The last scene of
Fernando Gago
with football ended up being
the one that 'Pintita' himself wanted: to retire on the field of play and not for an injury to take him out of the competition
.
A story of
perseverance, grit, passion and love for the ball.
Few will be able to count as many misadventures with his physique and
have returned to the ashes as did the emblem of Boca Juniors, who will now debut as technical director with Aldosivi.
From the hand of coach Alfio Basile,
the "number 5" gave samples of his football and won everything he played
.
He was a companion of great banners of recent history Xeneize, along with
Abbondanzieri.
Ibarra, Schiavi, Daniel 'Cata' Díaz, Battaglia, 'Pocho' Insúa -will be his field assistant-, Rodrigo Palacio and Martín Palermo.
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He won the
Apertura 2005, the Clausura 2006, the South American Cup in 2005 and the Recopa twice: 2005 and 2006.
And it was on that rough diamond that
Real Madrid set its eye and bought it in the most expensive pass in history of Argentine soccer: 27 million dollars
.
The only blemish was
the inexplicable loss of the three-time championship in the hands of Estudiantes de La Plata
, after losing the last matches and the grand final against Pincha.
Ricardo La Volpe was already at the Xeneize bank
at that time
.
In Spain, he had to deal with adapting to a new football, he
fought for Diarra, but the offensive midfielder was the protagonist of a large number of titles
.
In 2011 he left Madrid, registering
122 games played in white, obtaining two Leagues, a Super Cup and a Copa del Rey.
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In 2011 he arrived in the
Italian Serie A on loan to Roma, along with Francesco Totti
.
But despite his great performance, he
played just 32 games
.
Then he returned to the Merengue and his destination was finally Valencia:
the Che team paid 4 million dollars for his record.
But he also played very little: just 18 games,
to assemble the suitcases
and
cross the pond
again: but to a surprising destination: Vélez Sarsfield.
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After six months in Vélez,
Gago returned to where his home is: Boca Juniors
.
He found a great soccer version and a great hierarchy for Argentine soccer.
But injuries once again punished him and he was unable to maintain his competitive level.
He did not play more than an average of 16 games per tournament
.
The ligament injuries in his knee and Achilles tendons played a very bad past, but he always returned.
In his second cycle at Xeneize, he won three league titles and an Argentine Cup.
It culminated with 199 official matches at the club and eight goals, where the blue and gold won 137 victories and lifted nine titles
.
Finally, after
the final with a defeat against River Plate in Madrid, he terminated his contract 'by mutual agreement'.
Upon recovering from his injury and
after speculation with a retirement, he put the shorts back on and returned to Vélez Sarsfield, led by his friend Gabriel Heinze.
At José Amalfitani, Gago gained ground and established himself as a starter despite some muscle injuries.
In January 2020, his worst nightmare returned, when the cruciate ligament in his right knee was torn.
After ten months and a pandemic through, he returned at the beginning of October, to finally conclude his career in the Liniers team.
Gago's passage through the Argentine National Team:
Gago, after going through the lower ranks of the Argentine National Team, made his debut in the majors in 2007 in a friendly against France, obviously at the hands of Alfio Basile.
He was a fundamental piece of the team and with great football communication with Lionel Messi.
Many say that Fernando was their best interpreter so far.
His most bitter drink was in October 2017 for the Russia Qualifiers, when the coach at that time,
Jorge Sampaoli decided to send him to the field against Peru and seven minutes after entering he had to withdraw due to a serious injury.
There were 61 games in the absolute, without scoring goals.
He achieved the
sub-championships of the Copa América in 2007 and 2015, in addition to being runner-up in the world in Brazil 2014
.
But he was able to be crowned in youth,
by winning the U20 World Cup in 2005 and winning the gold medal at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
The recent past and his injuries
do not overshadow all the achievements of a player who knew how to be the emblem of Boca Juniors and Argentine soccer
, where he knew how to rise from adversity.
In a note, 'Pintita' remarked: "I think
I will be remembered for playing again after five injuries
."
Now he will debut as a coach, and it
is expected that it will be the beginning of a career where his good football is transferred to the teams he leads.