They create a supporter group for the franjiverde club in Guangzhou, called LOM, currently composed of about thirty followers.
The «Sólo Tapas» restaurant in the Chinese city of Guangzhou has scheduled for Saturday at eleven at night, on its giant television screen, the time difference between Spain and the Asian country is seven hours, the match that will face Elche against Real Madrid at the Santiago Bernabéu stadium.
This match will be used by Manuel Lorenzo from Elche, who has been living in this locality for three years, serving as the manager of the travel company Lomtour based in Elche, to officially launch the first supporter group of the franjiverde team outside of Spain. It is called LOM (Luchar, Objetivo Marcado).
Lorenzo contacted the Supporters’ Association of the Elche club a few weeks ago to become an official supporter group of Elche CF. It currently has about thirty followers and has established the Spanish restaurant «Sólo tapas», located in the city center and owned by a Madrid native, as its headquarters.
In this venue, they gather to watch Elche’s matches. Since associationism is prohibited in China, this group cannot be legally registered like other supporter groups, but this will not prevent it from being registered with the rest of the association’s supporter groups, given its uniqueness. «There are many people from Elche working here in footwear-related companies, as well as Russians who like football and Chinese people,» admits Manuel Lorenzo, its founder, before acknowledging that «little by little, people are getting to know Elche and identifying with it. Until now, everything was Real Madrid and Barcelona, plus the Premier League.»
Lorenzo is 31 years old and has experienced the «Segunda División B era. I have been with the team in Manlleu and being able to watch it now from China on television surrounded by people is something that gives you goosebumps. It is a great pride for me as I have a deep love for Elche.»
He acknowledges that «on Saturday, we will experience the Real Madrid-Elche match in a relaxed way. Being so far from Spain, the rivalry is lesser and although the restaurant owner is from Madrid, he will surely also support the franjiverde team.»
Lorenzo contacted the Supporters’ Association of the Elche club a few weeks ago to become an official supporter group of Elche CF. It currently has about thirty followers and has established the Spanish restaurant «Sólo tapas», located in the city center and owned by a Madrid native, as its headquarters.
In this venue, they gather to watch Elche’s matches. Since associationism is prohibited in China, this group cannot be legally registered like other supporter groups, but this will not prevent it from being registered with the rest of the association’s supporter groups, given its uniqueness. «There are many people from Elche working here in footwear-related companies, as well as Russians who like football and Chinese people,» admits Manuel Lorenzo, its founder, before acknowledging that «little by little, people are getting to know Elche and identifying with it. Until now, everything was Real Madrid and Barcelona, plus the Premier League.»
Lorenzo is 31 years old and has experienced the «Segunda División B era. I have been with the team in Manlleu and being able to watch it now from China on television surrounded by people is something that gives you goosebumps. It is a great pride for me as I have a deep love for Elche.»
He acknowledges that «on Saturday, we will experience the Real Madrid-Elche match in a relaxed way. Being so far from Spain, the rivalry is lesser and although the restaurant owner is from Madrid, he will surely also support the franjiverde team.»
Guangzhou is a city in southern China, the capital of Guangdong Province. Its population is 3,152,825 in the city proper, reaching 12,700,090 in the entire metropolitan area. Hong Kong is located 182 kilometers away.
Font: informacion.es
