Former representative of Deportivo Cali who played the final of the 78 Libertadores against Boca, was pointed out as an “outstanding student” of Narigón, and followed his coaching appointments. From the night he left La Bombonera in a patrol car to the staunch defense of Bilardismo
By
Fernando Castro, 73, famous Colombian soccer character
The year was 1978. For the first time in history, a Colombian team reached the final of the Copa Libertadores. It was the Deportivo Cali run by Carlos Salvador Bilardo that faced the then defending champion Boca Juniors.
In the first leg at the Pascual Guerrero they had tied 0-0. The rematch was at La Bombonera, with the presence of the King of Spain Juan Carlos, who was visiting Argentina. It was a local victory by 4-0, thus raising the highest continental award for the second time.
“I really enjoyed those games against Boca in 1978″, confessed Fernando “El Pecoso” Castro, then a soccer player for Deportivo Cali who was overtaken by his opponent.
“Things happened that were ignored by the media, the fans, and many times even us as players. We had people who knew what the local was doing in the dressing room; At that time, there was no anti-doping, so there were advantages for some teams,” details the former Colombian defender.
“Before the final, we had people around the hotel all night making noise, not to let us sleep. And in the game, the policemen put the dogs and did not give us space to execute the corner kicks, ”said the 73-year-old DT today in a heads-up with Infobae.
< p class=”paragraph”>Hugo Perotti twice, Ernesto Mastrángelo and Carlos Salinas scored the goals with which the team led by Juan Carlos Lorenzo celebrated the two-time Copa Libertadores championship. “Since I saw Bilardo, the way of working, of explaining, was so clear that I said that it was impossible for one not to play with that man. It was missing for him to go, get on the field and throw the centers. He studied everything on the contrary. It was a blessing to have a coach like Carlos”, he revealed to Castro who has a 33-year career as a coach in his country.
-What is your life, Fernando ?
-I am in Cali visiting my family, because I live in Manizales. I’m fine and waiting for God to give me good health.
-Do you want to direct again?
They haven’t called me in a long time. The last time they did it there was no way to reach an economic agreement. So far I have not had opportunities, we are still calm. I have no need to go back to work. The clubs already think of other more modern technicians. I will not direct again. In Colombia, soccer changed a lot and became more commercial. The teams belong to just one person, and, unfortunately, it is more a business than a game.
-Is football contaminated?
-Yes, badly contaminated. It is not like 30 years ago when there was a board of directors of eight people that decided everything, traveled to Buenos Aires to observe players, and brought them to Colombia; that already happened. Nowadays it is difficult to be able to work in football and I am not linked in any way to this sport.
-He is one of Deportivo Cali’s greatest idols. How do you see Boca’s rival for the last date of the Libertadores group stage?
-He has a good list of players and a good coach. We need the support of a board of directors and the support of the fans. I have the illusion of beating Boca and hitting the ball at La Bombonera, but the game is not easy and going to play in that stadium. When I went as a player we lost in the final of the Libertadores 78. I don’t remember winning there either as a footballer or as a technical director. It is very difficult to win there and hopefully we will. Deportivo Cali is doing very well and has already beaten him in Colombia. In Boca they are not very satisfied with the performance of the team, but it comes from being champion in the local tournament. In my country, Cali is not seen with such certainty to visit Xeneize.
-What makes it difficult to play at the Alberto J. Armando?
-The atmosphere in the stadium. We Colombians don’t have a court like La Bombonera that seems like people are falling on you. The player is not used to that environment, therefore he can feel bad. Not any team is going to play at La Bombonera being Colombian and that is why it is difficult to go play there.
-In your long career as a player and coach, how many times have you been to Buenos Aires?
-18 times. I played 5 Libertadores Cups. I am the first Manizaleño who played in the Maracaná in Rio de Janeiro, in La Bombonera, in the Monumental de Núñez, in the Cilindro de Avellaneda and on the Independiente field. I have a very great joy that God gave me. I never imagined that, playing in the street with a gaucho ball in my childhood, I would grow up in a team in my neighborhood that allowed me to debut as a professional and wear the jersey of my country’s national team.
-One of those times that he arrived in Buenos Aires was to play the final of the Libertadores 78 against Cali, which was won by Boca. How did you spend the night before the rematch?
-We had a bad time. We had people around the hotel all night making noise to keep us from sleeping. There was a lot of commotion in the hotel establishment until the early hours of the morning. The next day, on the field of play they passed us over because we lost 4 to 0, but we had just played the octagonal of the Colombian tournament and we arrived tired. In the first leg, we equaled 0-0 at home. But the truth is that it was a very positive experience for Colombian football.
-Was there no anti-doping control?
-It’s true. Things happened that were ignored by the press, the fans, and many times even us as players. We had people who knew what they (Boca) were doing in the dressing room; At that time there was no anti-doping, so there were advantages for some teams. But what happens in the dressing room, stays in the dressing room. There must always be professionalism in the footballer. You have to prepare extremely well during the week and you have to be very aware of your work, because if there is a short career in life, it is professional football. I don’t know players who exercise at 60 years old. Yes doctors and engineers who are extremely good. But not footballers of that age. For this reason, if you have a very short career you should make the most of it. And meet two conditions: be a professional 24 hours a day and train well during the week.
– Did you have to leave the stadium in a patrol car?
-Yes. They had to take me out of La Bombonera in a tank because the local public was very angry, since in the first leg, at the Pascual Guerrero, they had thrown vick vaporub at Ernesto Mastrángelo and the people of Boca had been very angry. So, in the rematch they quickly took me out of the dressing room, I waited for the police to be able to leave in a patrol car and go straight to the hotel.
A native of Manizales, he directed 11 clubs since he was launched as technical director (Gabriel Aponte/Vizzor Image/Getty Images)
-Why did Vick vaporub Mastrángelo?
-Because Ernesto started to pull me back and wouldn’t let me move, so I put the cream on his face. For doing that I got into trouble with Bilardo, since he scolded me a lot because everyone believed that he had sent me to do it, but it wasn’t like that. I did it by my own means. When I put the cream in Mastrángelo’s eyes, the striker told me: “I don’t see, I don’t see”. When they cleaned it up, he came up to me and said: “Colorado, what did you put in my eyes?”.
-What did you say?
-That he hadn’t thrown anything at him. But it was a lie. It is a cream that there is in Colombia for the person who has the flu, to free the bronchial tubes. It turns out that before going out onto the playing field I had put the cream in my pants pocket to put it on my rivals on purpose.
-What lesson did Bilardo teach you as coach?
-Very many. Since I saw Bilardo, the way of working, of explaining, was so clear that I said that it was impossible for one not to play with that man. It was missing for him to go, get on the field and throw the centers. He studied everything on the contrary. It was a blessing to have a coach like Bilardo. Listening to him, I understood that everything that had to be done on the field of play was very easy. He explained supremely well; he was extraordinary. He taught you the respect you should have for the fans and the leadership. In addition, he made you understand that this race is very short and you should take advantage of it. He luckily he came and he taught us a lot. But not only him, but also the Osvaldo Zubeldía school, which changed Colombian football forever. So, there one took a little more love for this career. Zubeldía, Bilardo, Eduardo Lujan Manera, Witch Verón are the greats who came to change Colombian football.
-What customs did you acquire from Bilardo?
-The discipline. How strict he was for the start of practice. Compliance with the schedule for the technical talk. Arrive at the time indicated to the dining room for lunch or dinner. In addition, the training sessions were very demanding. For all that, many coaches came out in Colombia. There was a lot of joy and fun during training. Then, on Sunday, the work on the field was reflected.
-On a football level, what did Carlos leave you?
-I had a base of how the team should play. From a clear idea, he was choosing the players to develop the game. He assembled the team from back to front. He first worked in defense. Then, in the offensive part, and in the end, in the collective. In addition, he strictly studied the rival to discover the weaknesses he had to attack them and the virtues he had to defend us well.
-What cabals did Bilardo have?
-One that was a surprise to us. He left the hotel where we gathered early, went down to the Cali River that runs through the center of the city, settled there, took a breath in the morning, and walked to a nearby church. Then he went back to the hotel; he always did it at the same time and respected everything to the letter. Another had to do with the clothes he wore in games: he wore the same clothes until we lost. She wore an old t-shirt under the shirt, the same shoes, the tie and the suit. On the other hand, I also acquired from Carlos the way to express myself.
-How is that?
-I repeat twice what I express and emphasized a lot especially the second time I say things. I adopted it as a way to express myself both on the court and at home. I know very well that I repeat the same thing a lot, but if I don’t say it several times, I run the risk of forgetting it.
-Why defined as an outstanding student of Carlos?
-Because he was very attentive to what he explained on the court and did everything one hundred percent. I was a player with a strong temperament, I never held anything back. On the court I always showed myself strong and with a high sense of belonging and responsibility. I never stopped talking to the referee. He was the type of player who sometimes gets annoying on the field of play, but ends up being useful to the team. I was part of the school of Bilardo and Zubeldía with their tricks defined and criticized for many years by anti-soccer. But I am proud to have belonged.
-Then, he had to be an assistant to the Yugoslav coach Vladimir Popovic at Deportivo Cali. How about that experience?
-I had to work alongside a European coach who cared more about the physical part of the players than about the tactics. He kept a single way of playing, but physically the team responded very well. There was a lot of work during the week. In addition, as an assistant he had the function of going to the soccer players’ homes to observe how they lived with their families, because being a soccer player is not only on a playing field, but outside they must also maintain good behavior.
< p class=”paragraph”>-What did you observe in those rounds that you carried out?
-How was the home made up, the environment in which he lived and with whom he lived. Most were very precarious houses; there was a lot of poverty and lack of food. They were not houses of economic solvency. Therefore, they lived in very difficult situations to support, with eight children to feed, but with the hope of getting ahead depending on the future of the soccer player.
Famous hair pulling to Claudio Husain in an international duel against River Plate