Sport can be looked at in two ways: team games, in which one feels like a fan of a particular colour; and individual sports, where the only thing that counts is each athlete's effort, his empathy on a playing field, his ability to overcome adversity, to reach the top, to be number one in some discipline. Thus, one can support Barça, Marc Márquez and Roger Federer; and another can support Barça, Fernando Alonso and Rafa Nadal.
In the first discipline, team sports, one is born and dies feeling the same colours. Rejoicing in their victories and getting angry in their defeats. The culer feeling, moreover, is generally associated with a phobia of Madrid, a feeling that is reciprocal and only understood by those who live the sport as a rivalry without borders. Lately, Barça fans have embraced Manchester City as the closest thing to a sister club. Full of blaugranas at heart such as Pep Guardiola, Ferran Soriano and Txiki Begiristain, the club has also created a Twitter account in Catalan.
In individual sports, such as cycling, motor racing, tennis or Formula 1, one usually enjoys the passion for perfection and, from time to time, witnessing the birth of a dazzling figure, with serious options to mark an era and become a planetary star. The success achieved by Murcian 20-year-old Carlos Alcaraz this Sunday, in the Wimbledon final against the almighty Novak Djokovic, was a great success.
Alcaraz is called to mark an era and replace Rafa Nadal —22 Grand Slams and 36 Masters 1000 titles— in the tennis elite if injuries respect him. His victory after five thrilling sets against Djokovic was a spectacle and unbecoming of a player who has just turned 20. Such mental strength is shocking in a young athlete who is supposed to have physical strength in abundance. Djokovic could not handle the Murcian, above all, because in the decisive moments of the match the youngster was stronger than he. And that, taking into account the exigence this level demands and facing an athlete whose main strength is the control of the match tempo, is something extraordinary.