The event was hosted by journalists Paco Grande (TVE) and Silvia Verde (Atresmedia)
12-1 to Malta and José Ángel de la Casa, protagonists of the event
The La Cartuja Stadium in Seville today hosted the presentation of the ‘First National Day of Sports Journalism: yesterday, today and always’, which will be held on November 22 and 23 on this same stage and which will serve to pay tribute to both to the protagonists of the historic 12-1 victory between Spain and Malta, on the verge of the 40th anniversary of the match, as well as to the journalist who narrated it for Spanish Television (TVE), José Ángel de la Casa. José María Arrabal, Secretary General of Sports of the Junta de Andalucía; Alfredo Relaño, honorary president of the newspaper AS; and Javier Bermejo, honorary president of the Seville Sports Press Association, have been the main protagonists of the presentation of the ‘First National Day of Sports Journalism’, in an event that was led by journalists Paco Grande (Conexión Vintage, TVE) and Silvia Verde (El Chiringuito de Jugones, Atresmedia).
Arrabal has highlighted that the Junta de Andalucía joins this First National Day of Sports Journalism “with absolute naturalness” and that the regional Executive “wants to be the home of all those who love Spanish sport & rdquor ;, while he has highlighted “the work done by information professionals & rdquor; pointing out that “a good sports report does not fit into a 140-character tweet.”
The Secretary General of Sports has also praised “the figure of José Ángel de la Casa as someone who is part of our families.” “Listening to him and seeing these images is to take us back to vital experiences that touch our heartstrings (…) because sport is something that touches our heartstrings like very few activities in our society,” he noted after the screening of a video. with the images of the 12 goals that Spain scored against Malta, that magical night of December 21, 1983 at the Benito Villamarín Stadium, and which helped Miguel Muñoz’s team qualify for the Euro Cup in France’84, where they lost the final against the hosts.
Alfredo Relaño, visibly moved, recalled his ties with the city of Seville, where he worked for three years at the beginning of his professional career, while
has highlighted De la Casa as “the voice of Spanish football.” “Televisión Española lost several very good sports journalists because of an absurd ERE and among them was José Ángel, a scholar who worked football very well, someone very practical with a sober style that is not the same as today.
He was very meticulous and also very restrained, something rare in the genre of sports journalists, so the fact that that man missed the rooster in the 12-1 goal contributed to the exceptional nature of the event. When that miracle occurred, he gave it his all and contributed to that lightning bolt that made us all so happy,” added the honorary president of the AS newspaper.
After recounting several anecdotes about that Spain-Malta match – among them the fact that UEFA allowed the Cyprus-Holland match to be played in the German city of Aachen, just a few kilometers from the border with Holland -, Relaño highlighted how Our national soccer team has qualified for World Cups and Euro Cups in recent years, in addition to referring to José Ángel de la Casa as “a good man who did his job very well for many years. He was, in short, someone who was very significant in that match and who went out of tune because the situation demanded it.
Javier Bermejo, honorary president of the Seville Sports Press Association, has described the Andalusian capital as “the home of Spanish football.” for his special bond with the national team, in addition to highlighting the 12-1 victory over Malta as “the most important result for the Spanish team.”
The veteran journalist has highlighted the “strange couple” that De la Casa and the late journalist Alfonso Azuara formed in TVE’s narration of the match at Benito Villamarín, in addition to emphasizing the “almost thirty years” that the journalist from Los Cerralbos (Toledo) was narrating national team matches, “taking care of the word and taking care of the stories.” “He was my boss at Estudio Estadio for fifteen years and, above all, he is a friend,” he noted.
Silvia Verde raised the values of sports journalism, which “through its leaders creates trends and generates opinion, with increasingly more presence and social impact.” The Sevillian journalist explained to those attending the event what the First National Day of Sports Journalism will be like, which is sponsored by the Junta de Andalucía and companies such as Renfe and Unicaja Banco, with the participation of 30 renowned information professionals at four tables. roundtables and in a colloquium on sports journalism. Likewise, Paco Grande announced that TVE will broadcast special programming on December 21 with the broadcast of Spain-Malta, coinciding with the 40th anniversary of that match that changed the essence of Spanish football.