Football revenge: the son of Gallego Insua, from his release at San Lorenzo to the hero of Barracas Central

ninety-six minutes they had passed in the match between Barracas Central and Estudiantes de Buenos Aires for the Argentine Cup. Ninety-six minutes and no emotion. Penalties looked like the clear destination at the Ciudad de Vicente López stadium. Hand. In the last seconds, when time was running out, Rodrigo Insua became the hero of Handsome with a phenomenal free kick that led to the winning goal and qualification for the round of 16.

In the stands at the Platense there is a special fan who explodes when the ball hits the left post. Rodrigo is the son of Ruben Dario Insua, the DT who brought San Lorenzo back to life. In Barracas he had the opportunity to rejoin the big names in Argentine football, after joining last January, led by Rodolfo De Paoli.

But this unforgettable professional moment has a genesis that includes his father, his brother Robertino -today in Miami United FC from the USA– and… the former president Marcello Tinelli.

Last September, a twelve-word prayer moved that frantic gift from San Lorenzo a little more. The defeat in the classic against River provoked an explosion of insults from the Nuevo Gasómetro stadium crowd and prompted a harsh response from ‘Gallego’ which quickly went viral.

“Manga of sons of bitches! Why don’t they whore Tinelli who stole everything here?”Insua snapped, and his words were clearly caught on ESPN cameras.

In the following press conference, logically, the first question, logically, focused on what he had said as he left the field of play, but the coach dodged it. “I have nothing to clarify”, he has declared. And then they asked him again if his anger had been triggered by complaints against him or against the players and Insua returned to dribbling as in his days as a footballer. “I can’t remember now”he expressed.

A year earlier, in October 2021, Insua managed Ecuador’s Guayaquil Sport Club and spoke on Radio La Red about why they didn’t include him in the list of candidates to return to Saint Lawrencetaking into account its good past with a title included in the 2002 Copa Sudamericana.

“Whenever the club needs me, I’ll be there because it’s my obligation, but the current retired president (referring to Tinelli) wouldn’t hire me because he hires more qualified coaches than me and I wouldn’t work with him”. he said.

And I add: “I wouldn’t work with him because I don’t have a good relationship, I don’t want to get into it and I don’t think it’s time to talk about it. It was personal, I don’t think “I think a lot about him as an individual. I’ve had a problem with him for a long time and he has a problem with me ever since he messed someone up wrong. When there is a problem with someone you have to solve it with that person and not hit him where it hurts the most”.

Apparently, the TV host took a vendetta staff with the technical director and left his two sons playing for Cyclone Reserve without a contract: Robertino AND Rodrigo.

Days later, before the commotion that the DT of the Cyclone had caused with his statements, shouting a possible denunciation of Tinelli, he ended up being more direct with his statements: “Since Tinelli didn’t have the courage to resolve personal problems with me, the ‘he grabbed with my children and took his revenge. He’s a coward. If he wants to talk, put the time, place and day. If he wants to go to court, we’ll go to court.’

Rodrigo, 25, then looked for new horizons in the ascent. Chacarita and Deportivo Riestra were the tries in the first national team where he found continuity and, in the last half, even a goal. That good streak landed him at Guapo, to play in the Lega Professionisti for the first time.

He had to wait for his moment, as his debut came less than a month ago, when he started in a 0-0 draw against Vélez. From then on, he played three more consecutive league matches (Defense y Justicia, Banfield and Instituto, where he assisted one of his team’s three goals).

Their fifth match was this Wednesday, at Vicente López and for the Copa Argentina. In the ninety-sixth minute, a free-kick on the edge of the area was the ideal invitation for Rodrigo Insua’s left foot. “I’m one of those who deals with kicking. I asked to do it because he trusted me and luckily he got in. I train a lot with free kicks”he confided, after nailing a nice wire against the left post.

Surely, the son of the current San Lorenzo coach dreamed of a story playing the hero in the Cyclone shirt, like his father.