Manero’s most prized prey, a young man from Compostela who was given Aspas’ shoes

“Never has a title been so clear: A Boy’s Most Precious Prey.” The proposal I’m borrowing is from my colleague Xoán Soler during a short wait for a photo shoot, and it’s a boy Nico Maneroa young ten-year-old soccer player who plays for Victoria FC and that he will not forget his first game in ballads as a spectator, triumph against Barcelona who confirmed the persistence of the pencil in the First. There are five words that sum up this big little story.

One of the meanings spoil, according to the Dictionary of the Royal Spanish Academy, is: “Shoes made of resistant material that generally do not cover the ankle and are used for certain sports”. Another: “Profit obtained by robbery, robbery or fraud.” Here it is necessary to clarify that there is no crime and that there is the endless determination and faith of the boy who traveled convinced that he would get the boot Jago Aspas. He did it.

Talking to Nic Manero to recall the whole process helps to understand the outcome, because he speaks with a naturalness and simplicity that invites you to think that everything is written, that it had to happen like this. And it is not like that, because it was not easy for him and there was no influence that opened the way for him.

The idea had been in my head for some time and, with tickets secured for the big event, it was time to put it into motion. The first inconvenience: “I broke my arm a few days ago and had to be operated on (he is right-handed, right-handed). My mom and my brother, Marcos, they helped me make a banner in which one could read: ‘Iago Aspas, will you give us boots?'”.

The big day arrived and he was standing in Balaídos with all the props. It was easy to identify him with left hand holding poster. The competition ended and what could have been the equivalent of an after-dinner game was extended, with the players celebrating peace on the field, for more than half an hour.

Nico Manero’s position was not the best, a bit far from the point where the noise was concentrated. “I told them Tapia and Iván Villar If they could have asked Iago, they told me it wasn’t easy,” he says. In any case, he wasn’t scared.

And if the mountain does not go to Mohammed… Manero went to the corner of the stadium where there were the most sky-blue fans, to which the players came closest. With an operated arm, with a banner on his left side and with a friend, he avoided marking his parents. He managed to set himself up in the first row. It was not easy, as he had to advance between several lines of followers that seemed impenetrable.

First row and prize

Now yes, he was in the best possible place, holding the message, until he met the echo: – Jago gave me a thumbs up, winked at me and gave the boot to his son to bring me.». Now it is his most precious booty, which he could brag about among his schoolmates and the team, although some had a hard time believing it, and even showed photos. “They told me it could be Photoshop,” he says, adding that he can think what he wants, that the shoes are original and that he will keep them as the best of trophies.

It all started a long time ago, when she received an Iago Aspas shirt as a gift. That’s when his attachment to the sky-blue ram began, but not to the point of wanting to imitate him. He is clear about his position at Victoria FC: “I play as a center back”. His thing is to avoid goals, not to score them, without the detriment of scoring, such as getting the boot of one of the best footballers in Celta’s history.