Oscar Barnade
08/04/2020 - 15:21
- Clarín.com
- sports
Until before the pandemic, Argentine soccer had several competitions. In addition to the traditional First Division tournament, the Argentine Cup, the Argentine Super Cup, for two seasons the Super League Cup, the Promotion, plus international competitions, such as the Libertadores, Sudamericana, Recopa, Suruga Bank and the Club World Cup, are played. Someday they will return, as is already happening in Europe. Amid so much activity, the chance for the players to convert a goal is always latent. But still, there are those who are at odds with the network. And history has emblematic cases in that sense, such as those of Hugo Villaverde or the forgotten Norberto Yácono, half of La Maquinaria.
Of the players who act in the 24 clubs of the highest category of Argentine football and who still do not know what it is to celebrate their own goal, there is one that stands out among all. Ismael Quilez, the defender who renewed his contract for a year and a half more with Central Córdoba of Santiago del Estero. He is 30 years old and has had 200 official goalless matches since his beginnings in Colón, passing through Quilmes, Racing and Aldosivi. Even Flechita went on to play two games for the Argentine National Team.
In addition to Quilez, three other players with more than 100 matches played by official competitions have yet to score . Next on the list is Fernando Evangelista, Aldosivi's left back. The 29-year-old from La Pampa, with beginnings in Boca and steps through Unión, Atlético Tucumán, Newell's and Estudiantes, has 122 goalsless. Then comes Victor Salazar, from San Lorenzo, with 120. The 27-year-old winger, who suffered a torn ligament in his left knee in September last year, started at Central and in 2017 went on to Cyclone . The list is completed by another winger, Gonzalo Escobar, from Colón, with 103. At just 23 years old, he started in Temperley and since 2007 has been with the Santa Fe club.
Víctor Salazar, San Lorenzo, took advantage of the quarantine to be with the family and advance in the recovery from his injury.
Obviously, in most cases they are defenders and flyers (except, for obvious reasons, archers); and there are no forwards who have not been able to score. Likewise, in this survey, priority was given only to the player of each club, who is still on the team, who played more games and could not score.
For example, among the other four clubs traditionally considered large, none exceeds 50 unmarked matches: Santiago Sosa, of River, 33; Nicolás Capaldo, from Boca, 26; Diego Mercado, from Independiente, 17; and Julián Lopez, from Racing, 10.
Of those with between 50 and 100 games, the Colombian Harrison Mancilla, from Gimnasia, stands out with 98. Then, Braian Rivero, from Newell's, 73; Tomás Guidara, de Vélez, 68; Juan Andrada, from Godoy Cruz, 68; Enzo Díaz, from Talleres, 65; and Claudio Bravo, from Banfield, 50.
With less than 50 matches appear: Iván Erquiaga, from Estudiantes, 35; Brian Negro, from the Board of Trustees, 26; Kevin Gutiérrez, of Central, 25; Adonis Frías, of Defense, 25; Agustín Aleo, from Argentinos, 25; Mateo Carabajal, from Arsenal, 21; Lucas Ríos, from Unión, 18; Camilo Albornoz, from Atlético Tucumán, 17; Matías Pérez, from Lanús, 15; while Huracán has two players with 8 games and no goals, Fernando Cosciuc and Ezequiel Navarro.
Of course, for many the trajectory is very short and they will have countless games ahead to convert. Also in the 24 First Division squads there are players with many matches and few goals . Two emblematic cases coexist in the Entre Ríos Board of Trustees: Damián Lemos has 250 games and only scored once, when he played with Chicago in Primera B, while Bruno Urribarri also has one in 220.
Iván Marcone is another player who doesn't get much into the opponent's area. The still current Boca midfielder accumulates 399 games in his career and only two goals , while Miguel Angel Torrén, from Argentinos, also has two conquests but in 302 games. Gastón Gil Romero, from Aldosivi, has 203 games and his own scream. Among the Argentine players who are still active and are abroad, Matías Kranevitter , current Monterrey midfielder, stands out . The former River, 27, has 208 official matches unconverted.
Iván Marcone, still in Boca, only made 2 goals in 399 games.
The collective memory recalls the case of Hugo Villaverde, the central marker for Colón and Independiente from the 70s and 80s, who never scored a goal. Neither by the local tournament (435), nor in international cups (44) nor in the Selection (6). In total, Magoo , as he was nicknamed because he had vision problems and played with contact lenses, played 485 official matches without his own celebrations.
However, the first place among Argentine players is occupied by Norberto Yácono, the famous right half of La Maquinaria. They called him the Petiso Stamp because it did not detach from the forwards that he had to score .Always at River in the country, he played 417 matches and did not score. Brand that maintained in another 15 in the Selection. Then he went to play in America de México and in three seasons he completed 126 more games without celebrations. In total: 558 games stuck to the side, without knowing the rival networks . The Pacha exceeds the case of the English player Frank Womack, who played in Birmingham (1908-1928) and Torquay United (1929) and failed to score in 511 presentations.
The podium is completed by Luis Angel Bagnato, Banfield's eternal central back (1944-54). Between First and Second Division he completed 311 games in the Goalless Drill , in addition to another 60 that he played with El Porvenir (1958-59) and a meeting in the National Team. Total: 372.
It is worth remembering two more figures. One, that of the Duster Rubén Darío Gómez, who died in June 2018 at just 57 years old. He played in Lanús, Atlanta, Boca, Unión, River, Argentinos, Atlético de Rafaela and Douglas Haig. In total 404 games between Primera and Ascent and, despite their permanent climbs on the side, only one goal: in Rafaela, on November 10, 1993, San Martín de Tucumán (2-1).
Also to Jorge Titonell, a left half from the 30s and 40s, who started in Talleres de Escalada (he played there between 1931 and 1938, including the merger with Lanús in 1934, 209 games, one goal), then Huracán (1939 -46, 217 games), Temperley (28 games in the Second in 1947) and 3 games in the National Team. Total: 457, one goal. The only goal made it a 1932 Beccar Varela Cup match against Quilmes (1-1), with a strong shot from long distance. He had a handful of games in First. Later, like all those remembered here, he fell out with the network.
FK