• Chronicle Elche touches the sky in Girona in the 96th minute

Elche fans knew very well that they had a secret weapon in their hands when visiting the Girona field to certify their return to the elite of Spanish football. Nothing mattered that the Girona team tied (0-0) in their visit to the Martínez Valero stadium and that a goalless draw, after extra time, was worth a promotion that many already took for granted. Juan Francisco Martínez Modesto, Nino, the captain of the Elche team, was going to play in his talismanic field: the Montilivi fiefdom, in which he had already experienced two promotions to First Division.

When the duel seemed hopelessly condemned to go into extra time, a solitary goal by Pere Milla, in the sixth minute of added time, unleashed the joy of a team that played for more than half an hour against 10. Stuani , Girona's great scorer , was sent off after a strong tackle on Dani Calvo , initially punished with yellow by the referee López Toca, was finally considered and after the intervention of the VAR with a direct red. The final 0-1, of course, tasted glorious for Nino.

«I have suffered many times because the opportunity was not given. And I have been promoted to First with other clubs, but doing it at your home club is very special. It was now or never. He had been in the hotel for two weeks thinking about the moment, not wanting to die on the shore. I have achieved records and goals, but the only goal in my head was this. I imagined it was going to be pretty. It is a unique moment, ”the 40-year-old veteran forward pointed out at the official celebrations at the Martínez Valero stadium.

Tenerife, Osasuna and Elche

The two teams with which he lived his two previous promotions to Primera were Tenerife and Osasuna . With the Tenerife team he achieved it in the 2008-09 season, after winning at Montilivi 0-1 in the penultimate match of the League. With the Navarrese formation, in the 2015-16 academic year, he achieved it in the final of the playoff, after winning 2-1 at home and winning, again 0-1, at the Girona stadium. A result that, like the scenario, also seems to be a talisman for Nino when it comes to fighting to get to First.

Perhaps, the joy would have been even greater if he had been able to score, as he did, and decisively, in the playoff semifinals against Zaragoza . Last Sunday, against Girona, he could not score, but that does not prevent his satisfaction at finally leading the First Division to the squad that saw him debut as a professional is absolutely immense.

“My family and I needed this promotion. My daughter had been telling me all week 'Daddy, you have to move up. If not, don't come home. ' You get goose bumps with those unique moments. With the fans on the street, he needed to return to First. These are moments that are above football, "he said as a forward.

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