The gift of a shirt of Spain’s national football team-signed by all its star players- given this week to Pope Francis by Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy is the latest reminder of the links that bind the beautiful game to the Vatican.
Pope Francis is himself a self-declared football fan, with a dedication from his childhood days to San Lorenzo, the local club of the neighbourhood of Almagro in Buenos Aires where he was born. It is a club which owes its origins to the Catholic Church and which is deserving of a mark of honour in the history of Spanish football.
For San Lorenzo owes its existence to a parish priest Father Lorenzo Massa who in the early 19th century allowed the first organised kick-about in the Almagro neighbourhood to take place in the backyard of his church. It was his way of keeping youths out of trouble after a local kid was run over by a tram during a football match played between rival gangs in the street.
San Lorenzo later evolved into one of Argentina’s top teams and just before Christmas of 1946 embarked on a legendary tour of Spain, after overturning River Plate’s dominance of the league championship. While beaten in their opening match against Real Madrid, the Argentine visitors remained undefeated in the rest of the tour, beating FC Barcelona, and Spain’s national team, and holding three other top – Athletic Bilbao, Valencia and Sevilla- to a draw.
As I note in my history of Spanish football La Roja the Argentinian champions left a deep imprint with their elaborate play of short passes in contrast to the more direct aggressive play then favoured in Spain where to talk of tactics was regarded as a heresy.
These days it is said that Spain’s national team-World Champions and twice European champions since 2008-owes much of its success to FC Barcelona’s style and players. But then Spanish football generally owes a legacy to the example of San Lorenzo- and Argentine football generally. Among the pending invitations in Pope Francis’s in tray is one to Spain-courtesy of Rajoy, a Real Madrid fan-, and another to the Nou Camp- courtesy of FC Barcelona president Sandro Rosell, who wrote to the Pope days ago, pointing out his own Argentine family roots and how much Barca owe to one player in particular, Lionel Messi.
So which footabll stadium will Pope Francis choose to go to when he eventually visits Spain? It will be a tough choice, and one requiring tact and diplomacy.
Lets leave the 2 mainstream clubs, one could even say, the only relevant clubs in La Liga to one side. There is so much hype and sheer tripe written about them, that time-out should be called and the other clubs that make up the Liga take centre stage.
So given Pope Francis’s unique style, which appeals to the masses and doesn’t take sides nor needs any diplomacy, it is obvious which stadium he should go to: San Mames.
For it was here, in the heart of the Basque country where Ignatius, the founder of the Jesuit order was born, in the wonderful town of Azpeitia.