Formentera has achieved a miracle by eliminating Athletic Club of Bilbao, in their home stadium of San Mamés. Up until the last play the match was drawn, with Athletic Club holding their advantage from the 1-1 draw in the first leg, but a corner kick by Omar Álvarez set up Álvaro Muñiz for a perfect header in the 96th minute snatching the win for Formentera and knocking Athletic out of the competition all together.
It was a fairytale ending for the Segunda B outfit (Spain’s 3rd division) and a fair reward for a very modest team which was able to battle it out against an experienced first division team with 23 King’s Cup titles already under their belt. Formentera, who entered the Kings Cup for the first time 3 years ago were ecstatic with the result. Muniz, the goal scorer said “ This is the best day of my career, you can’t imagine how happy I am right now!”
However it was also a fair punishment for Athletic’s lack of resolve on the pitch. After enjoying a multitude of occasions they were unable to close the game despite having a total of 25 attempts on goal. Los Leones only managed to score one goal in the two legs, a testament to Formentera’s tough defense and determination.
