Regragui and Scaloni, two old acquaintances since their time as players at Racing Santander

Qatar has not been the only space in which Walid Regragui and Lionel Scaloni have agreed on something.

The efficiency of their game has now brought them together to play in the World Cup semifinals as coaches of Morocco and Argentina.

But as players they also share a tiny and common past with the same shirt: Racing de Santander.

It is a stage in their careers that they have not forgotten.

Because joining the Cantabrian team marks, says the writer Marta San Miguel, as a form of permanence.

This is the title of the book that he published on Racing in 2019, to vindicate the fans of a team that never, ever, won an official title and all its triumph consists both in knowing how to lose and in fervently managing to resist.

San Miguel was already a fan when at the beginning of the 2006 season he saw them both play at the Sardinero.

The Moroccan coach born in Corbeil-Essonnes (France) 47 years ago was signed by the Santander club as a right-back when Lucas Alcaraz led the team in 2004. He was 29 years old.

He arrived in the winter transfer window and has played 17 starts with the coach since January 22, 2005, when he made his debut with a 3-0 loss against Barcelona.

But it was later, with Nando Yosu, in one of those seasons in which the racinguista lifeguard had to take the bench to save the team from relegation, when Regragui established himself in the position of the band.

The coach that the Cantabrian fans have adored the most did it again, for the sixth time, with the Moroccan as part of the squad.

In this way, the current Moroccan coach was able to verify the flavor of that rare goal as the only triumph on the horizon: the feat of permanence.

Regragui had arrived from the French league, where he fought for Racing de Paris, Toulouse and Athletic Ajaccio.

He surprised his level and the forcefulness that he gave the team in the position.

"He spoke on the field, he was reflective and encouraged his teammates," says Gonzalo Colsa, who met him after his time at Valladolid, Mallorca and Atlético de Madrid.

Although off the field, Regragui was rarely seen with players, recalls Aser Falagán, sports writer for Diario Montañés.

"He rarely went out, he was very devoted to his family and to his daughter, who was then, when he arrived, three years old."

The pity was how his magnificent progression was stopped.

Not because of competition in the position, nor because of a drop in performance, but because of a terrible injury.

The player Pablo Casar remembers it.

Then he shared a lineup with him on the field when he heard his ankle and fibula crack after supporting poorly in a play of little importance: "He went to cover a cross from the left wing with his foot and it got stuck on the ground ”, assures the former racinguista defender, who last season coached Gimnástica de Torrelavega.

Nothing was the same again.

She was slow to recover, and as she did she returned more cautiously.

Although without losing the attitude of a team player: “It was a piece of bread.

Humble, simple, folksy.

He spread a way of feeling football.

A lot of love, a lot of passion, as seen now from the bench”, comments Casar.

In that, very similar to Lionel Scaloni (Santa Fe, 44 years old).

They barely brushed against each other in the locker room.

But they coincided in some games at the beginning of the 2006 season, before Regragui left Santander for Dijon, where he started playing in 2007. The Moroccan was on the way out and the Argentine arrived to succeed as an interior player in the season led by Miguel Ángel Portugal on the bench.

They finished in tenth position and Scaloni played 31 games as a starter in the interior position.

His eight seasons at Deportivo de la Coruña with a League title, one Cup, two Spanish Super Cups, some Champions League semifinals and many days leading that Super Depor as captain displayed a certain strange and at the same time magnetic mysticism around him.

Above all,

The coach of the Argentine national team, Lionel Scaloni, during the Argentina-Australia match on December 3 at the Qatar 2022 World Cup. JUAN MABROMATA (AFP)

They shared the preseason together.

"Both were two magnificent signings for Racing at the time."

Bernardo Colsa, member number 420 and an oracle in the history of the Cantabrian club, corroborates this with the feelings he experienced from the stands: “Regragui won over the fans before getting injured.

He might seem like an extravagant signing, but he conquered us, ”says the partner.

From the field, Pablo Casar believes the same thing: "We have rarely seen a right-back of his level," he comments.

Gonzalo Colsa remembers his experience with Scaloni more intensely: “He was big, an all-rounder, super competitive, it didn't matter where he was lined up, he always performed and contributed.

Perhaps he did not stand out, but he more than fulfilled and was a shock to the rest of the team with his great attitude and his harangues.

You noticed that he had a coach in the making, ”says the person who is in charge of the Santander youth academy today.

In fact, both almost coincide again in another stage.

Just when Gonzalo Colsa and Pedro Munitis finished their coaching course at the Federation headquarters school in Las Rozas (Madrid), Scaloni was beginning his.

He then faced that path that has led him to the bench of the Argentine team during these semifinals in Qatar and to share the tension of the tie with an old acquaintance: Walid Regragui.

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