The vice president of Llosetense, Andreu Alcover, was the fortunate representative of the club at the World Cup final in New York, where Spain was crowned world champion for the second time by defeating Argentina. The Federation rewarded the Raiguer team with a whirlwind trip.
Andreu Alcover, vice president of Llosetense, landed in New York last Sunday with a mission: to represent his club at the World Cup final. And he certainly did. From MetLife Stadium, wearing the Raiguer team's shirt, a scarf, and a flag, he watched as Spain secured its second star by defeating Argentina with a goal from Ferran Torres. "Experiencing a World Cup final is the greatest thing for someone who loves football, especially when you win," he confesses, still euphoric.
From Lloseta to the Big Apple
Alcover's story is not that of a wealthy executive spending thousands of euros in a box. It's much simpler: he won a raffle. The Royal Spanish Football Federation, led by Rafael Louzán, raffled among the teams of the Third Federation a fully paid trip to attend the World Cup final. Llosetense was the only lucky winner from the Balearic group. And then, among the club's executives, luck smiled on Alcover again.
"We won. Then we did another draw among all the executives, and it was me who won," he explains from the United States. The prize included flights, transfers, and, of course, the ticket for the final. A whirlwind trip that took him from Majorca to Madrid and from there to the capital of the world.
There, among the more than 80,000 people crowding MetLife Stadium, only a handful knew that the badge Alcover wore on his shirt belonged to a small village in Raiguer, Majorca. "It has been very exciting. I have enjoyed it a lot. It was exhausting, but it was amazing," he repeats.
The reward for three years of work
For Alcover and the rest of the Llosetense board, this trip is not just a reward, but a recognition of the work done in recent years. "We arrived at the club when it had a huge debt, and we have worked hard to save the club," he recalls. The team, which was on the brink of extinction a few years ago, has revived and this season played in the playoff to ascend to the Second Federation.
"In the board, we believe this is the reward for the work we have done over the past three years. We have worked hard to save the club, and we believe we have been rewarded this way, with this joy," he states. Llosetense, which competes in the Balearic group of the Third Federation, has managed to stabilize both financially and sportingly, and can now boast of having been in the World Cup final.
"We have done it for the love of the game. We are local people who work daily. We are a very good team, and no one has given us anything," Alcover concludes, already planning his return to Majorca with a suitcase full of memories and an experience that he assures, "I will never forget in my life."
Llosetense, which will start pre-season next month, already has a new goal: to hang the Spanish flag that Alcover took to New York at their headquarters and continue growing from humility. Because if this Raiguer club has shown anything, it is that with hard work and passion, even the biggest dreams can come true.
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