“Without a doubt you learn more when you don’t play”

Bilbaíno from the Santutxu neighbourhood, Eneko Undabarrena (29 years old) will visit Lezama this Sunday (12 noon) with Intercity, the team for which he signed this summer from Burgos. He never played for Athletic, it’s an unfulfilled dream, but he considers the Bilbao factory to be his “home”. He speaks slowly, reflectively, reviews his career, that promotion with Burgos to Second against the puppies -he was one of the pillars of that formation-, and a course, the past, complicated: despite being the captain, he hardly even played. “I learned a lot. The other day I felt represented with the reflection of Dani García». The Athletic player said that he would like that when he finishes football he would be remembered as a good substitute rather than as a bad substitute. And that is the philosophy of this midfielder who also wears the armband in a team built to rise, but who has punctured against lesser rivals, such as Cornellà, last weekend.

– Amorebieta, Leioa, Mirandés, Burgos… You have always been close to home. How is this experience in Alicante?

– I’m already more or less adapted. It’s a little different lifestyle wise. Better than I thought. It had always been hard for me to leave the house. And above all, leaving Burgos, which was next to my house. But sometimes you have to get out of your comfort zone.

– Were you afraid to take this step?

– It was something I had internalized. You take the map of the teams you can go to and there are not that many. And I’m talking about teams that have the aspirations that I have. I didn’t want it to come because I’ve never wanted to leave there. But once you make the decision, you have to be consistent and go ahead with whatever.

– He arrives there and he is the captain. He shows that he is one of the pillars of this Intercity project.

– Since they called me the first time they showed that they had a lot of confidence in me, and that they had high hopes. I appreciated that too.

– He has almost always been a captain. Do you have to have a special character to wear the bracelet?

– It is something innate in the way of being of each one. I am fortunate that for many years my colleagues have always respected me a lot, always when I have spoken, when I have given my opinion. It is something more innate in the way of being of each one than something that is formed.

–
Intercity is one of the favorites to be promoted, do they have more pressure for that?

– There is nothing compared to Burgos or something like that, with the largest social mass. The pressure is with oneself and with the one next door. The pressure I have is not to disappoint the one next to me, above all.

– He has gone to a recently created team, in 2017, but one of the most powerful economically. Has what she has found surprised you?

– The club still needs some improvements in different habits. I’m not talking about economic potential, but like everything in life it requires its process and it still doesn’t have its sports city, a place to train. He is taking steps more or less lightly, it is true, and sportingly he already sees himself at the level he is at. But in terms of infrastructure, it needs to grow.

– He comes from Burgos, in Second Division, where he hardly played. Lost the illusion?

– Yes.

– He was also the captain.

– I am a person who gives many turns to everything. I went from playing everything to nothing. Yes, you lose hope. It is normal. You work to give your best and the weekend comes and you can’t show it. Training you look good, but it’s not worth it, you have to prove it on weekends. You lose hope, because you work in training, but you don’t play on weekends and people don’t see it. Yes, it is a great frustration, and when it is several months, in the end it hurts you a lot. Yes, I lost hope. But once the season was over, I knew it was going to cost me little to get it back.

– It is already 100%.

– Mentally yes, but physically… It costs a little more. I’ve been a whole year without playing… It’s complicated. And with Intercity, I was injured in preseason. One has to gradually take shape, and I’m working on it. It is a process that I will reach my best moment because I compete on weekends.

– What did you learn last year? Maybe you learn more when you don’t play.

– Definitely. That’s for sure. It is so. The other day I felt represented with the reflection of Dani García, the Athletic player. He would like that when football is over they remember him as a good substitute rather than as a bad substitute. Luckily, I have always been used to playing and I have known both sides. People who have been very good companions and who wish you the best. And people not so good companion. I saw myself in a role that I wasn’t used to, and the best thing I get is that all my teammates think I was a good teammate and a good captain. And that is what I value most.

– Go back home’. To Bilbao.

– It is always special. And for me perhaps the most special place. I would have liked to play for Athletic, I never got it. I am a member of Athletic, one more fan. And as an Athletic fan, Lezama is very special. Although I haven’t been, I consider it my home, a few kilometers from my neighborhood, my people, my family… It makes me very happy.

– Play against Bilbao Athletic, the rival they knocked down with Burgos to go up to Second. Was it his best sporting moment?

– Yes, definitely. That day was the happiest day, along with the debut in the Second Division, as a starter and as captain, at El Molinón. They are the greatest days. In one you say, what I wanted so much has arrived, and in the other all this that I went through has been worth it.

–Did you think that you would never reach Second Division?

– No. I’m very stubborn and I never thought about it. Hit the stick with Mirandés. There are many players who do not arrive. And I hope that sooner rather than later it will be again.

– Is Lezama a cheat game, because Intercity has dropped points against weaker rivals and among them is Bilbao Athletic?

– After losing against Cornellà, there is no cheating game for us. We have shown that we can beat anyone, we won in Soria and Tarragona… And also that we can lose against anyone. And Bilbao Athletic is not just any team. It is one of the most powerful affiliates. But it is right behind us. We cannot grant ourselves any kind of relaxation and forgetfulness.

– What stands out?

– Malcom, Luis Bilbao… They are people who are looked at with a magnifying glass to be on top. These people are differential. And before differential people it is very difficult to compete. It is an elite project.