• TV Are the changes in Mediaset beginning? New reality with Cristóbal Soria and Maribáñez

Eugenio is 100 years old and is in the front row at the summer cinema that Mediaset has put in the Plaza de Maribáñez, in front of the church. He wears a cane and a gray sweater over a white shirt; It has been, as they say, on end. The occasion deserves it. This hamlet of Los Palacios, in the province of Seville, of just 1,023 inhabitants, lived with enthusiasm on April 19 the preview of Maribáñez, the worst team in the world, a docuseries that arrives this Wednesday, May 10, to Cuatro, facing at night the third edition of Mask Singer on Antena 3 and the new season of El pueblo on Telecinco.

Like Eugenio, who appears riding a bicycle in one of the first shots of the program, all the residents of the town lived with emotion the television portrait of its streets and people. But here the story that matters is one, that of its modest football team, Maribáñez, which aims to get out of sports apathy in general and the Andalusian Third Division in particular.

Tremendous undertaking is faced by Cristóbal Soria, former referee and star commentator of El chiringuito. It brings its overflowing energy and, yes, also some speeches at a few decibels to which they are not accustomed in a town as quiet as this. "I am an uncle of challenges and lost causes. I couldn't say no to an opportunity like this," he says.

They have only experienced arriving at a game with the aim of having two or three beers later. Now they are going to change the mentality

Cristobal Soria

Team members like Chinchi, Will or Little Chicken had never taken the team too seriously before and enjoyed the beers at El Remolachero, the village bar, more than the match itself. As El Orejas, soul of the team, says, it was "a team to enjoy". And with that they were happy, but Soria has awakened another illusion in them: "They want to know the taste of victory, because they only know that of defeat. They have only experienced arriving at a game with the aim of having two or three beers later. Now they are going to change the mentality, you have to teach them how to behave in the elite."

The concept of the format, halfway between Ted Lasso and Nightmare in the Kitchen, actually appeals to the aspirational objective and the endearing of its characters. So much so that Íñigo Pérez, producer of Señor Mono, has as a reference the film Campeones by Javier Fesser and other American films that follow the formula of "disaster team that someone arrives and changes it".

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We really like to take movies and turn them into reality. The challenge was to find the place and Cristobal got it. When we came to see him it was perfect, but when we met them it was better. They are people with a lot of self-confidence and naturalness." It was Juanjo, El Orejas, who received the call from Soria and his companions were of him. They said it would be a joke. "Either it's Cristobal Soria or it's Carlos Latre because there's no other note that speaks like that," he replied.

And then Soria broke into a locker room that has the hot water heater tied with a chain so that no one steals it and soccer field, the only albero of the province, where the donkey Socks eats the weeds that are coming out. "Now we have a commitment, some training guidelines. Football is not kicking a ball, you have to have an idea of defending, attacking, positioning... Thanks to Cristóbal we are forming as people and players", values El Largo, goalkeeper of the team turned television personality, "We are learning what raccord is, a general plane. Now you're watching TV and you're looking at things you didn't realize."

Like him, his substitute, Will, says that although television has its tricks, they put themselves in front of the camera naturally: "It's myself, there is no other", and believes that if they become famous from it, among their colleagues there is more wood for contestants of Survivors than for The Island of Temptations "Yes, because here we are used to throwing ourselves into the mud. The bad thing is to take people to the other island, we have less handsome."

"All the players have eaten cold at some time, although now they charge 3 million euros

Cristobal Soria

For Soria, the history of Maribáñez works both from the bottom up and vice versa, to remind us of the importance of looking back. "All of us who have reached elite football at some point have gone through this grassroots football, that albero field, those dressing rooms, those torn socks ... It's like going back 25 or 30 years, to the beginning. For those of us who have been in the elite, going down three or four steps, or whole plants, I recommend it as medicine," he says. "All the players have eaten cold at some time, although now they charge 3 million euros. Remembering that is more than enough. There are many players who are high, but I do not want to put names and surnames. Although there is someone I would bring and it is Jesus Navas, because it is his people, and he has won everything later with the Spanish National Team or Manchester City. "

Another illustrious neighbor of Los Palacios is Gavi of F.C. Barcelona, who started in the nearby team La Liara Balompié before jumping to Betis. The boys of Maribáñez may not reach so high, but they can dream.

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