The Cup that the forty-year-old Joaquín dreamed of

• Chronicle Betis wins the third Cup in its history in the throes of penalties

cried and smiled

.

He put on the bracelet and could barely make it up the steps to the box in a greenish-white tide of euphoria.

The Cup was waiting for him, his Cup, the one he enjoyed in 2005 before starting a journey that brought him back to Villamarín to fulfill a dream.

He had not wanted to verbalize it until

took the last penalty of a final as brilliant as it was agonizing against a Valencia team, who submitted him at times and only gave in due to a mistake by

on the fourth penalty.

"Thank God, the Cup stays at home, we have given it to the Betis in a great season. Penalties are a lottery, but we deserved this title. We wanted to win again", confessed the captain before going up to the box to collect the trophy from the hand of

.

had reserved him

as a final firework, the last 30 minutes and the second penalty.

After

's equalizer

and the two sticks, the captain's moral push was essential.

With the trophy in his hands, Joaquín shook off the weight of responsibility.

"Tears have come out from the suppressed emotion of the last few days, from seeing the people overturned and knowing that we had a great responsibility," he recounted while Pellegrini was supported by his players.

For the engineer it was his first title in Spain, the prize for a career that had been denied him, for the football of a team that has received praise and has already made history.

Another winner was Borja Iglesias.

El Panda, author of the goal in the first 90 minutes, assists and an intense duel with

.

"I'm not going to leave this trophy all night. I haven't been able to score the second goal, but I'm very happy," he summed up.

The cruelty with Gayà

On the other shore was Valencia, personalized in the broken voice, the lump in the throat and the tears of its captain

.

"Football is very beautiful but also very cruel. I am hurt because our fans deserved the Cup and played next season in Europe," he lamented.

The Valencian punishment is double: without a title and with an almost impossible European classification.

They played it all on one card and it didn't come out.

"It hurts a lot. We've had chances, we thought we could win and the end was very tough."

Word of a youth squad who senses that it will be very difficult to be champion again with the team of his life.

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