World-class fair play: Paquito and Lebron ‘overrule’ the referee from the bench and hand the first set to the Deus brothers

While we wait to celebrate the finalist between Spain and Portugal, we want to tell you about the finest moment of the entire FIP World Cup. A moment that Arturo Coello had, in a way, almost predicted. But let’s take it from the beginning.

 

The first match of the Portugal-Spain semi-final. Yanguas-Goñi against the Deus brothers. The Portuguese are serving at 5-4 in the first set and are a break ahead. The Star Point is played: a decisive point that means either a break back and a return to level terms, or the first set for Portugal. After a fiercely contested rally, Goñi goes for the retrieval, jumping high to reach Nuno Deus’s smash right at the net, and wins the point to make it 5-5. The referee awards the point to Spain, but the Portuguese players immediately protest, calling for a touch.

 

And here, let’s take a step back. At the previous day’s press conference, Coello had given this exact answer to a question about whether he felt like the team’s leader in Galán’s absence: “I think there are people in this team with a greater natural aptitude for leadership, such as Paquito and Juan. I’m more laid-back in that respect…”

 

Now, back to the heated moment, with the two Deus brothers and the Portuguese bench strongly protesting to the referee over the touch. At that point, from the opposite side of the court, where the Spanish team are seated, none other than Paquito and Juan Lebron get to their feet. They exchange a knowing glance with Juanjo Gutierrez and then turn to the referee, saying more or less: “We had a clear view from the bench. Aimar did make contact, the point belongs to Portugal”. The Deus brothers take the first set, 1-0. The crowd erupts, and Portuguese and Spanish fans alike rise to applaud the Spaniards’ remarkable display of fair play. The Portuguese bench, in turn, thank them and join in the applause.

 

A wonderful moment, all the more so given the centuries-old rivalry between Spain and Portugal. When people say that padel is about more than glass walls, mesh, blue carpet and spectacular technical displays, and that it can also be a place where the finest values of sporting integrity are shared, this is exactly the kind of gesture they mean. A set handed over in a World Cup semi-final. Have you ever seen anything like it elsewhere?