Every year at the end of July Espanyol remembers its debut in the Intertoto Cup, a dull and extinct summer tournament organized by UEFA that holds a privileged place in the collective imagination of the "perico" (Spanish footballers) and gives its name to the best crop of players to emerge from the Blanquiazul youth academy. Clubs that hadn't qualified for Europe via the La Liga competed, and the champions received a ticket to the UEFA Cup. In 1998, the Spanish representatives were Valencia and Español. Marcelo Bielsa, who had joined the Catalan club that summer, declined to participate; and to avoid a fine, the club entrusted Paco Flores, a club man, to participate in the Intertoto with players returning from loan, those discarded from the first team, and players from the reserve team.