Erect, cautious, excellent in the treatment. He tries, but cannot go unnoticed. It’s Saturday. Take advantage of the excellent morning, another one this winter, to do sports outdoors at the Montemar Tennis Club facilities. Say hello kindly. Most users are used to seeing him, but this time there are more personalities with him and two photographers. Manuel Palomar, president of the commission of the Centennial of Hercules, has been there with the chosen one to give him the shirt that accredits him as a lifetime ambassador of the club in his city.
José María Manzanares receives her delighted. He watches her with childish curiosity and intrigue. It is your size. She puts it on, and immediately a broad smile comes out of her mouth. «This appointment gives me great joy, makes me very happy and fills me with pride. It is a feeling that my father transferred to me and that I have carried with me since I was very young, since I have memories because he was always aware of the team, “he assures in front of those present, among whom is the journalist Toni Cabot, director of the INFORMATION Club and friend staff of the bullfighter of the «terreta».
The recognition comes to the Alicante bullfighter in full commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the taking of the alternative of his father, just two decades after the premiere with picadors of the right-hander in Nimes and five days after having turned 40 surrounded by his people. Brother of the Holy Cross, a cultural icon and an artistic symbol of the city, José María Dols Samper (Alicante, 1982), direct heir to a sublime bullfighting that survives in his figure, has grown up with the blue and white essence from the cradle.
«All my most beautiful memories related to Hercules are linked to my father. With him I went to the field to watch the games as a child and with him I got to know the players in person as I got older. I have always felt great pride in wearing the team’s name wherever I went and I have worn with great joy the colors and the club’s scarf in the Hogueras bullfights ”, recalls the Alicante teacher, carried on his shoulders from the plaza to the mosque of the Santa Cruz in some of its openings of the great door of the bullring of the capital, in full Fogueres.
«My friends and I have always been loyal fans. Wherever I go, Hercules comes with me, “José Mari Manzanares vehemently assured without stripping off the elastic that bears his name and the number 100 that accredits him as a Herculaneum ambassador.
Despite the delicate situation that the team is going through now, in the fourth category of national football, Manzanares appeals to the identity stamp, to the roots, to the feeling of belonging so that the blue and white feeling prevails above everything else.
«I ask the fans, like me, not to lose their passion for their hometown team, not to stop believing and supporting. The club is something of ours, of all, it is something that represents us, it is part of our hallmark. I feel like one of them all and for that I thank them for never letting the team fall, “acknowledges the bullfighter, excited to be part of a list of select Herculaneums, including Nelson Haedo Valdez, Paquito Escudero, José Antonio Hervás, Chechu Flores, Farnós, Kustudic and, also outside the football field like him, the golden judoka Miriam Blasco.
Manuel Palomar recalled, in the delivery of the emblem, the relevance of the transversality of the appointments. «The Hercules transcends the sport, the results. The entire city feels the colors of its team and José María (Manzanares) is part of a recognized blue and white lineage. He is a relevant social figure and an illustrious Herculaneum. That he accepted, to me, personally, has made me especially excited and we thank him for his willingness, “emphasizes the former rector of the UA.
www.informacion.es
Eddie is an Australian news reporter with over 9 years in the industry and has published on Forbes and tech crunch.