A review of the most outstanding events on the sports agenda 20 years ago, when the institutional crisis of the Fernando de la Rúa government flooded all areas of everyday reality for Argentines, including sports.
Argentina U-20 World Champion
The youth team, under the command of coach José Pekerman, gave a high-level football sample from start to finish. The championship, held between June and July 2001 in Argentina, took place at the José Amalfiani stadium.
For the Argentine team, it was the fourth championship obtained in the U-20 category (1979, 1995, 1997, 2001, 2005 and 2007) and the third for Pekerman, who knew how to empower various youth groups.
That roster of stars, made up of youth players, set the stage for the success of several of the players who already showed a superlative level. Some were entrenched in the first of their clubs, such as Javier Saviola, Leandro “Pipi” Romagnoli and Nicolás Burdisso.
Others took the great leap of their careers, some in activity to this day. Among them Leonardo Ponzio, Maxi Rodríguez, Andrés D’Alessandro, Fabricio Coloccini, “Willy” Caballero and Alejandro “Chori” Domínguez, among others. Of that squad, the majority had already debuted in First and a few were still playing in Reserve.
“The ball is not stained”, the indelible tribute match of Diego Maradona
An eternal moment wherever you look at it. Pelusa’s farewell in La Bombonera, before the people, like a god in his temple. And around a constellation of invited stars for the farewell event on the 10th: “Pibe” Valderrama, Higuita, Suker, Stoichkov, Francescoli, Riquelme and even the Argentine National Team, which was preparing for the 2002 World Cup in Korea-Japan.
An ideal setting that of November 10, 2001, full of sports figures (such as O Rei Pelé in the audience), added to icons of music and politics who did not want to miss the unforgettable event. Maradona said that it was a “tribute” and not a “farewell”, since “he was never going to leave football.”
There, before thousands of fans, there was a god who became a man and cried.
At that moment, he spoke the words that for 20 years have already been part of the collective unconscious of Argentines and will last forever: “Soccer is the most beautiful and healthiest sport in the world. Of that there is no doubt to anyone. Because you’re wrong, you don’t have to pay for football. I was wrong and paid, but the ball is not stained ”.
Boca plays the 2001 Intercontinental Cup in Tokyo
A successful cycle, the first by Carlos Bianchi at the helm of Boca, which ended in 2001 in the least expected way.
The winning team came from obtaining the two-time championship of the Libertadores 2000 and 2001, which gave them the pass to return to play an Intercontinental final, this time against Bayern Munich in Germany.
The cold night in Tokyo of November 27, 20 years ago, left the Xeneizes 1-0 defeat to the Germans, in overtime, with the melancholy of the closing of a glorious stage with Carlos Bianchi, who would lead the club again. in 2003.
Racing local champion after 35 years
Avellaneda’s team had just gone through the hardest years in its history. The bankruptcy, the beating of Lalín, the embargo and the danger of disappearing from national football due to the debts and mismanagement of the club for decades.
Racing was managed by the Blanquiceleste Group and with the help of “Mostaza” Merlo, it put together a team to achieve the feat: win the local tournament, something that it had not done since 1966.
At one end date, Racing was leading the Apertura Tournament and was three points ahead of its pursuer River. The Academy was scheduled to visit Vélez on December 23, but the fans’ dream was going to be delayed, before the State of Siege declared days before, on the 19th, due to the events that shocked the country after the resignation of Fernando de the Rúa.
Ramón Puerta was the provisional President of Argentina and together with Mauricio Macri, president of Boca at that time and a friend of Fernando Marín (the manager of Blanquiceleste), he unlocked the situation. The game was played in Liniers on a hot Thursday, December 27.
Between nerves and anxiety, Racing drew 1 to 1 and achieved the long-awaited local championship, in the middle of one of the worst social crises in history.
San Lorenzo international champion for the first time, under a state of siege
The final of the old Mercosur Cup (today the South American Cup) was to be played in the Nuevo Gasometer on December 19, 2001. The country in flames, with a President declares a “State of siege”, and people take to the streets to protest and to demand “that they all go away.”
Violence, destruction and deaths multiplied throughout Argentina, for which all activities were suspended. The Cyclone was only able to play the final against Flamengo on January 22, 2002.
Engineer Manuel Pellegrini’s team, which had just been champion in the 2001 Clausura, was going for glory, the first in the international arena for Boedo’s men. After the 0-0 in the mythical Maracana, the Cuervos returned home to play that dream final.
The match ended 1-1 in 90 minutes and they went to penalties, where San Lorenzo was finally able to win the 2001 Mercosur Cup, the first international after 42 years of the last final and after a state of siege that changed plans.
Source From: Ambito
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