SEVILLE, April 7 (Xinhua) -- It was well past midnight when Athletic Bilbao winger Alex Berenguer stepped to the penalty spot in the Estadio de la Cartuja in Seville, knowing that the chance to end a 40-year wait was in his hands, but if he felt any nerves, he didn't show them.
The winger put his shot into the corner of the Mallorca goal, beyond the reach of the goalkeeper and immediately sprinted 20 meters, hurdling the advertising hoardings, to celebrate with the packed ranks of fans behind the goal.
Behind him the rest of his companions followed suit, while on the touchline, coach Ernesto Valverde clenched his fists in celebration.
They had done it. Berenguer's goal at the end of a nerve-shredding penalty shootout saw the club from the Basque region of northern Spain lift the trophy they so desired, winning the shootout 4-2 after 120 minutes of football against a rugged Mallorca had ended 1-1.
It's been 40 years since Athletic beat FC Barcelona, who then had Diego Maradona in their ranks, 1-0 in the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium. Athletic traveled to Sevilla having lost six consecutive Cup finals - the last two within two painful weeks of each other in an empty stadium in April 2021.
They lost semifinals in 2022 and 2023, and it seemed the Cup triumph was never going to come - even more so when Dani Rodriguez put Mallorca ahead on Saturday night with a 21st-minute goal.
Athletic had the ball, but Mallorca's big defenders closed down nearly all the spaces, while their giant forward Vedat Muriqi was a mountain in attack, winning header after header.
Nico Williams saw a goal ruled out for offside, and at the start of the second half, Cyle Larin had a shot saved by Athletic keeper Julen Agirrezabala, when he looked certain to score and perhaps put the game beyond reach.
Four minutes later, man-of-the-match Nico Williams found space, beat his marker and slid the ball through the tightest of angles for Oihan Sancet to equalize.
Both sides had chances to win in normal time, but Athletic looked for the win, while Mallorca seemed happy to get to another penalty shootout after they beat Real Sociedad by the same route in the semifinals.
This time it was different: Agirrezabala saved Manu Morlanes' spot kick and Nemanja Radonjic put his penalty into the clouds to leave Berenguer with a moment that ensures he will go down in Athletic's scroll of honor.
The win is a triumph for a club that is, as their motto for the final says, "Unique in the World."
In the days of multi-million-dollar signings and international owners, Athletic is the property of its club members who elect a new president every four years.
The second-oldest club in Spain has also stayed loyal to a policy that has been with them since soon after their foundation in 1898. Only footballers born or raised as players in the Basque region (and the province of Navarre) can play for the club. That limits the catchment area to around 6 million people and makes it incredibly hard to sign new talent.
So the club relies mainly on its youth system, with players advancing through the ranks and their Lezama training complex, a few kilometers from the city center.
Lezama's significance is made clear by the fact that 10 out of Athletic's 11 starters on Saturday night were products of their youth system, and Oscar de Marcos (the only non-youth team product) is the son of the president of the Athletic supporters' club in his hometown of Laguardia.
It's a policy that brings lean times as well as the good ones, but along with Real Madrid and FC Barcelona, Athletic has never been relegated from the top division, perhaps because of the sense of unity and identity it brings.
Travel to Bilbao on the day of a big game, you will see balconies covered by their red and white colors, shops decorated with flags, people in the street with replica shirts and scarves and probably even some dogs decked out in red and white.
Around 100,000 fans traveled 860 kilometers between Bilbao and Seville for Saturday's game, only 35,000 of whom had ticket. The rest just wanted to be there, to show their support and experience the moment - that unity makes the club so special and gives them strength.
Nobody highlights that unity more than the Williams brothers, Inaki and Nico, the sons of parents who crossed the Sahara Desert to get to Spain and who are now leaders on and off the pitch. 21-year-old Nico is a fixture in the Spain national team, while Inaki chose to represent his parents' native Ghana, but together they represent the values of unity and integration that helps make Athletic unique.
Inaki is Nico's mentor, showing brotherly love and family values that shine even above their footballing talents and mean they have a special place in the club's history.
At the helm is Valverde, who doesn't really enjoy the spotlight. In his third spell at the San Mames Stadium, Valverde is a man who tasted the cruel side of the game when he was sacked in early 2020 by FC Barcelona, after winning two league titles and with Barca on top of La Liga, but he is once again at the club where there is a mutual appreciation and obvious affection.
His quiet hand has helped the Williams mature and bring forward other young talents such as Sancet, Daniel Vivian, Benat Prados and Aitor Paredes.
Thursday will see Athletic refloat the 'Gabarra,' an old barge from Bilbao's industrial past. The players will climb onboard and make the 12-kilometer journey from the mouth of the river Nervion to the center of Bilbao to celebrate with their fans.
Over a million people lined the river the last time the 'Gabarra' was floated in 1984. This time authorities expect almost twice as many, and every supporter on the riverbank and player on the barge is a symbol of that makes Athletic Bilbao so unique in the world of football. ■
