How do you describe Melgar’s good football moment?
We go game by game, we can say that it is good; but When the tournament ends we will know if the campaign was good, very good or excellent. We cannot base ourselves on the present, because four dates ago we all had to leave Arequipa, but now we are better.
Football is about moments, you have to take advantage of them, but also have a cool head to face the most complex passages…
Yes, but now it is not up to us, since we have other rivals who, if we win, would pass us. We must continue with our work and wait for them to lose points. We have very little margin for error, there are three rivals who are there fighting.
You have been at Melgar for three years, winning a national title far from your country is the immediate thing, the desire of every soccer player who crosses the border…
Obviously, but this is not that easy. You have to work every day for that, but it’s not easy.
The Arequipa fans are also very demanding…
In all the clubs I have played, the fans asked me to become champion. Sometimes it is possible, other times it is not, but we have prepared ourselves since the preseason for the best. This is football. We are all in search of that goal.
Arequipa sheltered you very well. How do you feel?
From the first moment, people received me in the best way. Me, my family, we are very comfortable and grateful, but we like the city. We enjoy it and that means it is reflected on the field in performance, in desire, in everything, and even more so in the support of our people. Melgar is an organized club, and it gives us the maximum tool that an institution must have so that we can perform in the best way.
Did you quickly adapt to Mariano Soso’s tactical system?
As long as I can help the team in the position that the coach needs, I don’t have any problem. I have no problems playing as a center back, I do the best I can. Afterwards, the footballer has to adapt. Throughout his career, the footballer has had about thirty coaches, with different ways of training differently, so the footballer’s ability to adapt has to be very fast and at different levels.
Melgar has nothing to send to the Lima clubs…
I don’t think so, I don’t know the clubs in depth, but I know what Melgar has, it’s what he projects. He is growing, he will be a model in Peru. We are part of this, of the institution, of the younger kids. It is something very nice, the club has a very ambitious project and is carrying it out little by little.
There are young guys with great projection in Melgar. How do you visualize the football present of the Cabreras, Reyna, among others?
The majority of our staff is very young. We have a very healthy group, the big ones take care of that. This gives young people the possibility of continuing to grow, this is reflected in their daily lives, in their performance. In recent years, the club is very united, very humble.
How are the procedures for your Peruvian nationalization?
I have a Peruvian daughter, the youngest, and after the procedures the club takes care of it, I don’t ask. I don’t want to interrupt or put pressure on something that is not within my reach. When they need something, the club handles that.
You played at ‘Tata’ Martino’s Newell’s and shared locker rooms with Trezeguet, Maxi Rodríguez, Heinze, among other players. What memories?
I had the opportunity to be part of a great institution, a great club. I shared with extraordinary footballers who have won everything, they have played in Europe. It is an experience that football gives me, a lot of sacrifice, and I was in places that I shared with great players. It is part of the career that I had to do.
What was it like sharing on and off the court with those elite players?
In terms of football they were monsters, but then as a person they were like all of us that I share in Melgar. The essence of the person does not change, whether you won one dollar or fifty million, the person’s option does not change. Playing with people with other technical skills made everything easier.
At 35 years old you are still a footballer…
It involves taking care of the physical, being responsible, I did my entire career like that, extreme care, dedication, then there are many players who have had a successful career. That is good for young people, if they take care of themselves and are responsible they can continue competing.
The desire of all Arequipa fans is to win the Clausura and reach the playoffs with Alianza Lima…
I believe that the fan’s desire is that we can win the Clausura, then who we get will be seen. First we have to do something that is up to us. Now we are all excited, but we know how we work. We have not achieved anything, we are going to continue fighting every game.
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