Abel RodrAguez is just a 41-year-old Mexican-American who waxes surfaces in La for Metro Transportation. True Madrid's JosA Mourinho is among the world's most famous managers. The two men have nothing in keeping, on the facial skin of things. However recently they truly became the main figures in a surreal but true buddy history that got RodrAguez behind the scenes as a part of Real Madrid's staff in the greatest games of world football against Barcelona and Manchester United. How did RodrAguez become Mourinho's American best of luck charm and find yourself meeting Sir Alex Ferguson, Cristiano Ronaldo, Diego Maradona, Mesut Azil, KakA and Javier (Chicharito) HernAndez? For the past seven years, RodrAguez has had a couple of weeks of vacation every summer to work for free pursuing down errant balls and doing support work for Mourinho's groups once they teach in La in the preseason. It's no small effort. Every day during his delinquent "vacation," RodrAguez leaves his house in Fontana, Calif., at 5 a.m., drives to the UCLA teaching site and spends the others of the day setting up the training area and helping with such a thing Mourinho and his staff need. He gets several hours of rest, comes residence at 11 p.m. and starts over at 5 a.m. The following morning. "I have now been following European baseball since I was a mentioned RodrAguez, who moved to the L.A. area from Mexico at age 8. But he'd never traveled to Europe, and he'd always wanted to attend a Real Madrid-Barcelona ClAsico. With Mourinho prone to leave Madrid at season's end, RodrAguez decided the ClAsico on March 2 may be his last, most useful possiblity to see the scene live. But there have been two obstacles standing in his way. One, he'd been saving for a secondary for his family, including his wife, Olga, and their daughters, Paola (10), Eliana (13) and Michelle (17). And two, he didn't have any contact information for Mourinho or any of his leading lieutenants. "I was indecisive about going," RodrAguez said, "but the support originated from my partner, who said, 'You should go. It's always been your desire.' My oldest child arrived and said, 'You ought to go.'" And so he did. On the day of Feb. 28, RodrAguez found its way to Madrid and turned up unannounced at Real Madrid's Valdebebas education complex. He didn't have a ticket for the overall game. He did not even have a hotel reservation. And when the security man at the guards' shack rejected to let him in, RodrAguez was required to lay on the part of the street. It'd snowed the night time before, and the problems were chilly. "Thank God I was carrying my wife to the big cover explained to take," he explained. "My toes were frozen." Yet RodrAguez still could not enter. He lay on the roadside for another five hours. CREDITOR: American Cinderella story in Copa Libertadores *** "It was a miracle that I found him," Mourinho said. "I found Abel seated on the highway beyond your training ground. I was leaving in my own associate Rui Faria's car, and there are always plenty of people outside. But I advised Rui, 'Stop! It's the guy from Los Angeles.'" "Amigo! What are you doing here?" Mourinho asked. "I came to visit you guys," RodrAguez responded. "It is my first-time in Europe, and my dream has been to come and see games. I was expecting to see El ClAsico." "But you can find you can forget tickets," Mourinho said. "Where are you currently staying?" "I have not done any such thing about that," RodrAguez said. "My goal was to see you guys and then make my arrangements. I'd make an effort to get a ticket and go to the arena, if I did not help you guys. And if that did not work, I'd travel back home." If the magic happened that was. Mourinho called an assistant and arranged for RodrAguez to possess his own place at the resort where Real Madrid was staying prior to the Barcelona game. Mourinho advised him to obtain some rest at the resort and meet him at the training site another morning. The night before El ClAsico, both men caught up for 90 minutes together before sharing dinner with the Real Madrid training staff, that night. As RodrAguez explained the history of his family wanting him to go to Europe, He was stopped by Mourinho. True Madrid was leaving for England and its Champions League Round of 16 decider against Manchester United your day after the BarAa sport. RodrAguez was likely to come back to L.A., but Mourinho would have none of it. "I told him, 'No way, you arrived at Manchester with us and are a kit man,'" Mourinho said. "'You support us and your home is a more impressive dream, a Champions League match from the inside!'" RodrAguez said he had want to, but he'd pay for anything. Mourinho shook his head and smiled. "When you're with me in Europe, you do not pay for s---." RodrAguez began crying when this occurs -- tears of joy. He raced up to his college accommodation and grabbed his passport. Mourinho took an image of it together with his cell-phone camera and sent it to the club's managers to place RodrAguez on the journey record. You never know when juice will come straight back and reward you for anything. For eight summers RodrAguez labored for free for Real Madrid, even if the club was prepared to pay him for his efforts in La. Now he was planning to go through the thrill of a lifetime. The next four days were a whirlwind. On March 2, RodrAguez watched Real Madrid beat Barcelona 2-1 in Estadio BernabAu. The club offered him a great seat, and afterward RodrAguez visited the locker room, where he had his picture taken close to Cristiano Ronaldo and Maradona, who'd joined the game. (Permanently measure, he got another one with Maradona's girlfriend.) Then came the trip to Manchester. RodrAguez was a part of the Actual Madrid team this time, working as one of the equipment managers and wearing full team equipment. He helped build the bags for the flight to England, and he worked the team's work out the day before the game at Manchester City's Etihad Stadium. By now, Mourinho and the True Madrid people were viewing him as a charm, going so far as to rub his stomach for positive feelings. LYTTLETON: Barcelona requires very subscription Messi to survive PSG On March 5 at Old Trafford -- the Theatre of Dreams -- RodrAguez fulfilled one of his or her own lifelong dreams, and in doing so became one of the fantastic Zelig results in world soccer. His family and friends in L.A. saw him go off the field alongside Manchester United supervisor Sir Alex Ferguson at one point. You can also catch a of RodrAguez at 0:31 of this YouTube clip next to the wall in the pregame canal to the left of Ronaldo. A couple of seconds before that, United star Chicharito HernAndez had pulled RodrAguez aside to share with him he had give him his game-worn shirt after the final whistle. (Unknown to RodrAguez, Mourinho had told HernAndez about his Mexican-born friend and asked if he could do him the favor.) "These people treated me like I was the main team," RodrAguez said. "This is some thing I will tell my grandkids." True Madrid wound up evolving, needless to say, in a casino game that will soon be remembered by many for the questionable red card fond of United's Nani, a that changed the match. But even though Ferguson was so upset afterward that he refused to talk at the press conference, RodrAguez saw first hand that he was still willing to share a drink with Mourinho. Said RodrAguez, "He arrived of the dressing room with a cup of wine in his hand, and he explained, 'Tell JosA that the wine is prepared, and tell him to run up.'" "You are true gentlemen," RodrAguez believed to the two executives, and Ferguson winked and even took a moment to sign the American's book of photos with leading European players and coaches. There have been other memorable occasions following the game that day. Outside United's locker space, HernAndez followed up on his promise and gave RodrAguez his game-worn hat with a customized dedication on it. "The first thing he said in my experience was, 'Just how long are you doing work for Real Madrid?'" RodrAguez said. "I said, 'The simple truth is I do not work for them.' I explained to him what happened, and he looked amazed at the beginning. But he said, 'You know what? That's amazing.'" Back in Madrid's locker room, fullback Marcelo asked RodrAguez if he had get his hat up to United's locker room and make an effort to trade it for Robin van Persie's. RodrAguez performed the exchange with a United coach but decided to have a great time with Marcelo, covering RVP's shirt behind his back and showing the Brazilian: "He said he'll exchange the jersey with someone else, but not you." "Really?" Marcelo asked. "I am kidding," came the reply. "Here's the jersey." In the long run, RodrAguez got lots of souvenirs of their own back again to L A. They certainly were presents from those who knew his story: tops from Chicharito, Azil, KakA and Michael Essien, as well as KakA's cleats and also certainly one of the fit balls from the overall game. Nevertheless the memories are worth even more, he explained. On Real Madrid's winning group trip back once again to the Spanish money, Mourinho was going between the lanes, discussing cups of wine with people of the delegation, and every so often he had end and place and wink at his friend Abel, the good-luck charm from America. "Everybody at Real Madrid was happy," Mourinho said, "because they know him from preseason and know he's a hard worker and an excellent person. He was with us and we won both matches! Individuals were saying he's to stay." On the night time the plane from Manchester landed back Madrid, RodrAguez said, he did not have the opportunity to give you thanks to Mourinho. His duties were finished by him being an gear man unloading the plane, ever the employee. He still does not have any contact information for Mourinho. Which means this history is his method of saying many thanks. HONIGSTEIN: Dortmund on cloud 9 after euphoric recovery
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