El Llano del Beal (Cartagena, Murcia), a small town at the foot of the Sierra Minera and which in the past was made up of workers dedicated to mining, saw the birth of the Club Deportiva Minera on January 16, 1949, founded by the company Minera Celdrán SA and from which the name of its stadium came, the Municipal Ángel Celdrán. With a capacity of about 2,000 spectators, the venue, built in the 1950s when mining activity and demographics in the town were higher than today, has more capacity than the town’s inhabitants today, barely 1,300. Last year, on its 75th anniversary, the club achieved a milestone in its history after becoming champion of group XIII of the Tercera RFEF and ascending to the fourth step of Spanish football, the highest category they have ever reached (Segunda RFEF). After a dream season, this town continues to celebrate, since on December 5 they eliminated Alavés after a penalty shootout in the Copa del Rey. They did it, yes, at the Cartagonova stadium, home of Second Division Cartagena and with capacity for about 15,000 spectators. And this Monday, 10 days after celebrating another year of history, the team will experience in that same scenario – almost all tickets sold – one of the most important days since its founding when facing another First Division team and one of the biggest teams in history, Real Madrid (7:00 p.m., La 1).
The town is living a dream with this match, and it is no wonder considering the history of this club and the size of this municipality. Deportiva Minera is the team that belongs to the smallest town of all the teams that make up the first four categories of Spanish football. “This is the greatest thing that has happened to us in the town. We won the lottery without playing it,” says José García, a 76-year-old resident of El Llano del Beal, with a smile from ear to ear, who walks from one place to another with his thin cane stick, his cap and sunglasses. sun. García was present at Cartagonova when the Murcia team eliminated Alavés. “Who was going to tell me that I would see Minera eliminating a great person from Spain! In the stadium we were all “frozen” and everywhere I looked there were people crying,” he recalls with excitement.
Although there is something that makes this meeting more anecdotal. In the club office, a small room located in a corner of the stadium a few meters from the grass, a large plaster Real Madrid shield stands out among dozens of paintings with photographs of the team from different seasons. What is the explanation? The passion for the white club of Bienvenido Gallego, a 73-year-old man and honorary president of the Minera. “I’m really excited about this match because I’m a Real Madrid fan,” he says. Gallego was also a Minera footballer and began playing in the 60s and, after his retirement, he was also president of the club. Among the dozens of frames there is a very special one in which two photographs appear. On the left you can see Gallego in 1998 with his father at Ángel Celdrán and, on the right, the same image but 43 years earlier.
Damián Petcoff, the “giant killer” of Deportiva Minera
To try to beat Real Madrid, La Minera has a player to whom the adjective “giant killer” can be attributed. He is Damián Petcoff, a 34-year-old Argentine midfielder who for José García is “the best on the team.” Petcoff has just renewed with the team for another year, until 2026, and is one of the oldest players in the Cartagena team and has played in Second Division matches with Córdoba in the 10/11 season and with UD Logroñés in the 20/21. The midfielder played in the 21/22 Copa del Rey with Atlético Baleares and they eliminated two First Division teams: first Getafe and then Celta de Vigo. They would finally fall in the round of 16 against Valencia, runners-up of that edition, by 0-1.
This time they face the white team and the challenge is even greater. “This match must be experienced as what it is, unique, because it is the closest thing one can play against a First Division or top-level team. What you have to do is try not to think that you are superior and try to compete as much as possible,” explains Petcoff in an interview with this newspaper. And he adds: “It is clear that they are international footballers, of another level. They are very good individually, but I also think that the group is what makes you complicated because if you focus on one you neglect the other and that one is going to eat you up. In the end they are all important and I think it is not like a team in our categories, that if we have to score at the 10 or do you have to dial 8”, argues the Argentine. Although for him, if only one player from Ancelotti’s team must be highlighted, it is the new star of the white club, Kylian Mbappé. “For me, today, with his physique and quality, he is the most decisive.”
For Petcoff, the key to this match is to play it as a united and seamless team. “We have to try to be patient, not go crazy, because three of our players together are like one of them. For me it is essential to be well together and help each other a lot, suffer for my teammate and play as a team,” says the footballer. And he adds jokingly: “If we advance to the round I think we should go to the final directly. Making that a reality is very difficult, but hey, you must never lose hope and, as they say, to reach the final you have to play with the best.”
“I don’t know if it is the most important because I had matches of playoffs and promotion, but the most beautiful because a week ago my grandfather passed away and I think he was very excited to see me on television. Besides, it is Real Madrid and it was a dream for him,” says the Argentine in an emotional tone, who along with his teammates will play a match that is out of the ordinary.
Using pick and shovel, Minera wants to find her diamond and be in the hype for the next Copa del Rey draw. The KO tournament offers these opportunities to humble teams that dream of achieving feats like Real Unión, Alcorcón or Mirandés did in other years. La Minera wants to be part of those teams that once made people talk and made a place for themselves in history.
