Who is La Roca, the River patovica who faced the Boca players

The result of the superclassic in Monumental was a piece of paper Beyond the suspicions generated by the rigor that Dario Herrera He blamed River for the much-discussed foul by Agustín Sández on Pablo Solari, the cross between the players in a hot and decisive moment of the match ended up overshadowing an afternoon that ended with a classic to forget. Agustín Palavecino yelled the goal in the face of the Boca players who reacted and everything was distorted. Also the “brawl” between the players with private security who entered the field and a particular character who had become relevant days ago in the River draw in Tucumán: Diego Moreno.

The question is immediate: Who is Diego Moreno? The man, giant and massive as a mountain, entered the field in the midst of the noise and confronted Luis Vázquez, the Boca striker who had already been replaced – at that moment he had made a provocative gesture to the local fans – and been displaced by the office of a rival.

Moreno caught him in the middle of the race on the Monumental lawn, while he was at his side Martin Demichelis, manager of River, who was also trying to stop the young striker from Catamarca. In the midst of the turmoil – something quite common in Argentine football – there were between 10 and 12 people in orange vests from the private security company Tech, which River and several First Division clubs hire for matches. An unusual scene: in general, the players push each other, insult and calm each other down. And it rarely -almost never- gets into a fight, at least in the last few decades, given that the cameras (those of the official broadcast or those of any telephone) capture every detail. With VAR, players know that attacking a rival can cost them too much.

So why did so many people intervene in the Monumental? A week ago, at La Bombonera, when Gonzalo Piovi kicked Vázquez himself from behind and the match “stuck”, no one outside the pitch intervened on the playing field. Another example: this Monday Sarmiento beat Central Córdoba 1-0 in Santiago del Estero and towards the end of the match Gonzalo Bettini was injured. As they were carrying him out on a stretcher from the stands, a bottle flew and members of the local medical staff went to scold the visitors. “Rotted” again, there were pushes and struggles, and then everything calmed down. Neither the police, nor club security, nor others who were not involved in the match intervened.

Another question that arises, moreover, is: was the intervention of private security in the monumental building necessary? Or has it generated more violence, more tension? Are River the only club that allows their security guards onto the pitch? Once again the figure of Diego Moreno appears.

Moreno, nicknamed The Rock for his physical resemblance to American actor Dwayne Johnson, is responsible for the “safety” of the River team. He has a very close bond with the players. So much so that he took care of “distributing” the sons and daughters of the footballers after the party in the locker room to the mothers (footballers’ clubs) who were waiting in the ring at the Monumental.

In the media it is repeated that it belongs to Coronel Pringles, who is between 30 and 40 years old and is a fan of the gym. Who spends most of his time there, in River’s gym, shaping his body and gaining even more muscle, if the anatomy allows it. It is also known that he is a fan of River and that when he was younger he followed the games from the popular. Even if from the club they are instructed to clarify that “it’s not a bar”, without giving more information.

La Roca worked as a patovica in nightclubs and arrived at the River through the Tech company. When the Slumdog Millionaire team was left without its main security guard in 2014, it was Marcelo Gallardo himself who gave the green light to Moreno to join the new guard of the body . Since then his figure has grown in the intimacy of the campus. And also in the media: whenever River acts abroad, his resemblance to The Rock, the Jumanji actor, attracts attention and even appeared in a newspaper in Al Ain, UAE, in 2018, when River was to play the Club World Cup.

For George Britothe president of River, his employee’s work was exemplary: “I know La Roca (di Moreno), he’s a very good person. He ate a lot of punches when he tried to separate. I thank him, he did his job very well”, analyzed after the Superclásico. What was not clear is whether his intervention was necessary or not. If the invasion of the orange vests was necessary.

However, it’s not the first time La Roca has starred in a River game. On Saturday 29, in Tucumán, where River visited Atlético in their 14th round, Diego Moreno gained notoriety. The locals were winning 1-0 and Martín Demichelis’s men went into the dressing room trailing. However, Javier Pinola and Germán Lux remained on the pitch, complaining to match referee Fernando Rapallini.

The judge went to the tunnel and Demichelis’ collaborators followed him to ask for further explanations. The camera from TNT Sports, the official broadcast of that game, also went behind the scenes. In the corridors of the Monumental José Fierro, Pinola’s denunciation continued, until he realized he was being filmed and slapped the camera. With a gesture, he told La Roca to do his job, and the man in charge of security on River’s campus scolded the cameraman to stop taking pictures. What was it that could not be shown? The Superclásico was different, but does the local team’s security officer have the power to enter the pitch during the match? Couldn’t the players of both teams solve it like they usually do?

Meanwhile, this Sunday, when the match is over, the Municipal Police has compiled a record for Marcos Rojo, Luis Vázquez and Agustín Palavecino. Red is for “being in an unauthorized place” as he was not part of the visiting delegation when he was injured. That of the other two players is for “inciting disorder”. The case will be borne by the prosecutor celsa ramirez, well remembered at Boca for being the one who in 2021 had asked for the closure of the Bombonera for “excessive turnout and omission of collections”, and in 2022 had filed a complaint for “malfunctioning of the stadium turnstiles” which ended with a $ 2,000 fine. 000 for the Xeneize. This year, Ramírez closed the third tray of the Bombonera grandstand overlooking the Riachuelo after the viralization of videos of the movements in the crevices of the structure. “I hope the lady will allow us,” had asked Juan Román Riquelme, de Boca’s deputy, to recover that ability.