“Athletic or Bilbao?”: John Uriarte answered the big question

On the occasion of his dispute with Diego Simeonethe president of Athletic Bilbao, John Uriartewas placed, giving, at the same time, an answer to the question about the designation of his team.

On Wednesday (7/2) Athletic Bilbao face Atletico Madrid in the first semi-final of the Copa del Rey. This double encounter leads to the final of the event and the “battle” started earlier, when the Diego Simeone characterized his team as “Bilbao”. Uriarte.

Atletico’s coach blamed the Federation for the timing of the matches, after the Bilbao he has two more days of rest than his team. In his words he referred to his opponent, using one of the two names and this fact became a topic of discussion on the internet.

Uriarte spoke on the matter and attempted to play down the tone ahead of the clash. At the same time, he answered the question of his team’s reference, stating that the characterization as “Bilbao” is not a problem for him.

“There are many people who call Athletic Bilbao that, even members of the management or our fan clubs. This doesn’t bother me at all. I will tell you, as an anecdote, that I lived in England and there are many people who refer to Manchester United as Manchester. So all is well, there is no dispute with Simeone,” said the president of the Spanish club.

For the record, the team name is normally straight Athletic for this and Simeone’s mention was considered derogatory.

Edited by: Loizos Lainidis