The 61-year-old "Manolo el del Bombo" is just as part of the international football scene as the Spanish national team. He has supported his national side for 38 years, travelling...
The 61-year-old "Manolo el del Bombo" is just as part of the international football scene as the Spanish national team. He has supported his national side for 38 years, travelling...
The 61-year-old "Manolo el del Bombo" is just as part of the international football scene as the Spanish national team. He has supported his national side for 38 years, travelling to every major tournament since the 1982 World Cup in his own country. Werder managers Klaus Allofs and Klaus Filbry a well as Bremen directors Tino Polster, Oliver Rau and Hinrich von Hallen and other Werder employees visited the Spanish fan icon last week directly after Werder's final training for the Europa League first leg match at Valencia. And Manolo el del Bombo ("Manolo, the one with the bass drum") did not waste the opportunity to invite the entire 10-man Werder group for tapas and drinks.
"This spontaneous hospitality is surely something extraordinary. We were very impressed. Had we not had an official meeting, we would have gladly stayed longer," grinned Klaus Allofs, who just like Manolo was active at the 1986 World Cup in Mexico. And the pair had more than enough football stories to share. Manolo thanked his guests for their 90-minute visit with a performance in his legendary oversized Basque hat and drum. It was a performance that the entire bar near the stadium will not forget any time soon.
And to document the good relationship with Spain's most famous football fan, the Bremen group promised to give the fan bar a jersey and scarf. And it's a promise that will be kept in the return leg of the Europa League against Valencia. "You can never know what it will be good for," said Klaus Allofs, who also invited Manolo to the return leg and an exclusive tour of Weser Stadium. But the fan-fanatic will have to get a rain check. "I have been asked to be an expert that night for Spanish television. I will not be in Bremen," said a disappointed Manolo.
