Hugo Duro became a Valencia hero more than two years before he even played for the La Liga club.
His name was printed on banners and T-shirts and sung by Valencia fans for his part in one of the most dramatic finishes Spanish football has ever seen
But, back then, Duro was a cult hero for all the wrong reasons. He was a figure of fun, laughed at by the club’s players and fans alike.
Now, as Los Che travel to Athletic Bilbao for the Copa del Rey semi-final first leg on Thursday, the 22-year-old striker is a Valencia player and surely fated to play a central part after a truth-stranger-than-fiction series of events.
From figure of fun to club hero
The story starts in January 2019, when Valencia hosted Getafe for the second leg of their Copa del Rey quarter-final showdown.
Getafe were cruising into the next round. Having won the first leg 1-0, an early opener from Jorge Molina in the second leg gave them control of the tie despite a second-half equaliser from Rodrigo Moreno (now of Leeds United).
The 1-1 scoreline on the night, with away goal advantage held by Getafe, meant that Valencia needed two goals in stoppage time. Their hopes were boosted when Rodrigo netted his second of the game in the 92nd minute.
Within seconds of the restart, though, Molina raced clear. His shot from 15 yards was powerful and on target, looking beyond the dive of the Valencia keeper. But it was somehow blocked inside the six-yard box by Molina’s own teammate, teenage substitute Duro, who just couldn’t get out of the way as the ball crashed against his back.
The rebound fell kindly for Valencia who immediately broke downfield to release Kevin Gameiro on the right flank, and his pinpoint cross was converted from close range by Rodrigo, completing his hat-trick with two injury-time goals in the space of 90 seconds and sparking scenes of mayhem inside Mestalla.
Incredibly, only 12 seconds had elapsed between Molina’s goalbound strike being blocked by Duro at one end and Rodrigo finding the net at the other, and that astonishing sequence of events soon became an iconic moment for Valencia fans – especially when their team went on to lift the cup by beating Barcelona in the final.
‘Toco en Hugo Duro’
The hapless Duro’s unwitting part in denying his own Getafe team a place in the semi-final was celebrated with great mirth, and fans particularly latched onto a line in the live TV commentary: “Toco en Hugo Duro!” It hit Hugo Duro!
That line became an instant meme as fans printed up ironic banners and t-shirts and created terrace chants in honour of their ‘hero’; Valencia captain Gabriel even grabbed the microphone and repeatedly yelled “Toco en Hugo Duro!” as his players celebrated with the trophy after the final, leading to a public complaint by Duro’s agent.
But a twist to the tale came this summer, when Valencia appointed Jose Bordalas – who had been in charge of Getafe for the previous five years – as their new manager. And one of Bordalas’s first moves? Bringing along with him none other than, you guessed it, Hugo Duro.
Redemption for Duro?
So now the player who had previously been mercilessly mocked by Valencia fans is one of their own, and the 22 year-old is clearly intent upon staying at the centre of their attention for all the right reasons in a season that has exceeded all expectations.
Duro scored against both Real Madrid and Sevilla in September, before really making his mark in November’s home meeting with reigning champions Atletico Madrid.
Just like Rodrigo in that fateful quarter-final, he scored twice in stoppage time to salvage an improbable 3-3 draw, firing into the same goal in front of which he had accidentally blocked Molina’s shot in 2019.
Since then he has become a regular starter, and confirmed his new-found hero status among Valencia fans by netting a sharply-taken winner in last week’s quarter-final victory over Cadiz.
Three years later, Duro is in a Copa del Rey semi-final, the scene of his greatest misfortune, and this time he is playing for Valencia instead of against them.
And by another bizarre quirk of fate, the same two managers will be involved: not only is Bordalas, formerly of Getafe, now in charge of Valencia, but Thursday’s opponents Athletic Club are led by Marcelino, who was Valencia’s coach for their triumphant 2019 campaign.
This time, of course, Duro will be hoping to score the goal that sends his team into the final, rather than prevent it. And if that happens, surely only Athletic Club fans will resent him the moment of glory.
