Welcome to Gilet, population: 3,600 and one hero. This, the Valencia coach Ruben Baraja said, was an apotheosis: the elevation of a human being to the status of God. It might sound like a little bit of an exaggeration -- and, yes, that definition did need looking up in the dictionary -- but at 9:28 p.m. local time on Thursday night, when the explosion hit, as they threw themselves at his feet, thousands and thousands of them lost in the lunacy, it really didn't feel like one.
The highest, most perfect point? Yep, that pretty much covers it.
Javi Guerra is 19 and looks it, his face flushed and his hair floppy. He'd only been on the pitch for 3 minutes and 22 seconds, introduced with officially 78 seconds remaining -- not enough time to do anything, but just enough enough time to do everything. He'd only been on any pitch ever for 64 minutes -- a kid playing just his third LaLiga game as a sub -- and he had never scored a goal. Not even in training: "I swear it," teammate Hugo Duro said. He had never even taken a shot. Now, for the first time ever, he did.
With the clock on 92.04.
With the scoreboard showing 1-1 against Valladolid.
With Valencia, the team he supported from the tiny town some 20 minutes north, looking into the abyss, trapped in the relegation zone, desperate for something, anything.
Well, he said, there was nothing else on, and no pass to play. And so, with a sway of the hips, Javi Guerra turned inside and started to run until he reached the edge of the area. It took him three touches to get there and then he swung his left leg, the bad one. "It came off OK," he said, which was one way of putting it. A golazo, Edison Cavani called it, which was another, and yet that too was inadequate. The ball flew through the air, all of them on board, and went straight into the corner of the net and straight into history. Then 42,023 people absolutely lost their minds.
Just about the only person that didn't was Carlos Marchena. As the Valencia assistant manager sidled up to the fourth official for a quiet word, everyone else let it all out. There was so much to get out, it was like an exorcism. On the sideline, staff fell to their knees. Baraja hugged at everyone he could as hard as he could, trying to throw his arms around the world. The world was throwing its arms around this kid that had rescued them.
As Guerra ran toward the corner wearing a look of amused incredulity, Jose Luis Gaya, the Valencia captain, grabbed him by the face and held him. There was a race to join them, players piling up. In the stands, Thierry leapt about. A little boy called Aitor watched from his father's arms, that look on his dad's face. Samu Lino hugged Guerra like a lost lover, looking like he was going to cry, which maybe he was. Asked what he, a 36-year-old veteran who has scored 437 goals, could say to this kid 17 years his junior who had just scored his first goal, Cavani said: "Thanks."
