Martín Demichelis
has the most important game of the semester with River ahead of him
.
The fans look askance at him, his team is far from the level it showed last year and losing a final could mark the beginning of the end of his experience as
Millonario
's coach .
But what increases the pressure for
Micho
is that on the other side will be Eduardo Domínguez's Estudiantes with
Enzo Pérez
in the middle of the field.
This Wednesday, in Córdoba (from 9:15 p.m., on Star+, Espn Premium and TNT Sports) Demichelis and Pérez will meet again in the final of the
Argentine Super Cup
after the controversial departure of the Mendoza player from the Núñez team covered by a solemn silence that He actually said a lot of things.
“Many things are crossing my mind. Today a stage of love ends.
I dreamed since I was a child, since childhood, I always dreamed of playing with this shirt
, I always dreamed of playing for this club.
I will be grateful to those people for life…”
Enzo Pérez and Demichelis, in River.
(AFP)
With those words,
Enzo Pérez said goodbye to River on December 23
, after winning his 10th title with the club, by obtaining the Champions Trophy, after the 2-0 of Núñez's team over Rosario Central in Santiago del Estero.
Afterwards, he emphasized:
“This is not the time to talk.
"I want to leave with the beautiful memories."
What did Enzo Pérez have to say and chose to remain silent?
Why didn't he say it?
Evidently, the man from Mendoza felt uncomfortable in his last time at River, a situation generated by the discomfort he had with
Martín Demichelis
, which was exposed that night at the Madre de Ciudades and was later confirmed with the player's decision to return. to Students of La Plata.
Enzo Pérez receives the affection of River fans before his last game.
(JJ. García)
In Santiago del Estero, when Pérez left the playing field, greeting the River Plate crowd that cheered him and kissing the shield on his shirt, when he reached the touchline he hugged Jonatan Maidana, the other historic player who said goodbye that night and that he replaced him and
then began to greet each one of those who were on the substitute bench.
It started with the members of the coaching staff and continued with his teammates.
He greeted everyone except Javier Pinola and Demichelis
.
He did it with Pinola later, during the award ceremony.
They gave each other a long and heartfelt hug.
Evidently, he had not approached before because the field assistant was almost attached to the coach.
As Clarín
learned
, in the last months that Pérez and Demichelis lived together in River they had almost no dialogue.
Now,
what happened between them for the relationship to end that way?
They had been teammates in the National Team and when
Micho
arrived they seemed, at least outwardly, united.
They even hugged after celebrating a goal in the middle of the Monumental field when Enzo climbed into
the coach's
“cococho.”
However,
the relationship broke down after the footballers found out about the conversations that the coach had had with journalists
, from which the players had received the version of some of the coach's criticisms.
Enzo Perez.
(JJ. García)
But, in truth, the problem already came before.
And there were several factors.
One of them, some unusual public statements by the coach and his exposure on television programs;
and, on the other hand, football issues.
From the Mendoza entourage they assured that
"
Enzo felt from the first moment that Demichelis wanted to remove him from the team"
, beyond what he said in the press conferences or the praise he gave him.
First, with the arrival of Matías Kranevitter, who was injured in the first friendly and was out for a long time.
And later, when Pérez himself was without playing for three weeks due to synovitis in one of his knees, in the middle of the year, there the coach imagined a team with four midfielders, with Rodrigo Aliendro as “5”.
But those issues are already part of the past, beyond the irritation that River fans feel about seeing Enzo, already considered an idol in Núñez, in Estudiantes de La Plata.
Pérez chose to return to the club with which he won his first Copa Libertadores, in 2009.
Finally,
after his decision to leave River,
where he won 10 titles, including the 2018 Libertadores, as he did not have the possibilities he could have from abroad (Inter Miami, the team in which Lionel Messi plays, and All Ittihad of Saudi Arabia , where Marcelo Gallardo directs), and that Deportivo Maipú, the club in which he started and in which he contributed resources in recent times, did not reach the First Division, the man from Mendoza accepted the offer from the Pincha leadership.
Enzo Pérez once again wore the Estudiantes shirt.
(Photobaires)
And thus what Juan Sebastián Verón and company had been cooking slowly and patiently was consummated.
The thing is that Estudiantes had been seducing Pérez since he confirmed his departure from River
.
But, in truth, they had already spoken to him before when Enzo stopped the renewal negotiations with the Núñez club.
From Verón himself, vice president of Estudiantes, to other Pincha idols - and his former teammates in the historic 2009 Copa Libertadores - such as Mariano Andújar, they
were the ones who
ate the driver's head
to make him turn around
.
Pérez - with a contract until December - has played 9 games in the white and red shirt, but in stripes (8 for the League Cup, with one assist; and one for the Argentine Cup).
Now Enzo is preparing to face a complex challenge, not only from a football perspective, but also from an emotional perspective:
the final of the Argentine Super Cup
.
That match between Estudiantes, who agreed to be champion of the Argentine Cup, and River (winner of the Professional League) was already classified as the "morbid match" because it will cross the paths of Demichelis and Enzo Pérez again.
Will there be a greeting?