Armed with a fine moustache, an eye for goal and an iron bond with the fans, the beloved forward is targeting Copa del Rey glory
Abdón Prats has a magnificent moustache and a pottery class at half past, more cups and plates and history to make. The unassuming everyman and smiley superman possessed by some power he can’t explain, the footballer from another era followed about by magic moments, he is Real Mallorca’s ultimate cult hero, an icon on the island. The forward who took the team he supported from the third division to the first and has now led them to within reach of their first Copa del Rey final in 20 years. He’s the one everyone wants to be here. Which is lucky, because emulating him is easy.
On the face of it, anyway. “We’ve just had carnival here and people went as me,” Prats says, laughing. “They get one of those stick-on moustaches or just paint them on. It’s funny, and very nice.” The Magnum PI look began as a bit of an experiment, but there’s no way back now; given a little trim weekly, perfectly kept, more than a hint of Kenny Burns in the Scottish series Guilt about him, he reckons he would feel naked without it now. It has become a “trademark”, he says: a symbol of his story, who he is.