He played in Racing, became champion with San Lorenzo, retired and is now a successful businessman

racBeing a boy, playing ball in a neighborhood club, reaching the lower divisions, debuting in the first division, becoming a champion, money, fame, success are all things that coexist with professional soccer players. However, as this whole process is known, it also began to be known, by former players who talk about this, how hard the day after retirement can be. Although soccer players do not earn the salary of a “laborer,” many of them finish their careers and do not know what they will do after hanging up their boots or how to manage their money.

Today’s story has a protagonist who at 25 years old, already halfway through his career, began to see that the end as a footballer can happen from one day to the next, so he did not wait until he was 35, 36 or 37 to plan your future.

Characterized by being a midfielder with an iron brand, Pablo Andrés Michelini He had a 13-year career, but he had the luxury of playing for two great Argentine soccer teams and even becoming champion of national and international tournaments, going down in the history of one of them.

Although Michelini’s life took a very different direction from the beautiful game, it is worth remembering his achievements in local football.

What was Pablo Michelini’s football career like?

The native of Sunchales debuted in Deporivo Spanish (club that at that time was playing in the highest category) in what was the 2-1 victory of “Gallego” against Gimnasia de la Plata in the 1992 Clausura tournament. In the youth team he stood out as a central scorer, but he was the coach of the equipment, Oscar Cavallero, who placed “Pablito” to play as “5”. In the Clausura 92, at 18 years old he played all the matches of the tournament and shared the squad with Pedro Catalano, Carlos Bustos, Sergio Zanetti, Charly Batista and “Puma” Rodríguez. That team came out second in the championship, exceeding expectations and objectives (not relegation). Michelini was in Spain until 1994, where he played 87 games and scored 3 goals.

In that year he learned what it was like to play for one of the greats of Argentine soccer: Avellaneda Racing Club. Due to his great performances in “El Gallego” he was himself Carlos Salvador Bilardo who recommended the young player to “The Academy”: “I thanked him when I signed the transfer and found a club that I ended up loving very much. Racing was all tumultuous and Claudio “El Turco” García told us that we were playing in a Roman circus,” he commented in an interview with TN.

At the Avellaneda club he played five seasons until 1999, the year where he moved on to another great player in Argentine football: San Lorenzo de Almagro. At the Boedo club, Pablo Michelini shared different teams that remained in the great history of the club.

At the closing of 2001, led by the renowned technician Manuel Pellegrini, San Lorenzo managed to win with 47 points, a record that could not be broken in the history of short national soccer tournaments. Furthermore, in that same tournament, the “Ciclón” set the record of 13 consecutive victories, something that no Argentine club to date has been able to beat. Michelini was able to stand out in a squad with figures like Saja, Morel Rodriguez, Coloccini, Capria, Erviti, Romagnoli, Romeo, Acosta among others.

Six months later, between December and January 2002, that team added another page in the great football history of the club and the country. In a final that was decided by penalties at the Nuevo Gasómetro, San Lorenzó managed to win against Flamengo and became established champion of the Mercosur Cup 2001. That achievement meant the first international star for the Boedo team.

However, successes did not stop coming in a short time for Michelini and the Ciclón. This time, hand in hand with Ruben Darío Insúa, San Lorenzo obtained its second international star by defeating Atlético Nacional de Medellín 4-0 in a series that was defined in the first leg in Colombia. This match featured the former midfielder scoring a goal. Although Michelini did not compete in the second leg, he was a key part of the team.

After the titles, Pablo continued 3 more years in San Lorenzo, but a knee injury had him ill for that time. On July 2, 2005, the 31-year-old midfielder decided to hang up his boots in a match between San Lorenzo and Racing, a match in which Michelini played only 5 minutes, which were enough for him to recover a ball in Germán’s goal play. Herrera. Applauded by both fans in the Cilindro, that was the last time that the former soccer player stepped on the field as a professional player.

What happened to Pablo Michelini’s life after his retirement from football?

At the age of 25, when he was still playing for Racing, Michelini frequently asked himself a question: “What happens if tomorrow I stop playing?”. With that thought in mind, the former player decided to delve deeper into other matters, such as service stations. When he was moving from Racing to San Lorenzo, the player became an investor in the hydrocarbon business.

From that age until he was 31, which was when he hung up his boots, Michelini began to immerse himself more fully in the day after retirement, and that is why the former player told TyC Sports that this process did not cost him so much: “For everyone has a hard time. It cost me a little less because I turned the page. A journalist called me there and told him “the truth is that I don’t feel like talking about football because I don’t even have the cable to watch the games.” I don’t want to look back. “I retired 20 years ago.”

Likewise, the former midfielder expressed that the clubs do not care about this instance of the player, which for many can be traumatic: “The club doesn’t care what happens to you once you retire. The problem is not only economic, it is also mental. One has to feel that it is useful for something else. The economic aspect is important but feeling useful is also key. There are players who had a much better career than mine and today they can’t make ends meet.”

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Today, Michelini is an entrepreneur who has various businesses. He mainly manages some service stations, has a hotel in Neuquén and also invests in construction. According to the former San Lorenzo, only 10% of his assets to this day come from his time as a professional footballer.

In short, Pablo Michelini is the living example that the stadium spotlights, the cameras, the fame and the money are no excuse not to think about him after all that is over. As a recommendation, in his note in TyC he dedicated a few words to all those who are soccer players or dream of being one tomorrow: “Retirement is not planned when you are 33 years old. You have to project it mentally and financially at the height of your career.”