“Quiles can’t see through his eye, he’s destroyed”

He was the player of the match. He felt like a fish in water in a duel that was special to him. He returned to Cordoba. A place where he could make his debut in the professional league to which he now wants to return, but also where he was not given the continuity to try something big in football. He scored a goal, had two more chances, until the shot knocked him out of circulation. Action that resulted in an unusual yellow card for Ekaitz Jiménez for “recklessly punching an opponent in the face in an argument over the ball”, the referee wrote in the score sheet.

Should it have been red? “Takedowns or disputes over the ball that threaten the physical integrity of an opponent or in which a player uses excessive force or brutality must be punished as ‘rough and serious play'”. This is what article number 12, FIFA Laws of the Game 2022-2023 literally says. The same one that Díaz de Mera applied to Quique González in December 2018, when the then Deportivo forward took the Chilean’s shot inside the penalty area in that game against Málaga of unfortunate memory.

Francisco Fernández Vidal did not see it that way in New Archangel. It was the 65th minute, and Alberto Quiles went like an arrow towards the Córdoba goal. The ball came high, he put his head in an own try and I went out to Carlos Marín, but at that very moment he found himself with the home left back’s boot that hit him in the face and opened a huge gap. from which blood flowed profusely, at eye level. “I don’t think it was intentional under any circumstances, because we know he’s a good guy,” Óscar Cano tried to play down his importance in the press room. Probably ignoring that at no point does the rule allude to intentionality, and even entitles a red “in disputes for the ball”, provided they “threaten the physical integrity of the opponent”. Something that Cano himself admitted happened: «Let’s see if there is something separate. The eye is closed,” he added.

His colleagues, shocked

Mario Soriano was more eloquent right after he was with his partner and checked how he was doing: “He’s very bad, he can’t see, he’s destroyed. They put points. He’s very screwed up and I’m sure he’ll be even worse tomorrow, because he can’t see it in his eyes – he explained. “It’s bad, he’s dizzy. It was a very strong blow. I hope that he will recover well and that we will be able to have him with us soon,” Jaime Sánchez also confirmed.

Quiles was the focus of all attention after the game. As it was a blow to the head, all precautions were small. “He is dizzy because he has a concussion from the bruise on his face. We put eight or nine stitches on him. The inflammation of the eyelid conditions him because he cannot open his eye at the moment, so let’s see how it will develop,” explained the club doctor Carlos Lariño an hour after the end of the match.

As recently as last night, the possibility of him remaining under observation at the hospital in Córdoba was being considered, given the seriousness of what happened. “He is very shaken. Let’s see how he spends the night in case he and I have to stay here,” added Lariño. The team returns to A Coruña this Monday, but may have to do so without both of them.