"Jorge!
A picture".
Click.
In Jorge D'Alessandro
street
it does not go unnoticed.
He lived in Argentina for barely 23 years, he has been living in Spain for 50 years and the
selfies
have nothing to do with his time in
Los Matadores
de
San Lorenzo
, nor for the 334 games in
Salamanca
: no other goalkeeper has stopped so many times under the three sticks of that club.
El
Gordo
, a nickname that traveled with him to the Old Continent, knew early fame as a soccer player, remained a public figure as a coach, and later got into the media as an analyst.
In many ways, he was destined to be on everyone's lips
.
None of those who stop him on the road to take a portrait saw him play.
Neither here nor there.
They are young.
According to his personal statistics, on average, these are 18-year-old boys.
There are shirts with his stamp: from the classic "Tss, tss, tss" -the onomatopoeia that refers to it-, to Rodrigo De Paul, Enzo Fernández and Alexis MacAllister, "the three Ferraris", as he baptized the Argentine midfielders for their speed, the key as analyzed for the consecration of the Argentine team in
Qatar 2022
.
“Ehhh, hold on to the Chiringuito! Photo, photo”,
click.
El
Chiringuito de Jugones
, a
Football Controversy
on the Spanish screen that is replicated on social networks, Twitch and crosses borders, returned him to the top of fame.
Who is Jorge D'alessandro and why did centennials adopt him?
"
Old people look at me out of the corner of their eye, they don't like that one at 73 years old is like that, active
, "
he says with the Buenos Aires obelisk in the background on Corrientes street in the middle of a swarm of people who confirm the popularity and age group that follows it.
He is in Argentina because he came to see the National Team.
Since he left in 1974, he only returned for procedures that have to do with duels.
To continue a conversation, it is necessary to leave the place chosen for the photos and the remis is a good refuge.
In some ways, D'Alessandro is something of a
Rolling Stone
: memories as anonymous are in black and white and represent less than a third of his life.
He studied at the San Román Institute and there he had
Luis Alberto Spinetta
as a classmate .
At the same time that
El Flaco
sang "Muchacha Ojos de Papel", D'Alessandro trained with the Primera de San Lorenzo.
Both companions of
Pototo
, famous for the
Theme of Pototo
, by Almendra.
-What was that time like?
I rarely went out at night.
At seven in the morning I had to be upstairs to go by bus to training, although sometimes I would go out.
One of those times I arrived almost during the day and I still remember my father: “Sir, are you stupid?
In a while you have to go to work, rested”.
When I was 17 years old, I was already in the top squad.
-And you weren't tempted?
-A girlfriend from then helped me a lot, who is now my wife.
She played hockey, she was a very good athlete.
We took the bus together to go train.
She always wanted to be a footballer.
In elementary school, the teachers called my parents because when they asked the students what they wanted to be when they grew up, I was the only one who said: soccer player, soccer player.
When he arrived in Salamanca – the opportunity arose on a tour with San Lorenzo in which he faced the Spanish club and was the star – he automatically became the undisputed goalkeeper.
In its first season in the First Division, the team had the least beaten fence in the tournament.
In the moments that he is not analyzing football, D'allesandro does not have the energy that takes him by storm.
He neither gesticulates, nor sentences with his booming voice, nor does he get angry.
He loses that television vehemence.
The remis enters Palermo and the conversation can continue in a bar.
Bad idea: before the waiter took the order, again the parade of photos.
-Why couldn't you establish yourself in San Lorenzo, but did in Salamanca?
I didn't do anything different.
It was the same, he cut the same.
I got the opportunity to play for the Spain team.
I did not receive calls from Argentina.
Neither for 74, nor with 78 in the making.
So they call me, and I didn't hesitate.
But I couldn't either, because I had played a South American (N de la R, the Sub 20 of 1967 in Asunción).
With today's laws, I wouldn't have had a problem.
-What do you think of Emiliano Martínez?
-I love it.
He is an ancient.
He even has an old face!
He saves well, he shits like everyone else, sober with his feet, but with some barbaric reflexes.
-And what is missing from the national team after Qatar?
-Ugh.
I am very concerned about the replacement.
The juniors What could (Javier) Mascherano transmit (as manager of the Sub 20) to the new generations!
Football is played differently today.
Him, (Lucas) Biglia Nothing!
The juniors have to win the South Americans, win the Olympics.
Today I once again heard a journalist say that "this is good for the locker room" and that is why he should be called up.
But not!
The locker room is built in another way, not telling jokes or baiting mates.
D'Alessandro on Corrientes Street.Photo: Rafael Mario Quinteros
“You always say the post, D'alessandro!
Can it be a photo?”, click
.
Apparently, the only ones who don't want it are the
Real Madrid
fans .
In the networks they are in charge of demonstrating that his career as a coach has several descents.
"Do you know what happens?
I was an oncologist DT: I saved several clubs from relegation, but when there are metastases it is difficult to achieve it. How to do it in a handful of dates?
, It is justified.
That stage, which began in 1989 and continued uninterrupted until 2004 and resumed between 2010 and 2013, gave rise to his passion in another space: communication.
“I am not a journalist, I want to clarify, I am an analyst”
, she indicates with her finger raised.
He began his media career with
José María García
, a journalist who ponders with the vehemence he uses to talk about soccer.
"He was four times Gordo Muñoz"
, he graphs.
“And he paid well.
Because he wanted the best by his side, dedicated to him.
I guess I earned more money in that role than as a coach”
, he calculates.
"I watch a game and after 20 minutes I know how it's going to turn out," he boasts and assures that he perfectly understands the movements of the players, the ideas of the coaches, everything. "Once, they hired Maradona for a transmission and the one with white hair. Cóppola?
He said: 'Who is D'Alessandro?
Maradona comments alone or does not comment.
Héctor Ricardo García himself (N. de la R: historical owner of Crónica) took charge of the subject and we discussed the game with Diego..."
-And where is football going?
-Well, I am a defender of the Super League.
Wednesday is a very important day for football, which is no longer played only on Saturdays or Sundays.
I think that, without the structure we know disappearing, a tournament for the elite has to appear.
Let the best of the European leagues cross paths.
Here it could not be done, perhaps, for a matter of distances.
But there yes.
The best have to play with the best.
- Is it a European thought or an idea of always?
-Always.
They are Boca, River, San Lorenzo, Independiente, Racing... With all due respect, Gimnasia de Jujuy, for example, is from another category.
In just over an hour, D'Alessandro posed for more than 20 people and answered each question with the naturalness of someone who answers the time on the street.
A
gentleman
.
-Is this also the case in Spain? Doesn't it bother you?
- It's the same there.
overwhelm me?
This is a recognition in life.
I am privileged
