Manolo Abalo: "We are proud to have been drawn against a big club like Valencia CF"

The president of Arosa SC, Manolo Abalo, has been the protagonist of the magazine SENTIMENT VCF evaluating the clash of the second round of the Copa del Rey 23-24 against Valencia CF. The game will be played on Tuesday, December 5th at 9 pm at the Estadio Municipal A Lomba in Pontevedra.

Draw

"I followed the draw live with our people in a cafeteria. We are very happy to have been drawn against  Valencia CF, one of the biggest teams in Spain. When the ball came out, the people were very excited. I've had a lot of calls for tickets already. It will be a match for our people to enjoy. In Galicia, Valencia CF is one of the most important clubs in Spain. If we win, I would give them what we get from the ticket sales to the players. Granada CF's, taking out expenses, they take it

Arosa SC

"We are a team who were in the Second tier in the 50s. Then we went down, although we were also in the third tier' for many years. We competed against the Real Sociedad of Arkonada, Satrústegui and Zamora in the Copa del Rey. Arosa SC got into my blood and since 1978 I started as a director and now I have been president for 14 years, at the age of 72. I took over the club with a debt at that time of 300 million pesetas (1,803 million pesetas.

Clash against Valencia CF

"We were in the third tier' in 1982-83 we played against VCF Mestalla and that year we were promoted. We would be proud if Arosa SC were League champions and Valencia CF were Cup winners".

A Lomba Municipal Stadium

"It's a very nice stadium, with the benches built into the stands, English style. We always try to keep the pitch in the best conditions. In principle, we estimate that there will be around 5,000 spectators in attendance. The English, back in the day, used to stop in our area and play football here. We say that this is where football was born in Spain".

Mari Paz Vilas

"She was born in our club, she was with us until she was a cadet. She came out as a footballer from our club. We want to call her up and pay tribute to her in the match".

Valencia CF

"It's a young team that is going to give a lot to talk about and with a great coach like Baraja. I would stay with Baraja as a coach because he is contributing a lot, although I would love to have any Valencia CF player in my team. Even so, I'll stick with our players"