That football miracle… | Columnist | Sports

“Uruguay is so small that to occupy a corner you have to go to another country,” says Marcos Lubelski, a Rosario football businessman living in Montevideo who has a genuine affection for Artigas’ homeland. The entire demographic microcosm fits in San Pablo six times, Buenos Aires five times, Bogota three times, and it holds the record for the number of Copa Americas it has won, along with Argentina: fifteen. Brazil has nine. The rest split the odds. Even more admirable: it has won all seven editions of the tournament held on its soil. They have never lost a game: 31 wins, seven draws, 90 goals scored, 18 conceded. This shows that, as a host, you can be friendly but not make concessions. He lets you pass, but the dog next to him is barking…

Uruguay is a football wonder. This tiny country of 3,400 people is a factory of players that until recently had a head start that everyone in Germany, England, Brazil, Argentina, France would envy: Suárez, Forlan, Cavani. Now, under Bielsa, he is the Copa America monster. Who can beat the celestial barrage of running, attacking, attacking…? Until recently, in the mid-1990s, the 35 clubs that made up the first A, B and C levels of Uruguayan football all came from Montevideo, within blocks of each other. Some clubs are half serious, half joking about their size.

Central is one of those lovely little teams in Montevideo whose only glory is to continue playing and to have given the football world four or five phenomena. A small entity with the aroma of a neighborhood, full of wonderful football stories. Those little clubs where, when you enter, you see shirts drying on the terrace, a dog at the door of the dressing room, the masseuse’s drinking companions and the noise of the boys’ hats leaving for training. The sunlight and the silence of the morning bring a touch of wonderful simplicity to the scene.

Strictly speaking it was Central Football Club, but in 1971 it signed an agreement with the Spanish immigration authorities guaranteeing an income for its survival, in exchange for which it added “Español” to its name. Soon the agreement lost its convenience and they were looking for a way to remove the name and revert to Central, as it had been before. The name came about because of its proximity to the Central Cemetery of Montevideo. Its modest pitch is located in front of the Centenario Stadium and now, after a few years of playing in the B team, it struggles in the vaunted First Amateur League (which is actually the third division). Central plays on a bare field, with no one there, and seven of ten men marching…!

Juan Delgado leaves Central Black person Juan was a famous midfielder in the 1910s, and played and won the first South American Championship in Buenos Aires in 1916. Uruguay beat Chile 4-0, and Chilean representatives protested the match “because Uruguay had two African professional players participating.” The “Africans” were two rebellious blacks: Juan Delgado and Isabelino Gradin, descendants of African slaves but more Uruguayan than Artigas. He Black person Juan was the third foreign player to join Boca. Boca’s thirst for conquest made him sign up in 1914. Despite this, Juan never left the Palermo neighborhood. He lived there, traveled to Buenos Aires every Saturday to wear the blue and gold, and then returned to Montevideo on the first steamer he could reach.

Delgado then moved to Peñarol and after retirement was a mainstay of the team for many years. He was then succeeded by his son Jorge. When he retired, his grandson, another Juan, took over. Simple, eight decades of ready dark skin boots and T-shirts.

In the pioneering days, football was amateurplayers did not have to pay for passes and were free to sign wherever they wanted. There were not so many rules. To change clubs, they were tempted by a cushy job, some new clothes, living in a better neighborhood. But few did; boys stayed in the square out of loyalty or to avoid losing face in front of their neighbors. If they changed colors, they had to prove it well: loyalty and honor were at stake. In addition, they always defended the club of the neighborhood in which they lived. Before the change the word flew Crime of treason.

Peñarol wanted Juan when he was already excelling in midfield.

“If I leave the Central, they will kill me in Palermo,” he began by apologizing.

Palermo was a marginal community in the central area at that time. Peñarol devised a plan: he kidnapped him. A tactic used at that time. The player would disappear and they would keep him until the moment the championship started. Once you started playing for a team, you could not switch to another. Nacional beat Peñarol to win the championship Rocco That’s what Romano did: he kidnapped him, they hid him in a field, and on the day of the tournament, when the Nationals took the field, Romano was among the eleven players.

They took Juan Delgado away (with the government’s approval) Black person) Then they hid it behind the bar. But there were brave people in the center, who discovered this strategy. They found out where they hid it. They entrusted the rescue mission to the handsome Antina, a villain who slept more in the police station than at home. It is said that he repeatedly jumped over the cemetery wall and hid in an alcove when chased by the police. Antina was a knife maker, and it is very likely that he was responsible for some of the deaths. He left with several heavy side dishes. He saw him as soon as he entered the bar Black person Juan, comfortable in his new clothes, sipped his drink. The man from Peñarol had sweetened it. Antina took a step forward, and the captives took another. In the tense scene, he said in a serious tone:

—Black personWe go home.

-he Black person “He is free to stay wherever he wants.” Someone behind the counter tried to refute him. Delgado was not afraid, but he did not speak. The tug-of-war went on for several more rounds. Until Antina threatened:

—Juan, come with us, or three or four of us will die here.

In that case… Delgado returned the suit, took the things, and returned to the neighborhood with the caravan. He continued to play for the red, blue, and white teams that season. The next year, the Mirasol family carried out the kidnapping operation again, and the people in the central region failed.

-Leave Black person Sold that…

In fact, at the end of 1917, Juan Delgado offered Peñarol a pass and left the Central. They tempted him with two cakes and the improvement of his municipal job. He was a cleaner in the cemetery. This story is told to us by Diego Lucero, a memorable and talented Uruguayan scribe who played for the Nacional team in the 20s and played against Delgado in several classic matches. Diego honored us with his friendship.

Coming from Central, like all those small clubs full of dreams and needs, there are a few crackOne of them was the famous Walter Gomez. Another was a world champion: Victor Rodríguez Andrade, the Uruguayan left-back in the afternoon at the Maracanazo. Victor tells this in the centenary book:

——Before the final, there was one thing that frustrated me. Everyone got the letter except me. So he Parrot Migs saw that I was sad and gave me a bag of chocolates that his girlfriend had given him. He told me, “This is from Valentini, from an admirer.” I was happy with my life and I was happy to play. But as soon as the game was over, the first thing Migs did was to take the chocolates from me and tell me the truth. (profound)