Iván Pillud was elated, happy, excited after winning the Champions Trophy. He was moved when they gave him the microphone to say a few words to the more than ten thousand Racing fans present at the La Pedrera Unified Stadium. He stayed a long time signing autographs, taking pictures, giving away some of his sportswear to people who adored him.
In a corner of the modern San Luis stadium, the player who has won the most titles in the professional era for Racing, equaling the four of Ezra Sued (1945-1949-50-51), albeit far from the multiple champions of the first year (1913- 1925), took a few minutes for a short hand in hand with Clarín.
– Why so much emotion in the speech you gave?
– It was a very difficult year. Of the four championships I won, this was the hardest we faced, as a group, as a team, because it was a very long year, because every time we got to the top they hit us, we had to get back up, and we got up from three or four situations in the all-important tournament and when we thought we were crowned, we got a palazo again. The good thing is that people continued to trust us and we deserved it. We always stay at the end, but I’m happy for the work, the humility of the group. A reward for the will and the overcoming of many adversities. And we did it because we have a wonderful group.
– What does running mean to you?
– Racing is my life, my home, my second home, call it what you want. I’ve been here for 12 years, at one point I said I’m not going anywhere anymore. I am very identified with this shirt, I owe my life to it. I try to give my best, both outside and when I have to play, I try to give my best, to always be with the best face, I look for the common good and not my personal one. I was taught by life, by my family, by football. You have to be like that, you don’t have to be selfish at all. Today we all come out as champions and also the people.
– Did you imagine when your career started with this love affair with the Academy?
– No, not really, because from 2010 to mid-2013 everything cost me a lot. It was my turn to become champion for the first time in 2014, and in those three, three and a half years, I had to put up with a lot of things. It depends on the head that everyone has to face the bad times and recover and get up, recover and get up. It is pure resilience.
-In this moment of joy, what difficult moments do you remember?
-When I arrived I broke my fifth metatarsal but the worst part was when I had hepatitis, I was out of the fields for three months and I felt like I was dying. But everything has a reward, I am grateful to my family, who always supported me in everything and today is with me again. And to the fan, who makes the club great day after day. Now we have to rest, get our strength back because in 2023 we have a fairly long year.
– What goes through the mind of a football player when such a match ends?
-It is pure relief, of heart, of emotion, of happiness. It’s been a very long year, a lot of work has been done. He has always told the guys that a great group is the one that works, the one that doesn’t fall, in which we are all equally important. If you look at the racing games, when we won the games, the people who had to enter from the outside won. And it speaks of the healthy competition we have as a group, of who we are, of how united we are.
– And what about fights with rival players who, after all, are colleagues?
-It is a mixture of feelings, sadness, anger. I think sometimes there are teams that don’t have empathy with other teams. He told Fabra they weren’t used to losing in the last few instances. It’s football, it’s a sport and out of two teams only one has to win. Sometimes you have to accept things. The game developed well, the players sent off were good, even the goals. I think Racing played better football, in the last two postponements, obviously being with one more man, we knew how to take advantage of it, the goal arrived and we managed to crown the year with this title.
Source: Clarin
