This article was translated by John R. Bopp
Philly.com is the digital version of The Inquirer in Philadelphia, and a Basque soccer team, Sociedad Deportiva Eibar (Eibar Sports Club) has started its series of matches in the US in the City of Brotherly Love.
Anyone who’s read much on this blog will know that we don’t know much (or really anything) about soccer, and that we like to speak about this (or really any) sport whenever the sports news is spreading the image of the Basques worldwide.
And that’s what’s happening here. Any time we’ve talked about the Eibar soccer team, we’ve done so because we thought that the information they collected reflected some qualities Basques like to consider part of their way of being, and this time is no different. The fact that a newspaper as important as The Inquirer has decided to publish an article on a Basque soccer team has come to play against a local team is just the kind of news we like to report on.
It’s well known that soccer is not one of the most popular sports in the US, but it’s also true that its presence and public impact is growing at an ever faster rate. That’s why the arrival of the Eibar team to the US couldn’t have come at a better time. This is especially true, as Erin McCarthy, the article’s author, points out, it’s going to serve to create relationships and connections with the Basque team that will undoubtedly be very interesting.
Also very interesting is the definition and the description made of the “Armorer Team” in this report. It’s a description of the character, principles, and will of the team, which is very well connected to those qualities Basques like to consider part of their way of being, as we said before.
We also believe, we hope, that Eibar will spend a lot of time in that championship of the best players of the world that is the Spanish Premier League, proving that even with a policy of choosing only Basque players, you can still play in the big leagues. Of course, we always hope they stay in the Premier League alongside other Basque teams: it would be amazing to see Athletic Bilbao, Real Sociedad from San Sebastian, Osasuna from Pamplona, Alavés from Vitoria, and Eibar, can all play at the same time, successfully, in that division. It’d be great if Barakaldo could join them there, too.
By the way, the interest in the US for Eibar started before the team’s visit, because one of the team’s stockholders is American!
Philly.com – 21/5/2016 – USA
Spanish underdog SD Eibar seeks spotlight in South Jersey
SD Eibar, one of the smaller teams in in Spain’s top division, will take the field Sunday at Rowan University. The game against the Philadelphia Fury – a semi-pro team in the fourth-tier American Soccer League – is part of the LFP World Challenge, a series of international friendlies organized by Spain’s Liga de Fútbol Profesional that’s now in its third year. But the trip to the Philadelphia area has deeper meaning for both SD Eibar and the Fury.
(Continue) (Automatic translation)
Last Updated on Dec 20, 2020 by About Basque Country
