Málaga CF coach Juanfran Funes inaugurated the Real de la Feria this Friday with a speech full of references to the team and the city, in which he championed collective effort as the driving force of Málaga.
The Málaga CF manager, Juanfran Funes, was the one to kick off the Málaga Fair 2026 with a speech held tonight at the entrance of the Real, where he combined his role as a coach with a heartfelt tribute to the city that adopted him.
Funes, originally from Loja but settled in Málaga for over a decade, began his speech by thanking Mayor Francisco de la Torre for the proposal to be the announcer, a task that, as he confessed, came as "a huge surprise" and "an even greater responsibility" for having to represent the entire city.
During his speech, the blue-and-white coach wanted to highlight the role of the Málaga players, whom he defined as "the great bastion" of sporting success, and took the opportunity to send a message of unity: "Great teams are built when everyone pushes in the same direction."
The speech also included a personal touch from Funes, who fondly recalled the anecdote of his friends from Loja calling them "boquerones" when returning to Málaga, while his family greets them as "lojeños" when they ascend Las Pedrizas. "Málaga opened the doors of its home to us and ended up becoming our home," he stated.
As expected from a coach, Funes made his own "call-up" for the Fair, including Izan Merino, a youth player from Miraflores, as a representative of the city centre. Merino, who took to the stage, championed the values of faith, unity, strength, and hope, linked to images such as the Divine Shepherdess, the Virgin of Victory, and the Captive.
The event, which officially kicked off the festivities, was attended by local authorities and a large crowd that filled the area at the entrance of the Real. The Málaga Fair 2026 will run until next Sunday with a wide range of activities, concerts, and shows for all audiences.
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