Bilbao declines civic tribute, Athletic to honour world champions at San Mamés | OneFootball

Euskadi has opted against honouring the world champions, but San Mamés will host a triple tribute to seven footballers linked to Athletic on the opening day. Mayor Aburto considers the matter settled after calling the players, as the club provides recognition where politicians have not.

According to as.com, before the announced minute’s silence for the great Carmelo Cedrún, Unai Simón, Aymeric Laporte and Nico Williams will be acknowledged on the pitch. Spain coach and former Athletic man Luis de la Fuente will be honoured in the directors’ box.

The institutional acts will begin with a simple recognition for Elene Gurtubay and Ziara Vega, Under-19 European champions in Bosnia on 11 July under ex-Athletic coach David Aznar.

Athletic will wear black armbands for Carmelo, a club legend and Honorary Member who kept goal for 14 seasons, winning one league in 1955/56, three Copas in 1954/55, 1955/56 and 1957/58, and the Copa Eva Duarte in 1950. He was the goalkeeper in the Eleven Villagers final against Real Madrid and the unforgettable snowy match with Manchester United, and he represented Athletic at the 1962 World Cup in Chile alongside Koldo Etxeberria.

Sixty-four years after Chile, three Athletic lions, led by another former lion in De la Fuente, have been crowned world champions at the 2026 World Cup in Canada, the United States and Mexico. That achievement, shared by the players, the coach and the club that developed them, will be marked before Athletic v Sevilla on 22 August.

Source: as.com