This was the first barbecue of the Selection, with meat and Argentine grills

In Argentina, lately, Juan Román Riquelme put it in vogue, with his barbecue on Fridays that, at a given moment, became a cabal in Boca. “Eating a barbecue is spending a moment together, it is trying to get distracted and relax a bit. It is enjoyed ”, analyzed the vice xeneize, very much in tune with what Scaloni thinks. Román sought to return to that ritual established by Carlos Bianchi and in the case of Boca, the return took place in the previous one against Atlético Tucumán and, since that key game was won, it remained a fixture before each game. “The barbecue is part of the country. We don’t have to forget, even though nutritionists have gained ground and fuck with cereals and stuff. The roast cannot be missing ”, he made it clear.

Julián Lanzillotta, the owner of Fuegos JL, thinks the same, the national company that emerged in 2018, almost by chance, which today is the most chosen by soccer players and other athletes. Including the AFA, which contacted him, like 10 other companies, to determine which would be the supplier. Fuegos JL ended up winning this “World Cup” to see which one had the pride of putting together the grills for the roasts of the selected team. In this case he sent different types. They asked him for four more conventional ones that he made especially because it is not the specialty of the house and, yapa, he sent his flagship, known as Floki -the 15 models have names from the Vikings series-, which has two crosses to cook at the stake and cage for hanging and smoking. Literally, a beauty. Yesterday it was used as a fire pit, without the cage, but maybe players will be encouraged to explore the grill in the future. “I hope they cheer up, although I, the truth, already touched the sky with my hands…”, says Julián, proud.

All this equipment was located in the barbecue area that was set up inside the huge property that the University of Qatar has, where the national delegation is already staying, awaiting the debut on Tuesday, at 7 in the morning, against Saudi Arabia. “We want everyone to feel as if they were on the Ezeiza premises. That is why also the barbecue area and the grills ”, they told from inside.

Lanzillotta tells how he came to fulfill a dream he never dreamed of. “Everything started in 2017, with my passion for barbecue, especially cooking at stake. One day it occurred to me to do something different for the fund at home. I thought of something with wheels to move it according to the wind and to be multifunctional. This is how the first one was born. It took me eight months, buying the wheels in different places and improvising a bit. I had notions of welding, because I had worked in my old man’s generator company, and I got a knack for it because another of our family businesses was an industrial hardware store. The second I did for my club, Mariano Moreno, where I played until years ago. And something incredible happened to me one day in June 2018: I left the locker room, after a game, and saw that there were close to 100 people around the device, taking photos of you and asking who had done it. On Monday I already had about 20 messages asking me if I could produce others. This is how the idea of ​​opening an Instagram account (@fuegosJL) was born, with a logo that my brother put together for me, and to start manufacturing, ”he recounts.

The first year he made 20 a week, in a very traditional way and with the help of two friends (“especially Toto”, he clarifies), going to look for wheels in the interior of the country. But everything started to explode when famous athletes made their appearance. First it was Nicolás Laprovittola, a player of the basketball team, known to Lanzillotta from the western area of ​​the Buenos Aires suburbs, where they both grew up. The point guard posted a photo of a Raqnar being roasted and the followers fired. Then it was the boys from Locos x el Asado and then the footballers arrived.

The first experience was with Andrés D’Alessandro and his brother. But everything exploded when the Funes Mori brothers bought several and uploaded several stories to their Instagram, crazy with the new acquisitions. “Just that day I was traveling to Italy, on vacation with my family, and thousands of messages began to arrive. I sold like 100 roasters. And I had nothing, no employees, not even a workshop, ”he recalls. There he began to build what he has today, a headquarters in General Rodríguez, a factory in Moreno, and a branch in Boerne, Texas, which sells throughout the United States, as well as reaching 39 other countries.

This is how many other footballers arrived. “Bruno Zuculini, a great one, bought me several. From River also has Enzo Pérez, at the time the Pity Martínez, Cavenaghi and Lamela. From Boca, Palermo, Battaglia, Schiavi, Andrada, the goalkeeper… Gago too. Not to mention (Rodrigo) De Paul. Little Schwartzman too, the same as Tortu Deck, the former NBA basketball player who is at Real Madrid. Although for me, who loves basketball, the top moment was when Manu asked me, in 2021. We took it to his house, in San Antonio. I couldn’t travel but my partner made me a video call and I was able to chat with him for a little while. I admire him a lot. The truth is that all the athletes I had the opportunity to meet are admirable”, he says.

Although he defines himself as not a soccer fan, this alliance with the AFA excites him a lot. “It is about the Selection of our most popular sport, with the best in the world in our squad, in a World Cup that we are looking forward to so much, with all that this generates in the people…. And that my products are there, with them, surely being part of a very special moment such as a barbecue, is something that really touches my heart. There is no better place for our products. If now I have to retire from this, that’s it ”, he is sincere, excited.