Ready to rock. Athletic’s Copa 2022 campaign begins

On Thursday night Athletic Club set off on a new Copa del Rey journey. The Lions start the campaign against Jaen-based club Atlético Mancha Real on January 6 at 20:00 CET.

After two seasons in which they came desperately close to lifting the trophy, the Lions will begin this next adventure with spirits anew. Athletic Club will need to call upon all the qualities that make this Club so special if they want to go far. It will take perseverance, hard work and determination.

These are three attributes that run deep among the Basque people, reflected in traditional professions such as ‘barrenadores’ (rock drillers). Formerly a common trade practiced in the mines of Biscay, ‘Harri Zulaketa’ -as it is known in Basque- consists of manually drilling deep holes into stone using two-metre-long steel rods (called barrenas) of varying weight. Workers would then lay explosives in the holes in order to help extract whatever was being mined.

Before the advent of modern machinery, the job was done by hand, requiring brute strength and plenty of will power. It was a particularly demanding trade and therefore highly valued.

In modern times, with the trade becoming outdated due to advancements in technology, it developed into a sport. Individuals or teams, which are usually made up of three or four people, sometimes less, race each other as they bore holes into a sizeable concrete slab.

The rock in this video is known as ‘Ereño red‘ or ‘Bilbao red’ and it comes from one of the most prominent quarries in the Basque Country, the Atzarraga quarry. More widely known as the Ereño quarry, Atzarraga and its rock are an important part of Basque culture and history. The man drilling a hole into the rock in the video is Iker Murueta, a Biscay-born barrenador.

Nothing but the rock, the steel rod and persistence. Strike after strike, without rest. It doesn’t matter what it takes, there’s no future beyond the next step, beyond that extra inch taken out of the rock. Just as in the Lions’ previous 110 Copa campaigns, they players will strive to embody the spirit of Biscay and show that Athletic never gives up.

All of this is encapsulated in San Mamés’ famous chant: Jo ta ke… jo ta ke… jo ta ke… Irabazi arte! (Until the end, until the end, until the end, until we win.)