The story of the good Pipa: the embrace with Riquelme and why Benedetto took the captain’s ribbon

The cry of goal, in front of the crowd of Boca fans, pointing at the number 9 was not an unknown film Darius Benedict, key with his goals to give the club another Olympic breakthrough and also to get back into position after playing just two games in the last 4 months. A rebirth. Other. Although this time not only from the sporting level but also moving away from a overexposure which he acquired after a self-imposed leadership role that brought him more problems than solutions.

“I don’t want to jump anymore because they will catch me. Little by little I’m learning to cope with referees and I’ll try to cope like this”, counted after scoring three Super Cup goals against Patronato. Is that his absence from the fields had to do with that gesture that he mentioned a payment in the final against Racing in which Boca finished with less than 7 men. But this is a voice that knows it needs to edit its profile at least at certain times. Because they have taken more energy than usual from a footballer who has returned from Europe to be the owner, figure and also add titles: it’s 3 since his return, with 19 goals in 43 games played.

On a football level he has always ended up establishing himself. That it took him some time to adjust when he arrived at the club in 2016 (for the series against Independiente del Valle) is a well-known story. Also, once he gained trust and ownership, he didn’t let go. Until injuries gave rise to an argument with Walter Bou, who had scored continuously for San Lorenzo, River and Racing. The debate that started in January of that 2017 lasted for months: should the 9 del Boca be Benedetto or Bou? The answer came on the first day. Barros Schelotto kicked off the Arsenal born striker and responded with 2 goals to defeat Banfield. End of discussion.

He was an overwhelming Boca scorer in 2017 until he reached Jorge Sampaoli’s national team. And a ligament injury took him off the pitch (and his level) for six months. He came back with everything: 5 goals between the Copa Libertadores semi-final and final. It wasn’t enough, but he still remained at the club for another 6 months, until Marseille bought his puck for 14 million dollars. And there the doubts to know when and how he would return.

It was Riquelme who was thinking of himHim. And with a call they resolved his return, in January 2022. And there the debate again, because Luis Vázquez had earned a place by dint of goals at Boca de Battaglia. It lasted one game: a goal against Colón, in La Boca, in his return to Argentine football. Once again he clarified who would be the owner. But then he acquired a facet of captaincy that didn’t suit him, with episodes with Almendra, a prize contest and a fight with Zambrano in the Cilindro de Avellaneda. In the midst of all this, the series with Corinthians that had him take center stage with missed penalties. A detail that left the final won in Santiago del Estero: in the photo of the Boca champion, Pipa escaped from the captains’ area he was supposed to Javi García, Marcos Rojo, Pol Fernández and Frank Fabra to their most representative faces.

The end of 2022 marked him with injuries that replaced Vázquez and the boy Gonzalo Morales and the final against Racing full of expulsions, fights and complaints. There was also talks with Hugo Ibarra and the Football Council, assuming mistakes and aware that Miguel Merentiel has come from Palmeiras not only to be a substitute, but to contest a place in the starting eleven in the daily competition. The goal of the former Defense and Justice against Platense has opened a doubt. The good level against Vélez confirmed that there would now be someone fighting for that place.

What did Ibarra do? He gave Benedetto a chance in a final. And he scored three goals, to keep the ball, with the Olympic return (his 6th championship in Boca) and also with a last embrace in the intimacy of the locker room with JJuan Roman Riquelme. It’s just that Benedetto didn’t leave. But he always comes back.