The first magical afternoon of Iker Muniain in Saint Lawrence He left a decalogue of moments to collect.
1- The affection of the fans. In a team in which hierarchy is not abundant, Muniain demonstrates the difference in quality in each action. Now, in his first game as a starter, he scored the two winning goals against Banfield, the first kicking a penalty with class and the second defining a corner after a good team play. And the Barça fans said goodbye to him with a standing ovation when he was replaced near the end: “Olé olé olé, vascoooo, vascoooo.”
2- The gift to a child. Iker was chosen as the best player of the match, he spoke to TV at the end of the match and, before going into the locker room, he gave a shirt to a child who was in the audience. The little boy met Ana Montoya, Muniain’s girlfriend, in the audience and asked her for it. She motioned for Muniain to come over there. And he went and fulfilled the little crow’s dream.
3- His girlfriend’s breath. Ana Montoya, the girlfriend who accompanies Muniain in Buenos Aires, watched the game with the fans in the audience and at one point she was seen singing like all the fans. “It’s the one that says ‘Here is the most faithful…’. Iker sings it all the time at home and I know it by heart. We are very comfortable in Argentina. They are very similar customs,” Ana told the newspaper Olé.
4- The message in Basque. San Lorenzo’s official networks exploded with Iker. And his posts had a powerful impact. One of them turned out to be very unique. In its copy you could read: “Ez dago horrenbeste erokeriaren azalpenik!”… Yes, there is no explanation for so much madness.
5- From the entire field. In every situation, Iker shows his class. In the two games that he had come off the bench, he had been placed as the second central midfielder, something that was questioned by the coach. Now, in his first start, he played with more freedom, as an attacking midfielder. And he managed the rhythm, with one touch, with mobility, something unusual in this San Lorenzo that the crowd recognized him for. Apart from the goals, he was generous when it came to recovering. And he even cleared a rival shot with his chest that looked like a goal.
6- The kick. Yonatan Rodríguez, a tough Uruguayan midfielder who plays for Banfield, already made Muniain feel the toughness of the Argentine league. He committed a more than violent infraction by going to the floor, hitting him twice in the same scene. It was for expulsion. The referee only cautioned him.
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7- The protection of a companion. In that very harsh infraction, with clear bad intentions, while Iker was left lying on the floor for a while and worried everyone, Jhohan Romaña ran to defend him and bullied the Uruguayan who had hit him mercilessly. The Colombian Romaña is one of those who first approached Muniain in the daily life of San Lorenzo, to make him feel comfortable, of course.
8- The intimacy of the locker room. In a low-profile team, without stars and that also claims some financial debts from the leadership, there were doubts about how Muniain would be received. Those unknowns have now been cleared up. Iker “came in” very well. The footballers who share the most time with him in private, apart from Romaña, are Nahuel Bustos, Matías Reali and Nahuel Barrios. An example of warmth was a story told by the former Athletic Bilbao himself: “I already drank mate in the locker room with my teammates and they even gave me one so I could do it myself. Now I have to learn how to prepare it. “That will just be a matter of days.”
9- His words. It is obvious that Muniain is enjoying himself in Argentina. He himself said it: “Both my family, my girlfriend, and I feel very comfortable, very comfortable, very happy. I want to thank all the Argentines that I cross on the street for the love and respect they give me. I will always carry it in my heart. I hope I can enjoy this beautiful experience for a long time.”
10- The coach’s look. After the victory, a journalist asked coach Leandro Romagnoli what he would do from now on with Iker Muniain. And the coach answered, starting with an irony: “We are going to take Muniain out, hahaha. I saw him very well, he came from training alone and he adapted and accommodated the squad very well. I notice him one more, as if he were from here. It showed the hierarchy it has. “Not everyone plays 15 years in Europe.” And he rounded it off: He played spectacularly, he scored the two goals and made the team play with Nahuel (Bustos). “It showed the hierarchy it has.” There will be more Iker de Boedo…
