Santi Cazorla was promoted with Real Oviedo and did not miss out on his comeback in La Liga. However, after a poor season and a relegation that was almost impossible to avoid, the 41-year-old will be saying goodbye.
The decision has been “made”, because “everything in life has a beginning and an end”. Santi Cazorla’s words left no other conclusion: the season is over for the Oviedo attacker, even if he did not formulate the inevitable. Not yet.
“It’s neither the right day nor the right time to announce anything. The most important thing is the team and in the next few days I will make it official,” said Cazorla on Wednesday. “I’m concentrating on finishing the season and the decision has been made, in agreement with my family, my people and my club.”
Cazorla left it open as to whether he might continue elsewhere than at the club close to his heart. He would first have to “pause and see what my body says. But it’s absolutely clear to me that I want to stay connected to soccer. I will 100 percent do something related to soccer, because that’s what I’ve done all my life.”
The little miracle that is Cazorla
The fact that Cazorla was still able to play in a top league at such an advanced age is nothing short of a physiological miracle. The 1.68-metre Spaniard once had to take a 636-day break due to a serious injury; an eight-centimetre-long piece of his Achilles tendon had to be reconstructed. To do this, he had skin transplanted from his forearm. He had to undergo eight operations.
The two-time European champion with Spain played a major role in his promotion last season. He played for his youth club Oviedo, where he was already a ball boy, for 91,000 euros a year – because less was not possible. “I would play for free, but that’s not allowed,” he said a few weeks before promotion. However, he was assured that ten percent of the proceeds from his jersey would go to the club’s youth department.
In the current season, Cazorla, who has also played for Villarreal, Huelva, Malaga, FC Arsenal and Al-Sadd in Doha, has made 23 appearances and been substituted 19 times. The veteran failed to score a goal, Oviedo quickly fell into the relegation maelstrom and are bottom of the table with 28 points. They are already seven points adrift of the drop zone.
“When you get promoted after 24 years, you hope for a season that you can enjoy, no matter how difficult it is to secure relegation,” said Cazorla. “It’s been a difficult year for everyone and all of that plays a part in the decision. Sure, maybe it would have been different if it had been a nicer year …” Nevertheless, he said he “really enjoyed” playing with his club in La Liga once again, “and I want to keep doing that in the remaining games”.
The 41-year-old also spoke plainly, however. “If you don’t pick up a single point against rivals who are fighting for the same thing, it’s because the team hasn’t lived up to the expectations,” said Cazorla. “We have to learn many lessons from this season. It’s about the club’s decisions, about the management, about all of us pulling together and not letting the love for this club fall apart. That was lost at times this year and must not be repeated.”
It is possible that Cazorla will help to get Oviedo back on track. But he will no longer be doing that on the pitch for the club that is so close to his heart.
