MirandesThe red and black scarves of CD Mirandes fans stood out sharply against the blue and white lights of Espanyol's Cornella-El Prat stadium on a freezing January night.
The fans posed for photos like those on a first trip to Wembley. Their team, who play in Spain's regional third tier, had exceeded all expectations by reaching the quarter-final of the Copa del Rey. Not only that, they'd done it by eliminating Primera Division sides Racing Santander and Villarreal plus Logrones, Linense and Amorebieta in the early rounds.
Now, 2,000 fans - more than their average home gate - had made the five-hour journey in a convoy of coaches to Barcelona for what seemed like their cup final.
Espanyol, Copa del Rey winners in 2000 and 2006, were in form, fifth in the league and were clear favourites over two legs. Their team had avoided the part of the draw which included Barca, Madrid and Valencia. The coast was clear: reach the final and Espanyol would be back in Europe.
The part-timers of Mirandes had excelled and put the town of Miranda de Ebro, population 38,930, on the map. Just 10% of those are members at the club and they've had to think hard about spending on non-essentials such as football. Industrial towns like Mirandes in northern Spain have been crippled by high unemployment in the country's economic crisis.
The Mirandes players and coach Carlos Pouso didn't quite read the script. They took the lead at Espanyol after 27 minutes and added a second from a bald-headed midfielder called Pablo Infante after 77 minutes.
The fans that had filled the away end went crazy. The stadium camera zoomed in on a man embracing a young boy who was clearly up too late for school next day. Tears of happiness were streaming down his father's face. A week after Barca had failed to win in the same stadium, his team of part-timers were leading 2-0. Wasn't life just wonderful?
Events moved quickly. An Espanyol fan approached the press box and began telling journalists that his team was terrible and that they should write it. Ten minutes later, the same man was spotted dancing on his seat after Espanyol has scored three goals in four minutes, the third from Vladimir Weiss, the winger on loan from Manchester City.
"That was close," said Weiss after the game. "They played really well. Did you see the bald guy in the middle? He was excellent. Why's he playing third division?"
Pablo Infante is 31years old. The club's longest serving player of seven years is the hero of this cup run. He also works in a bank.
Espanyol would go into the second leg with a 3-2 lead. Their players would be driving back to their beautiful houses and apartments to rest. Infante drove home too. He couldn't stay in Barcelona with the team as he had to work next morning. He drove through the night and arrived home at six am. After 90 minutes sleep, he was back at his desk by nine, with colleagues saying: 'Well done' and 'Hard luck.'
As Spain obsessed over the Barca and Madrid cup tie, Mirandes had the second leg to look forward to. Could they overturn the deficit? It seemed highly unlikely when Rui Fonte, Espanyol's Portuguese striker who was at Arsenal and Crystal Palace as a youngster, gave the Catalans the lead.
But Infante wasn't finished just yet. He equalised in the second half, his seventh in the Copa de Rey this season. Mirandes only needed one more goal to go through on away goals. They got it in the 92nd minute, that man Infante setting up defender Cesar Caneda. The tie ended 4-4 on aggregate and with an unlikely victory on away goals.
This was a dream which Mirandes didn't want to end as they became the first third division side to reach the semi-finals since the Catalans from Figures a decade ago.
Mirandes were still in the cup alongside the might of Barca, Valencia and tonight's opponents Athletic Bilbao, who are based just 80 kilometres north on the AP68. The Basques, who have won the Copa del Rey 23 times, the last in 1984, have an annual budget of €60 million - sixty times that of Mirandes.
The first leg is at home. Thirty workers have been busy erecting a temporary stand behind one end of the Aduva Municipal stadium which has no stand. It will boost the capacity from 6,000 to 7,700. They might keep the new stand because they're doing well in the league and aiming for promotion to the second division which they came within minutes of reaching last season.
Sadly, the stadium is not fit to host European football and that's something Mirandes now have to take seriously. Beat Athletic and they'll be in the Europa League.
Mirandes are looking after their members. Members will pay €12 for tickets (€5 for juniors) as normal, while the glory hunters will pay €70.
Far more unfair, however, is that the 432 tickets for Athletic fans are €90. This greed is not good, though it is understandable.
Mirandes, who are league leaders, may have been distracted after they lost at the weekend to a team in a relegation spot, yet they are still six points clear at the top. Among their opponents are Athletic Bilbao's B team.
The Mirandes team trained behind closed doors yesterday, except there are no doors to close and fans could watch from adjoining fields.
They are underdogs once again - Athletic Bilbao fans have begun reserving hotel rooms in Madrid for the final on May 25th.
Let's hope those fans have added a cancellation option, as it is foolish to write off Mirandes.
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