Well, it seems that supporting the Women's Granada wasn't so bad, right?

I write this opinion piece just at the time that, a day before, the Granada Women's - Betis Féminas match was over and the cupbearer's dream of the rojiblanco team. Looking at it from the other side, 24 hours after Granada Women won their most important game and you began to see on the faces of Roger Lamesa's players the internalized smile they had had during the ninety minutes. If you looked at the scoreboard you saw a 0-1 in favor of the visitors. But, if he directed his eyes downwards, to what was happening between the pitch and the stands, anyone would have thought that the electronics of 'Los Cármenes' was broken.

The usual thing in the Zaidín Coliseum when the men's first team does not reap a good result is that the footballers do not take a minute to head to the locker room, hardly making gestures of thanks or greetings to those present. Something weird was happening. How could it be that, after being eliminated, the Granada soccer players were attending to all the fans who asked for photographs, immortalizing the moment among themselves or hugging with their loved ones? Perhaps it has an easy answer. It's women's soccer. The one that is still played for passion and the one that combines a magical family atmosphere that, hopefully, will never be lost. As happens at the Ciudad Deportiva every two weekends, win or lose, the first thing the squad and coaching staff do at the end of the matches is thank their family and friends. Every two Sundays, they repeat the same photographs, because the pride of wearing the shirt of the eternal struggle is maximum, both for the players and for those closest to them. For some, a simple slogan. For others, "with a ponytail" or without a ponytail, a motto exemplified over and over again that they jump into the field.

But, that fight does not only happen when they put on their boots to compete. Also, outside the fields. It was striking to hear some soccer players ask, in the days before the historic clash against Betis, that the fans give them "the opportunity to meet us". To tell the truth, they are not without reason. Most of the public that regularly attends the 'New Los Cármenes' to cheer on the Germán, Neva, Milla, Gonalons, Montoro, Machis, Rochina, etc. They do not know the effort they make to enjoy their passion in the Women's Granada.

Playing in any club team must be something precious, enviable in a very healthy way. In addition to the happiness that this causes, in the Women's Granada it also involves training in the afternoons, since in the mornings you work or study. It means making a trip to Madrid to play a ninety-minute match on weekdays with a round trip by bus and on the same day. Far from catching a direct flight to Cádiz or Elche and spending the night in a hotel, the rojiblancas return from some of their trips at three in the morning. Of course, hours later they have to get up early, like ninety-nine percent of Spanish society, to go about their work or academic life. It seemed at the time, even, that they had to thank the entity for allowing them to fly to A Coruña from Seville in the previous tie instead of making the journey by bus. In elite men's football there is often talk of rotations. In Roger Lamesa's, Laura Pérez starts the sprint odometer after a whole morning of work, Marta Carrasco and Elo also have plenty of desire to train "their girls", Cristina Moreno delivers the tickets to the Granada fans with a smile of LaLiga Santander matches or Yurena assists supporters when it comes to buying Luis Suárez, Jorge Molina or Puertas shirts at the club store. Aren't they reasons enough to know that the opportunity they wanted so much would have been won long ago?

Undoubtedly, the Women's Granada did not need to lift the Queen's Cup, or even drop Betis from the competition, to lift their biggest trophy: that opportunity. Seeing the faces of the boys and girls who attended the game, who asked for photographs of their new idols and who returned home expressing to their parents "when I grow up I want to be a goalkeeper like María Pi", "how much Alba Pérez encourages her companions” or “I am going to be a better midfielder than Pamela González” goes much further than a simple result of a simple soccer match. One hour before the match, some girls said to the security personnel guarding the gates of the stadium: “Our coach Elo told us that we could go in to watch the goalkeepers warm up” with a special sparkle in her eyes. No, it wasn't Maximiano and Aarón's warm-up, but María Pi and Andrea Romero's.

Others who were older did not hesitate to ask when the team's next game was, that they were not going to miss it. Despite being, in many cases, the first time they witnessed a clash of the Nasrid team. Who knows if the next match at the Ciudad Deportiva will look different. They deserved it, they deserve it and they will deserve it. And, they will thank you. Because there is a long season ahead and they have already shown that, no matter how little they are given, they are going to multiply it and be grateful for it by two. It seems that, in the end, it wasn't so bad to support the Women's Granada, right?

frankalvo1996

frankalvo@granadaenjuego.com