He is the first defender, he helps us a lot in terms of pressing… I value him very much and I see the transformation he has made. I told him in front of his other teammates that when he arrived he wasn’t ready to compete in high competition due to his weight and other issues. Now he’s showing he can do it. He can consistently play with high intensity and the goals are sure to come. He changed his mentality, lost weight and is a football player who has contributed a lot to us.