In the Copa del Rey final in the early hours of this morning, Real Betis relied on a penalty shootout to defeat Valencia to win the final title. Joaquin, who is over 40 years old and is about to retire at the end of the season, made his second appearance in the penalty shootout and scored the ball steadily. In Betis's 115-year history, including this morning, they have won only four titles in total: the league title in 1935 and the Copa del Rey in 1977, 2005 and 2022. And there is one person who has become the only player in the team to have won two championship titles, and that is Joaquin.
"Joaquin is still playing." The impression of Chinese fans on him can even be traced back to the 2002 World Cup in South Korea and Japan, the winger who gave an assist to Morientes but was whistled offside, or fell at the moment of 12 yards...
At that time, Joaquin had only played one season in La Liga, and in his debut season he scored five goals to help Betis qualify for the Europa League. Such a performance was taken to the World Cup by Camacho, and the two words of talent were engraved in Joaquin's first impression on the fans.
However, not all geniuses have perfect stories, Joaquin has no experience playing in the top giants, and even rejected Real Madrid in order to show loyalty. As a "bullfighter", he accompanied Spain through the darkest hours, but when the golden age came and Spain lifted the peak moment of the European Championship and the World Cup, he had become a passer-by for the national team. He has spent most of his career in Spain, his only overseas experience was two years with Fiorentina, and he also had the opportunity to go to England, but his only love is still to start training his real Betis from academy. When he left with a value of 25 million, joaquin was 34 years old and worth only 1.5 million euros when he returned to the Lopera Stadium. He and the fans who like him know that Betis is not here to get himself back to the title. It's just that he knows better than what the club is asking of himself and what he needs to do for the family's childhood beliefs.
On December 8, 2019, Joaquin scored a hat-trick against Bilbao, not only the first hat-trick of his career, but also the oldest hat-wearer in La Liga history, at the age of 38.
On 10 May 2021, joaquin made his 461st appearance for Betis in a match against Granada, setting a new club-history appearance.
On February 18, 2022, Joaquin assisted Rodriguez in the Europa League, becoming the oldest assist player in Europa League history at the age of 40 years and 211 days.
However, Joaquin always had a goal in mind, a goal he would think of every time he faced a Betis fan who cheered for himself. Seventeen years ago, in the 2004-05 season, Real Betis reached the final of the Copa del Rey, where they defeated Osasuna 2-1 on aggregate, and the day after winning the title, the trophy appeared at Joaquin's own wedding.
It's too hard for a team like Betis to win in a top-level event. And today, in Betis and Joaquin, it happened again.
Joaquin's career is not perfect in the eyes of others, but there is not so much perfection in this world, and not many people can get the favor of Heaven and the gift of fate, when the light flows through themselves, we gradually find that there is no so-called perfection in life, but because stories like Joaquin exist, let us still love life.