Joaquín rose from his seat when he saw his father Aurelio enter the posh hall of the Luis del Sol sports complex, where he explained why he was resigning at the end of the season. With tears in his eyes, the Betis player took him to his side as applause broke out. “I’m very old. How many good times Joaquín gave me. It’s good for all four costs. And a very good footballer,” said his 78-year-old father in a broken voice. “Dad, I’ve fulfilled your dream and mine to become a top-flight footballer at Betis,” Joaquín told him. A short conversation that condensed the strong feeling that connects a father and a son in a very special moment. His parents and a modest family of eight siblings from El Puerto de Santamaría did everything for Joaquín to become a soccer player. They were all present at his farewell ceremony, which will take place at the end of this season. He will leave football just before the age of 42 and with a current 615 First Division games (the second in history after Zubizarreta with 622) and 23 seasons as a professional.
Joaquín, who made the announcement the day before via social networks, didn’t stop crying. Neither in his speech nor later in front of the journalists who followed his entire career did he confess his most intimate secret. “It doesn’t take away my shape. I feel very good at 41 years old. It was done by my head and an inner voice telling me it’s the right time to do it. I’m not bored and I haven’t stopped feeling like a footballer, but that inner voice told me it’s time,” clarified the Betis legend, who is the only one in the club’s history to win two titles, the Copa del Rey in 2005 and that of 2022. Both flanked the legendary captain, very elegant in a navy blue suit and a tie whose knot sometimes made his speech difficult.A captain who also expressed his concerns: “I’m afraid “Missing football more than I need to. I’m a bit afraid of not smelling grass again, of boots, of that dressing room with my teammates, of all those moments of intimacy in the dressing room,” explained Joaquín.
“23 years have given us a lot and I’m an indispensable part of this blessed madness called football,” clarified the Betis captain, so his future will be linked to Betis itself and in the sporting field. The intention of the Verdibanco club is for Joaquín to stay very close to Betic’s first team. They fear his exit from the dressing room could have a major impact. The farewell ceremony was attended by all his colleagues, who prepared the corridor at the entrance to a room full of managers, technicians and journalists, as well as all the members of the coaching staff, chaired by Manuel Pellegrini. The same goes for the other 2005 cup winners, in the case of Juanito, Capi, Rivas, Arzu, Doblas and Fernando, as well as Juan Merino, team captain when Joaquín made his Compostela debut in September 2000 in a second division clash.
“I have to learn and we will define what my next role at Betis will be,” said Joaquín, who is also a major shareholder of the company. He will represent the club alongside another Betis legend, Rafael Gordillo, although he will be very close to the first-team. In fact, it is the intention of the club’s management that he takes part in all team outings with his teammates.
Joaquín’s act of farewell meant embarking on a journey that has spanned virtually every stage of his sporting career, including Betis’s, of course. Joaquín was also part of a great Valencia from 2006 to 2011, where he is very loved and where his two daughters were born. There he won the second title of his career in 2008, the Copa del Rey. He then played for the fantastic Málaga, also led by Pellegrini, who reached the quarter-finals of the Champions League (from 2011-2013) and spent two years there, his only experience abroad, at Fiorentina (2013-2015) before returning to Betis.
Betis President Ángel Haro took the floor to announce a tribute game at the end of this season. A clash at Benito Villamarín that sees teammates from his two stadiums at Betis take on another team featuring footballers he has met throughout his long career. Footballers like Baptista, Figo or David Villa will play in this team. Everything raised at this party will be used to fund the other big project that Joaquín is in charge of, namely the creation of the Joaquín Sánchez Foundation, whose fundamental mission will be the fight against childhood cancer. The steps have already been taken and it will be legally constituted in just two to three weeks.
The other captains of the Betic team, Canales, Guardado and Fekir, the latter on crutches, also took the floor to thank Joaquín for his dedication and leadership. Rafael Gordillo, the club’s president of external relations, recalled making his debut as a first-team delegate at the age of 19. “Lopera paid me as a delegate and a member of the technical secretariat, he was like that and I met this boy who came like a train,” he said tearfully. “I haven’t cried that much since I saw a movie with Mr. Rafael Iriondo in the ’70s,” Gordillo joked. José Ramón Esnaola, champion goalkeeper of Betis’ first Copa del Rey in 1977 and another of the unit’s myths, recalled how he had to boost Joaquín’s morale at the subsidiary in 1998 when he thought about returning to El Puerto from Santamaria. “He asked me to play after Jaén and I put it on. That changed everything,” Esnaola recalls. Eduardo Espejo, his representative and friend, and his partner and bosom friend Juanito also attended a performance that took place overlooking the peloton in the sports town of Luis del Sol. At one point, Joaquín stopped and looked out the large window. “This is my life,” he said, just before hugging his wife and two teenage daughters. “Now you have to put up with me at home,” he told them through tears.
Follow EL PAÍS Deportes on Facebook and Twitteror sign up here to receive our weekly newsletter.