Kilrush’s Spanish connection

IF medics had conducted a spot check of blood pressure levels in Kilrush last Sunday evening, Antonio Cebas would have had the doctors bellowing for an ambulance. The Madrid native has lived and worked in Kilrush since November 1996 but along with his 46 million fellow Spaniards, Antonio put down one of the longest evenings of his life on Sunday.
Andres Iniesta’s extra-time World Cup final winner drove his native country wild as they added the World Cup to the European championship, which they won in Austria and Switzerland two years ago.
As far as Antonio knows, he is the only Spaniard in West Clare. That didn’t stop him from enjoying the moment though, as he viewed the scenes from his family home in Kilrush.
“The rest of the matches I watched in the pub but because of its significance, I felt that I’d prefer to watch it at home. I just wanted to really focus well on the screen and not have any distractions,” he explained.
Like most of the viewing planet, bar the entire population of the Netherlands, Antonio couldn’t believe that the Dutch adopted such a robust approach.
“We were facing a very difficult team, who played a rough kind of game. They were disrupting the game trying to upset players with these appalling tackles. I think the referee maybe should have been a little bit more forthcoming, especially with one or two Dutch players,” Antonio, who works as a co-ordinator with the Brothers of Charity in Kilrush, suggested.
Iniesta’s goal, however, meant that the incessant and often over-eager tackling of Mark Van Bommel, Nigel de Jong and Wesley Sneijder was blotted out.
“Scoring the goal with just three minutes left to full-time was just such a rush and so emotional,” Antonio reflected.
Despite the emotional tumult, Antonio insists that he would not have swapped Kilrush for Madrid last weekend, even as Spain won their first World Cup.
“No, not at all. I’d prefer to be a little bit away from the middle of the euphoria and hype. I would prefer not to be caught up in that. I actually enjoyed it more watching it being here, watching from that bit of a distance,” he said.
While Iniesta banged in the World Cup final winner and David Villa netted five times during the month-long tournament, Antonio pinpoints Iker Casillas as Spain’s main man. Without the Spanish captain, Antonio doesn’t think that his native country would be world champions.
“The most decisive player for Spain was Castillas, the goalkeeper. He really saved the World Cup for Spain. That save against Robben will go into the history books,” Antonio suggested, recalling the Real Madrid goalkeeper’s save from Arjen Robben in Soccer City.
After the game and live on Spanish television, Castillas enjoyed an on-air nuzzle with his girlfriend Sara Carbonero, who was interviewing him.
The Barcelona influence in Spain’s win is a factor that Antonio admires and respects, although he is not certain if the seven Barcelona World Cup winners will be greeted warmly when they line out against Real Madrid in Santiago Bernabéu next season.
“It’s very hard to tell. There’s a lot of animosity generated by people’s own ignorance but this has helped. Twenty or 30 years ago Barcelona would arrive at the Bernabéu stadium and would get a good welcome. It’s just something that has been developing in the last 20 years, which is very unfortunate and would put people off going to matches,” Antonio believes.
For another a few days at least however, even club rivalries will be laid to one side as Spain continues to celebrate, allowing Kilrush’s lone Spaniard a few more days before the memories of the summer of 2010 slide into history.