Maximiliano benozzi
08/24/2020 - 18:16
- Clarín.com
- sports
That moment was recorded forever. It was a few seconds. A postcard that was recorded in a photo. And that by traveling in time is transcendental in the lives of Juan Fernando Quintero and Marcelo Gallardo. And River, of course. It was the night they greeted each other for the first time. They did not know it at the time but the destination was already marked. It was what the Spanish writer Javier Cercas called "anatomy of an instant". And now, that the Colombian has already gone to the club's history books, where he will have the most prominent page for his goal against Boca in the final of the Copa Libertadores in Madrid, in Núñez they already miss him even though it has not yet been made official the transference. Specifically, what does River lose with his departure? What win?
On the night of May 25, 2017 (the day of River's 116th birthday), a short left-handed and caderón exhibited his talent at the Monumental with the DIM shirt for the Copa Libertadores. It was Juanfer Quintero .
Gallantand his coaching staff had already written it down in their folder. "Quintero impressed me, he saw an incredible natural talent, a diamond in the rough," said El Muñeco long after that game. Eight months later, in January 2018, I would have him on campus.
Quintero, wearing the DIM jacket, shakes Gallardo's hand in the match against River in 2017. (Photo: EFE)
Gallardo's clinical eye did not fail. In just one semester, Juanfer captivated the River fan. While some talked about his friendship with Maluma and his supposed extra kilos, he filled the Millionaire audience with football . Generally positioned on the right side, to be better outlined for his magical left foot, his best brushstrokes came from there.
Fake to one side and go to the other, the long and deep passes to enable his teammates, with geometric precision and full of sensitivity and his magnificent punch, either with a moving or stopped ball, appeared in the menu of specialties that he showed with the red band.
It is not necessary to remember the examples but if there is someone unsuspecting, you can go to YouTube and observe the goal to Boca in Madrid, the pass to Pity in the third, the free kick goal to Racing in the Monumental that was nominated for the Puskas de FIFA or the first half symphony against La Academia in the second leg of the Copa Libertadores round of 16, also in Núñez.
Anyway, there is a peculiarity of Quintero in his stay in River. Taking exceptions such as those of the aforementioned games against Racing, Juanfer had a hard time exploiting his game as a starter . He was much more decisive when entering from the substitute bench, as happened at the Santiago Bernabéu when he replaced Leonardo Ponzio.
The numbers certify it. Juanfer played less than half of his games at River as a starter. They were 26 of 61 (and he scored 12 goals). And in total he played 3,005 minutes, averaging 49 minutes and 26 seconds per game. Gallardo once explained it: “We need him not to be left so far behind because we remain a long team. We need that natural talent in the last meters. And near the goal we play without spaces. Playing in River means playing in tight spaces and he still needs a change of pace. And when he does, he will be a fundamental player ”.
Quintero, on his return to Argentina. (Photo: Marcelo Carroll)
The Doll sought to polish that rough diamond. He worked on it physically and made him understand the importance of the setback, which the Argentine coach Luis Zubeldia said he could not get into his head when he was directing him at DIM.
And later Gallardo commented: “If a player performs better for me entering the second halves, why am I going to spend that card? I prefer to keep that card of value for the moment when it is most necessary to use it ”.
After Madrid, the moment came when Juanfer began to take charge of the team as the Doll against Gremio had asked him to do . After the departure of Pity Martínez, Gallardo put together the scheme based on him, who was much more agile.
He played looser and closer to the rival goal. He was the team leader, surrounded in the midfield by Nacho Fernández, Enzo Pérez and Exequiel Palacios. Juanfer shone . However, everything changed on March 17, 2019 when he suffered a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee.
Since his return, in October last year, Juanfer played just 440 minutes , which is equivalent to five complete games. He did not return with the confidence he had before the injury and that carried over to his game. Thus, its importance in River's scheme also decreased.
Quintero celebrates with Borré in the 2018 Libertadores (Photo: AFP)
How he will be in football, after another long stop that has already been going on for five months due to the pandemic, is anyone's guess. Gallardo's decisions evidenced this situation. When Exequiel Palacios left, he did not include Juanfer among the eleven and changed the scheme to play with three central markers and two wing-backs. Now, he had been thinking of giving Julián Álvarez a clue as a winger.
He aims, no matter how different it is, to be one of the keys in filling the void left by the Colombian's departure. It is known: the Doll diagrams the schemes of his team according to the characteristics that footballers can offer him . There is also Nicolás De La Cruz, who occupies a band. And behind are Cristian Ferreira and Jorge Carrascal. And he has Ignacio Fernández, an ace of the deck, to take charge of the development of the game .
On the economic front, opinions will be divided. The opposition will say that Juanfer will be sold for a third of what his termination clause indicates and that the amount is low in consideration of the player's talent. The ruling party will argue that making a sale of 10 million dollars - if they finally reach that number - in the middle of a pandemic is a luxury. He will also say that with that money River will be able to pay off debts and accommodate the treasury a little. And, incidentally, stop paying a very high and dollarized contract.
Quintero's situation also had repercussions in Colombia. Carlos Queiroz fears that Juanfer will lose the rhythm of the competition. “I think it would be a bad decision if Quintero leaves River. It helps me that it remains there because of Gallardo's competitiveness. That means that he has many possibilities in the National Team ”, said the coach of the National Team a day ago. Some time ago, Francisco Maturana , a huge reference in soccer in that country, had said that Juanfer found the right coach in Gallardo.
Quintero leaves the court the day of his knee injury. (Photo: Juan Manuel Foglia)
To this day, Gallardo perfectly remembers that when he greeted Juanfer for the first time, the ball had escaped to the right at the height of the local substitute bench when they were face to face. But what the Doll does not remember well is if the Colombian told him "How are you doing, teacher?" or "How are you doing, teacher?" by shaking his right hands.
This Monday, Juanfer did not train with the River team. He gave one more sign that he already speaks Chinese. It will leave history. And also, the question of whether he would be in a position to continue being the winning card that Gallardo knew how to have at key moments.
Norberto Alonso: "Gallardo will reinvent the team"
With the departure of Juanfer Quintero, River loses a very good player, but we must not forget that River, like all clubs, due to this pandemic, has an economic need. So you have to put both things on the balance: football and money.
Nobody is going to discover Juanfer . He is a formidable player. He has a very good punch and good passes between the lines. But how many players left like Juanfer in the history of River and then others arrived or new ones emerged. In addition, River knows of those purchases of good foot players, as Juanfer's was at the time. I have no doubt that if River sells Juanfer it will find other good players.
What surprises me is that he goes to China. When you go to those places, who is going to buy you afterwards? It is difficult to re-enter the market. Also, after he came back from injury, I didn't see the player who had the short spike that he had before.
River continues to have great players in the squad, as is Nacho Fernández. If River sells, it has players to replace those who leave. Because River is a team and not an individuality. It is not that you sell to one and lose inventiveness, places are quietly occupied by other players. Gallardo will reinvent the team, as he did on other occasions.
Maturana: "He will continue to weigh his talent"
I am an admirer of Juanfer. We are both from Comuna 13 in Medellín. And Juanfer is the idol of my son and of the young people in Colombia, who are very aware of everything that happens with him. And in the distance you see what it is. A boy who everyone loves, who is a human being from the neighborhood as they say there, who transmits affection and humility. And as for football, he has walked a lot. He is a national team player and in Argentina he has lived up to what his coach and his club asked for. And regarding the decision he made, it is part of his private life. No one can tell the other what to do. You have to trust him and his environment. Nobody put a gun to his head. And if there are many people who do not like that they go to China, it is normal, but it is their problem. The players are themselves plus their circumstances.
There is a lot of prejudice with Chinese and Asian football in general, but little by little it is growing. And more and more figures, both coaches and players are going there. At the time he spent with the Brazilian Paulinho, he went from China to Barcelona (he spent a year and returned to Guangzhou Evergrande) and played the World Cup in Russia with his National Team. There is no standardization that says that the one who goes to Europe and triumphs and the one who goes to another football, no. Juanfer has enormous talent and he will prevail to continue having chances in the Colombian National Team. Then it is a decision of the coach (Carlos Queiroz) to quote him or not. I don't get involved in that.
A Juanfer look at it from the heart. And his memory in River is integral, not only because of what he did on the court, but also because he is a great human being.
FK