Jorge Almirón goal against Boca that catapulted his career: how much they paid for his move from Mexico

“I haven’t scored many goals, but here I scored one that changed my careerI told the president. People came to see me, I played well, scored the goal and went to Mexico. I know what it means to play well against Boca” said Jorge Almirón, the new Xeneize coach, at the press conference where he was officially presented.

Almirón played little in Argentine football. He did it first at San Miguel, in the Primera B Metropolitano – third category – between 1991 and 1994. Then he went on loan first to Santiago Wanderers of Chile and then to Deportivo Español, who played in the First Division.

He arrived for the Apertura 96, played 17 of the 19 matches in the tournament and scored no goals. In the Clausura 97, he added another 15 games and scored two goals, one against San Lorenzo and the other against Boca, on June 1, 1997, in a 3-1 win at La Bombonera.

“The first 20 minutes of the game had the exclusive seal of the Spaniard. Almirón’s goal arrived (Guzmán hesitated to go out first to cover for Guede) and the goalkeeper began to experience an ordeal that seems to have no end”, reads the next day. in the match report of the Clarín, which rated the performance of the new Boca coach with a 6.

After that date, the tournament went on hiatus due to the Copa América in Bolivia. After 40 days, the tournament resumed on Saturday 12 July. On Monday the 14th, Espanol drew 0-0 with Platense in Bajo Flores. Era the last game in which Almirón had a poor performance and was rated a 3.

At that point, the Bajo Flores club came into conflict with six players over non-payment, which prompted one of the latest strikes by unionized Argentine footballers, which has paralyzed activity since 22 July. Also, Mexican soccer was preparing for a new season and always had players in its sights.

One of them was Almirón, whose pass belonged to San Miguel. On July 18, the Atlas management bought the pass for the Argentine midfielder (he was 26 years old), in just 600,000 dollars, little for Mexicans, a fortune for Green Thunder.

A week later, Almirón made his official Argentine football debut. On July 26, for the first date of the 97 Winter Tournament, Atlas defeated Puebla 2-1. He stayed forever. After 12 years, he ended his football career and started his coaching career in 2009 at Dorados de Sinaloa.