José Luis Martínez-Almeida has reoffended. It is no longer one or two, but there are three occasions in which his dubious skill with the ball at his feet has ended with an unfortunate shot in the face of one of those present at the event.
This time it was at the inauguration of the Las Leonas Municipal Rugby Field, in Ensanche de Vallecas, and in front of dozens of journalists and photographers who photographed him from a couple of meters away. Almeida, with the confidence of someone who already knows what it's like to kick the elusive ball, drops it and shoots quickly with the bad leg that his shot went straight into the camera of one of the photographers in front of him. Fuss from the rest of fellow journalists at the shock and, immediately, complicit laughter from the entire parish, including the mayor. And it is not the first time that Almeida misses the shot. Neither the second.
It is impossible to forget the tight penalty that Almeida executed at the inauguration of a municipal field in the Sanchinarro neighborhood in 2020, before the expectation of dozens of journalists and club players. So tight that the shot, powerful, without half measures, went directly outside until he found the face of a minor who was watching the action from the outside of the side post of the goal. The unexpected impact put the ball at the bottom of the net, making it impossible for any goalkeeper to shoot. And Almeida celebrated it, while some of those present were interested in the physical condition of the kid, who did not suffer any serious mishap.
A year later, in June 2021, at a charity match to raise funds against childhood cancer, the stage was more dazzling, the Cívitas Metropolitano of his beloved Atlético de Madrid. And Almeida wanted to honor the occasion with a lavish rabona that, of course, did not turn out as expected. The shot did not take height and hit directly against one of the photographers who portrayed him about three meters away. After apologizing, Almeida was the first to laugh at the ruling: "I've done it again," he lamented, jokingly, on Twitter.
And this Wednesday it happened again when he erratically kicked a rugby ball, raising jokes on social networks.
Unlucky in the beating, however, Almeida will face his most important match in little more than half a year, when he will try to revalidate the mayoralty of Madrid in the municipal elections of May 2023. If he continues in Cibeles, he will surely have the opportunity to recover in many other acts. Or to reoffend, although the mayor himself has joined the jokes on social networks and has launched a message taking advantage of Gerard Piqué's withdrawal announcement: "Madrileians, I also have to tell you one thing: I'm leaving the kick-offs" , he commented jokingly.
