Sport
Oviedo Back From the Brink: One Last Miracle from Santi Cazorla
Santi Cazorla is twice a European champion and an FA Cup winner. He is one of Spain’s golden generation, a marvel of a footballer who helped break down barriers. His small, diminutive frame was his springboard to success when the sport, particularly in England where he thrived at Arsenal, was convinced physical prowess was a minimum requirement. He played alongside Xavi, Andres Iniesta and Sergio Busquets for Spain, never quite emerging from their shadows but proving he belonged in their company.
Yet perhaps now, at the age of 40, Cazorla has marked his career with its greatest moment. In 2023, he returned to where it all began, Real Oviedo. He, like his father, was a huge fan of the club growing up, but in more recent times it has fallen on difficulty. Juan Mata, and former Swansea City cult hero Michu, are two other famous sons, but little has been known of Oviedo outside of Spain since they were last in La Liga in 2001. What followed was relegation all the way to the fourth tier, regional, amateur football; 13 years ago, there was a worldwide drive to get people to save the club from extinction by buying shares. It was out of necessity, not novelty, but created a following for the club from afar. But when it really mattered, those close to home made the difference. Real Oviedo are in the top tier of Spanish football once again, and Cazorla is a huge reason why.
It was his goal that sparked the comeback in the two-legged Segunda Division promotion play-off against CD Mirandes, a year on from heartbreak at the same stage against Espanyol. They were 2-0 down on aggregate before he converted a penalty, and they went on to win in extra time. At a time when everything in football seems so cynical, whether it is the Club World Cup in the USA which has been accused as little more than a cash cow, milking the game’s greatest players when the game is already oversaturated or the overinflated wage packets critics say are the reason for its inception, Cazorla is a strong and timely reminder of what football is built on; love, passion, community and remarkable skill.
His return was made all the better by taking as little money as he could. It is not possible to play for free, even though he said it was his dream. But this isn’t about Cazorla, it is about rebuilding a club to its former glory; he helped put them back there, but upon his request, 10% of the profits from his shirt sales has been reinvested into the club’s academy. The hope is next time someone like him, Mata or Michu comes along, they won’t need to leave in order to fund the running of the club, nor to stand a chance of ideal development into the best player they can be.
And yet, this story defies logic and Hollywood storytelling even further. To call it a fairytale needlessly cheapens it with unnecessary cliches. While at Arsenal, Cazorla missed two years of football due to a horrific Achilles injury which required ten centimetres of it to be removed due to an infection and a skin graft. Nobody could have blamed him for giving in, the medical advice was to simply accept being able to walk. But here he is, having completed four decades on the earth, a La Liga player once again.
Cazorla has done a lot in football, cementing a legacy as one of the best of his generation. But nothing comes close to this, Real Oviedo back from the brink of extinction and he, back from the brink of forced retirement, at the top table again.
As football drifts ever closer to becoming a corporate shell, it is important to remember the power that stories like Santi Cazorla’s can yield.
