04/01/2021 4:55 PM
Clarín.com
sports
Updated 04/01/2021 4:55 PM
He says that in Uruguay they did not know him and that that match, beyond the fact that he had already had great performances in European football, was a click in his career and in his life.
In a defining match of a World Cup and against Cristiano Ronaldo, the one who broke it was Lucas Torreira
, the star who now does not hesitate to shout his dream: he wants to play in Boca.
"I ended up cramped, but it was worth the suffering," he said after Uruguay's victory over Portugal in the knockout stages of Russia 2018. He had run almost 11 kilometers, it
had been the stamp that blurred CR7
and the axis through which it passed every advance of Maestro Tabárez's team.
“The delivery to the end in each ball, like every Uruguayan, is part of the team.
The most beautiful thing in life is being Uruguayan, from that beautiful and tiny country, "he defined.
He was born in Fray Bentos on February 11, 1996. He is right there now after having asked for a few days of leave from Atlético de Madrid to be close to his relatives in a very painful moment: his mother, Viviana Di Pascua, 53 years old. , died of coronavirus.
She had been transferred to the Salto intensive care unit after her health condition deteriorated.
This misfortune accelerated Torreira's desire.
And the footballer does not doubt: "I don't want to play in Europe anymore, I want to play in Boca," he says on F90 (Fox Sports).
It will not be easy, of course.
The Uruguayan midfielder's pass belongs to England's Arsenal and is priced at around € 22 million.
The path with the ball started at the Institución Atlético 18 de Julio in Fray Bentos.
He played in children until the age of 17 he put together the bag to get to know the Uruguayan capital and try himself in Montevideo Wanderers.
He stood out so much in inferiors that they did not even enjoy it in First.
After passing the tests at Pescara in Italy, he moved to Europe in 2014 and started his professional life there.
He was 18 years and 33 days old when on March 16 he played his first game in the 3-1 win against Cittadella.
A week later he celebrated his first two goals.
"It was in preseason training. The club told me to see him and they told me: 'If not, we will send him back to Uruguay.' I saw in him football intelligence, personality, physical strength ... but he always wanted the ball at feet. So, I said, 'Why don't you play as a defensive midfielder instead of as a creator?'
I promoted him to the first team immediately, "recalled coach Massimo Oddo about those first steps taken by Torreira and the tweaks in his role that improved his performance.
Against Lionel Messi, in a friendly between Argentina and Uruguay played in Tel Aviv, Israel in November 2019. Photo: EFE
From Pescara he jumped to the Sampdoria.
"
If Torreira measured 1.80, it would already cost 100 million euros
and would be considered one of the most promising players in the world. He can play short or long, he recovers the ball, the game starts and he always seems to know where the ball will be. He will go to a club great who does not care so much about his height ", praised his coach at Samp, Marco Giampaolo.
The launch season was 2017/2018
.
Not only did he earn his place on Maestro Tabárez's list to play in the World Cup, but he broke it in Serie A and began to show a complete repertoire: he
finished among the top ten passers in the tournament and was the greatest recovery of balls
.
As if that were not enough, only five players in Italian football received more infractions than Torreira who also scored one of the best goals of the year with a formidable free kick from 30 meters against Chievo.
After evolving in the World Cup in Russia (Uruguay was eliminated in the quarterfinals against France), starting as a spare wheel jumping from the bench to being the figure in the round of 16 clash against Portugal, Torreira was well positioned in the window of the summer market in Europe and it was Arsenal that won the tug-of-war.
Thirty million euros were paid by the London team in July 2018. "
It was an absurd privilege to play for Arsenal for two seasons,
" said the Uruguayan on the day of his farewell in October last year and after 89 games and 4 goals with the Gunners.
He went from oldest to youngest in England: he had a lot of prominence while Unai Emery led the team, but the arrival of Mikel Arteta relegated him and the Basque coach placed him among the expendable players.
Italy-England-Spain
.
Torreira's last stopover is in Madrid, a year on loan at Atlético de Diego Simeone, a team that tends to seduce Uruguayans, in which Diego Godín, Josema Giménez and now Luis Suárez, among others, stood out.
In the mattress team he did not manage to establish himself: of the 23 games in which he was at Cholo's disposal, he was a starter in only 3 of LaLiga that they lead.
His only goal came on October 31 in a 3-1 victory against Osasuna.
But how to jump from there to here with just 25 years?
¿
Why pretend play in South America when you
know you will have available offers various big clubs in Europe
?
Torreira with his compatriot and teammate Luis Suárez at Atlético de Madrid.
Photo EFE
“
The thing about Boca comes from childhood
.
I used to get together with my friends to see Boca.
I have a very big fanaticism towards Boca for its history, for its players and for its idols… ”, he explains.
And then the heart beats the head.
And dreams beat the wallet.
And the impossible becomes probable.
"
The night my mother died, one of the first to call me was my representative. And there I told him
: 'Pablo (Bentancur)
I don't want to play in Europe anymore, I want to play in Boca
'", the footballer says in the interview with F90 .
The resonance box immediately traveled from Fray Bentos to La Bombonera.
And from there it will be necessary to connect with leaders of Aleti, a club in which his loan expires in June and mainly with those of Arsenal, the owner of his pass.
"
It is not a hasty decision. I had to go to Italy
when I was
17
, always away from my family. It hurts when I am away at parties, on birthdays, it hurts a lot. I hope Boca can happen. Today I have I have a contract with Arsenal and I am an Atlético player until the middle of the year, but hopefully the clubs can find something for my good, I deserve it, "Torreira warns.
And he leaves the door open to encourage football to reverse the equation that dominates the market and to have an unexpected adventure.
Look also
Lucas Torreira: "I'm dying to play in Boca"
"Frustrated and sad", Mario Pergolini made his discharge about his departure from Boca and spoke of "lack of coherence"
