The photo that inspired the statue of Marcelo Gallardo which already has an inauguration date

The wait is over. The statue of Marcellus Gallardo It will be unveiled on Thursday, May 25, which marks River’s 122nd anniversary. And finally, the bronze mass facing Avenida Figueroa Alcorta will be discovered, a few meters from Avenida Ángel Labruna.

Since October last year, the Doll statue has been installed in its place and covered with a cloth. And after the postponement of December 9, the event will now take place on a special day for the institution, which will celebrate her birthday. 1,628 days from the final against Boca in Madrid whoever promoted this monument to Gallardo, the idol and the fans will be able to share that historic moment.

Although the club’s first leg and Carlos Trillo, the ideologue and promoter of the statue, the players of the professional team have always been part of the party, in this case it will be impossible because the team led by Martín Demichelis will be in Lima to play against Sporting Cristal for the fourth round of the group stage of the Copa Libertadores. As the match will be played at 21:00, the unveiling of the Gallardo statue is scheduled for 16:00.

The initial project aimed to present the work on the first anniversary of the final against Boca, times were dilating for various reasons and the pandemic significantly lengthened the completion of the 6.3-ton statue and more than seven meters high. And the last delay was due to the fact that the sculptor Mercedes Savall decided to completely redo the Gallardo’s face. Thus, coincidentally, the postponed inauguration of the tribute to the Doll will be the best farewell for the most successful manager in River’s history.

Once completed on October 31 last year, the statue was set for an unveiling on December 9, the fourth anniversary of the Madrid final. And when everything was practically armed, it was suspended again. That time the change of plans was due to a personal request from Gallardo himself.

The reason had to do with Argentina’s match against the Netherlands for the quarter-finals of the World Cup, which was being played that Friday at 16:00 (Argentine time) and which Lionel Scaloni’s team would win on penalties after drawing 2-2. to aim for the World Cup, which he will win nine days later by first beating Croatia 3-0 in the semifinal and on Sunday the 18th against France from 12 pitches after drawing 3-3.

The most successful manager in River history understood that now was not the time to divert attention. In his request, Doll expressed his wish to preserve the spirit of the World Cup so that all Argentine fans, regardless of club, unite in supporting the national team. Obviously, after Gallardo’s word, there was a consensus in society to take the decision to postpone the tribute, accompanying the general sentiment of support for a national team which, in addition to this, had the particularity of having six players who came from from the River Plate Youth Academy and that the only member of Argentine football -Franco Armani- was from River.

The bronze mass was inspired by a photo taken by Clarín photographer Marcelo Carroll He eliminated Gallardo with the Libertadores in hand on the Santiago Bernabéu field. The statue that will remain forever at the stadium gate was not only the work of Trillo and Savall, the fans also left their mark, donating keys and metal elements to build it. And they too will be protagonists since on May 25th they will be near the Monumentale, where an unforgettable party will be held.

In turn, Carlos Trillo, the greatest promoter of the creation of the statue of Gallardo, he decided that a time capsule would accompany the Doll figure. “In Argentina donations are for 99 years, that is, at the end of that term the statue will return to the Trillo family. That’s why I decided to insert a time capsule next to the statue, where I put a letter to my descendants, great-grandchildren, grandchildren and I tell them that this work was made by people from River. And that they have to give it to River. Also a letter to Brito, D’Onofrio and Gallardo, where I tell future generations what this “moment meant by River. I also included a flash drive with photographs. They definitely don’t know what it’s for, so I’ll tell you that too,” said l ideologue of the work clarion.