{"id":291792,"date":"2023-10-23T22:25:13","date_gmt":"2023-10-23T22:25:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportsloveme.com\/?p=291792"},"modified":"2023-10-23T22:25:13","modified_gmt":"2023-10-23T22:25:13","slug":"jose-antonio-reyes-dad-says-his-son-and-arteta-were-like-brothers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportsloveme.com\/soccer\/jose-antonio-reyes-dad-says-his-son-and-arteta-were-like-brothers\/","title":{"rendered":"Jose Antonio Reyes&apos; dad says his son and Arteta were &apos;like brothers&apos;"},"content":{"rendered":"<h1>EXCLUSIVE: Jose Antonio Reyes&#8217; father says his son and Mikel Arteta were &#8216;like brothers&#8217; as his family open their doors to Mail Sport ahead of an emotional night as Arsenal and Sevilla face-off in the Champions League<\/h1>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>The family of Jose Antonio Reyes&#8217; have opened their doors to Mail Sport\u00a0<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>It comes as his two favourite teams Arsenal and Sevilla go head-to-head\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Listen to the latest episode of Mail Sport&#8217;s podcast &#8216;It&#8217;s All Kicking Off!&#8217;<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>As Francisco Reyes switches on the light in his basement, sheer pride fills the room.<\/p>\n<p>The 66-year-old cannot stop ushering Mail Sport in different directions, pointing out a huge collection of his son\u2019s football boots, shirts and pictures.<\/p>\n<p>The central theme in both this room and the house in Utrera, a municipality on the outskirts of Seville, is Jose Antonio Reyes. The former Arsenal winger died aged 35 in a car crash in southern Spain on June 1, 2019, when the vehicle he and his cousin Jonathan, 23, were in overturned and burst into flames. Reyes\u2019 other cousin, Juan Manuel Calderon, survived with severe burns after trying to rescue them.<\/p>\n<p>The reverberations from that wreckage are still being felt. On Monday, manager Mikel Arteta along with other Arsenal staff members visited a memorial area at Sevilla\u2019s Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan Stadium. Arteta and Sevilla president Jose Castro later laid floral tributes in the Sevilla museum, where there is a commemorative area for Reyes.<\/p>\n<p>Arsenal face Sevilla on Tuesday for the first time in a competitive game since Reyes\u2019s death. Of the teams the Spaniard represented, which include Atletico Madrid, Real Madrid and Benfica, Arsenal and Sevilla are the two which were particularly close to his heart, according to his father.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/10\/23\/21\/76908459-12663525-image-a-38_1698093296362.jpg\" height=\"845\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>Jose Antonio Reyes&#8217; father, Francisco, holds up two of his sons shirts for Arsenal and Sevilla<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/10\/23\/22\/76908447-12663525-image-m-45_1698095872823.jpg\" height=\"509\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>The family have a collection of memorabilia, pictures and old shirts dedicated to Reyes, who sadly passed away aged 35 in 2019<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/10\/23\/21\/76908443-12663525-image-a-40_1698093467124.jpg\" height=\"476\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>Francisco said his son&#8217;s two favourite teams were Arsenal and Sevilla and said Tuesday&#8217;s clash will &#8216;be a lot of feeling&#8217;<\/p>\n<p>\u2018He liked everything about Arsenal,\u2019 Francisco tells Mail Sport, as his mother Mariana nods with pride. \u2018Apart from Sevilla, the second favourite club for us as a family and for Jose was Arsenal. The match will be a lot of feeling. We want a draw!<\/p>\n<p>\u2018(Atletico) Madrid said to Jose, \u201cDo you want to come back to your home country?\u201d If they didn\u2019t say that, he would have stayed at Arsenal. Arsene Wenger really was the best coach. After the death, he spoke to me, he made a nice speech. He said it was a huge loss that everybody felt at the club.<\/p>\n<p>\u2018Edu and (Robert) Pires used to call him \u201cbrother\u201d, and he\u2019d call them \u201cbrother\u201d. Jose and Arteta used to sleep in the same room when they were away with Spain. They were like brothers, too.\u2019<\/p>\n<p>Arteta himself said in his pre-match press conference on Monday: \u2018We spent quite a lot of time together. At that (youth) age, I can\u2019t recall a better player.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>&#8216;He had everything, he played for both clubs and is a big part of our history. He is probably up there (pointing to the sky) and feeling proud for both clubs.\u00a0Tomorrow will be a special night for him.\u2019\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Back at Reyes\u2019s home, each pair of boots he used in his career are pristinely lined up against a wall. The number of shirts hung is in the dozens, including the one worn in Arsenal\u2019s final game at Highbury against Wigan.<\/p>\n<p>It has been a big week for the family. Jose\u2019s 16-year-old son, Jose Antonio Reyes Jnr, signed his first professional contract with Real Madrid last Tuesday. Francisco says: \u2018Jose would be so proud of him.\u2019<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/10\/23\/21\/76908521-12663525-image-a-41_1698093472719.jpg\" height=\"479\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>Reyes played for Arsenal between 2004 and 2007 and won an FA Cup and Premier League title with the Gunners<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/10\/23\/21\/76908553-12663525-image-a-42_1698093478091.jpg\" height=\"486\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>His father claimed that he and Arteta (right) were &#8216;like brothers&#8217; and that &#8216;Jose and Arteta used to sleep in the same room when they were away with Spain&#8217;<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/10\/23\/21\/76908681-12663525-image-a-43_1698093593433.jpg\" height=\"489\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>Arteta&#8217;s side are preparing to take on Sevilla in the Champions League on Tuesday night<\/p>\n<p>Reyes started out at CD Utrera before joining Sevilla as a 10-year-old. He would become one of Europe\u2019s most promising talents, joining the Gunners for \u00a317million in January 2004. Just four months later, he won the Premier League in the Invincibles season. He made 69 appearances for the Gunners, scoring 16 goals.<\/p>\n<p>After spells at Real and Atletico Madrid and Benfica, he returned to his beloved Sevilla in 2012 and won three consecutive Europe League titles. His status at the club is clear.<\/p>\n<p>\u2018Reyes for us was a special star,\u2019 Sevilla president Castro tells Mail Sport. \u2018And for me, he was like a son because I saw him grow up as a child first, and as a footballer, in Utrera. His early death has undoubtedly made him a symbol, a myth of Sevilla FC.\u2019<\/p>\n<p>In the Utrera streets, the feelings remain. A statue of Jose, unveiled in August, is in front of the local stadium. Workers there lead me to his brother Jesus, 43. \u2018The Arsenal match brings a complicated feeling,\u2019 Jesus tells Mail Sport. \u2018There\u2019s too many emotions. He was such a splendid person. There is still pain in my heart. He would tell me it was wonderful playing for Arsenal. My thoughts will only be for him.\u2019<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/i\/pix\/2017\/08\/02\/636x90_facebook_ad_sport.png\" width=\"636\" height=\"90\"><br \/>\nSource: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailymail.co.uk\/sport\/football\/article-12663525\/Jose-Antonio-Reyes-father-says-son-Mikel-Arteta-like-brothers-family-open-doors-Mail-Sport-ahead-emotional-night-Arsenal-Sevilla-face-Champions-League.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Read Full Article<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>EXCLUSIVE: Jose Antonio Reyes&#8217; father says his son and Mikel Arteta were &#8216;like brothers&#8217; as his family open their doors<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":291791,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[19],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v21.8 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Jose Antonio Reyes&amp;apos; 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