02/06/2021 18:22
Clarín.com
sports
Updated 02/06/2021 18:23
Jaime Ayoví, his attacking partner in the best moment of Morro's sporting life, in that Godoy Cruz that Sebastián Méndez now commanded and in which the Uruguayan said he had found his place in the world, reviews a conversation on Instagram and tries to find signs.
He is not the only one who pulls the rope and finds footprints that try to explain the unexpected news.
There is talk of depression, that he missed his daughter, that dragged discomfort due to the long confinement derived from the pandemic and statements by the 30-year-old striker whose body was found this Saturday without life return immediately to the scene, in which he recognizes himself as fragile, he admits suffer problems that exceed the physical terrain and that hit the soul.
Soccer, a hostile environment to remove the veil from emotions, claimed a new victim.
According to a FIFPro study, 38 percent of footballers suffer from depression or psychological problems.
The memory of Jaime Ayoví for El Morro and an intimate chat.
"We are not robots, we are not made of steel, things happen to us and that makes performance on the playing field not optimal," revealed El
Morro
in June 2019 in an interview with Radio Nihuil.
Santiago Damián García
grew up in the América Housing Complex, in the Colón neighborhood, in the northwest of Montevideo.
His grandmother Julia was in charge of raising him and his cousins;
his mother Claudia, worked all day as a nurse.
And he stopped seeing his father when he separated from Claudia and left the house.
The sports movie about the life of the
Morro
has scenes in Istanbul, where he underwent adaptation and only played three games at Kasimpaşa.
"In the first concentration I have to be with a Muslim root," he recalled in an interview with the newspaper
La Nación
.
I couldn't sleep, I was on the computer chatting with friends.
My partner was snoring.
The alarm goes off, he gets up, puts down the carpet, and begins to pray.
He was looking right at me, his eyes were rolled.
I had put myself against the wall. "
There are scenes in River de Montevideo, a club where he was walking from his house and where he regained his joy.
Just as he had promised a childhood friend, he played for free.
There is also a key moment during his stay in Brazil, at Atlético Paranaense.
El
Morro
was 20 years old when he was notified that he had tested positive for an anti-doping control.
“I thought about stopping playing soccer.
My brother opened the front door and saw the way I was living.
He didn't turn on the lights, he was totally depressed, he didn't want to play.
There were situations that surpassed me that I did not do ”, pointed out the forward in a talk with
Líbero
(TyC Sports) about that sanction.
“It was a bad handling, I didn't like it.
They made me dirty, in Uruguay I was like a drug addict ”.
It was suspended on July 25, 2011. The penalty was originally for two years, but was later reduced to 13 months.
In the analysis carried out after the final of the Uruguayan Tournament between his team, Nacional, and Defensor Sporting, they had detected cocaine metabolites.
"It was all strange," El
Morro
insisted
.
As FIFA did not approve the sanction, the forward was only unable to play in Uruguay, but was able to continue to do so in Brazil.
Although the stain was already indelible.
To the shield of the profile photo of his Twitter account, Nacional added a black crepe.
“There are no words or consolation.
Immense grief for the death of one of the most beloved players and fans in the recent history of Nacional.
We all cry for El Morro ”.
Desolation of the Godoy Cruz fans;
Santiago García was found dead this Saturday in his department of Mendoza Photo: Ignacio Blanco / Los Andes
With the
bag's
shirt he
started the professional life of
Morro
.
As a child he had played in a neighborhood club called Boca and then in Libertad Washington.
In his first stage in Nacional (2008/2011) he uncovered it: he scored 46 goals in 101 games.
He made his debut at the age of 17, on July 27, in a final of the PreLibertadores league, entered for Diego Viera, scored the only goal of the game and his life changed forever.
He left his mark in finals against Danubio, Defensor and Peñarol;
in the Apertura 2010 he scored 15 goals in 15 games.
The second part was not good.
When he returned in 2013, after frustrated steps by Turkey and Brazil, he barely celebrated one goal in 18 games.
From that stage, there is an indelible memory:
the day he ended up in prison for clinging to pineapples in a friendly classic.
There are no words or consolation.
Immense grief for the death of one of the most beloved players and fans in Nacional's recent history.
We all cry for "El Morro" #QEPD pic.twitter.com/rMKflHnwnT
- National (@Nacional) February 6, 2021
In his curious defense before the Justice, El
Morro
said that he hit everything that moved.
This is credited by the images of the hasty end of the summer friendly that Nacional beat Peñarol 1-0 on January 21, 2014. A pitched battle.
Nine footballers, including the former Godoy Cruz striker who had been expelled for the fight, spent the night at the National Intelligence Directorate.
Godoy Cruz opened the doors of Argentine football and
the
Morro
made his second home Mendoza
.
“People are very respectful, I can walk down the street with my daughter, go to the square or anywhere and I have no problem.
There are no words to be grateful for this way of living, and that also influences when making a decision, ”said the forward that in each passing market he appeared in the search list of a large team but that he did not have any pretense of taking a jump .
For several months the
Morro had
not been the same as before.
The team wandered on the field and the Uruguayan was outside, on the bench or in the stalls.
Injuries, shortcomings in his physical condition, personal problems, were the arguments that were mutating game by game.
In his prime, he scored 17 goals to be the top scorer in the 2018 Super League. From there, he scored just 16 in two and a half years.
In 2020, he only played six games, three as a starter.
“We need to have positive leaders.
On the contrary, we have had negative leaders, ”
declared Tomba
president
José Mansur last December on Radio Andina.
Without naming it, he spoke of the
Morro
.
“You cannot be a leader and not go to the gym, not comply with the weight regimens, be in the red with all the measurements.
Unfortunately there is a problem of personal interrelation that the boys have to be supported, encouraged, raised their ego and you cannot tear it down.
There is a situation of players who have not fulfilled professionally, if they do not comply they cannot be ”.
On his return to the club,
Gallego
Méndez knew that he would not be able to count on the forward who had given him so much joy just a couple of years ago.
This Saturday, in his WhatsApp status, the Godoy Cruz technician published a photo and a farewell message.
In the image he is smiling in a changing room with Morro and Maradona.
Look also
The last days of Santiago Morro García: without a place in Godoy Cruz, depressed and away from his daughter due to the pandemic
Impact and pain for the death of Morro García on social networks