Riquelme’s criticism of River in the presentation of Lema and Zenón as reinforcements for Boca: “Every pre-season will be in our country”

Mouth presented the two additions for the 2024 season. The press conference in the Bombonera room was announced for 7pm, but it started an hour later. President Juan Roman Riquelme sitting in the middle Cristian Lema He did it to his right and Kevin Zeno on the left. Román dedicated words of praise to both reinforcements and reiterated Boca’s decision to carry out the preseason in the country before leaving both alone with the press.

He also had time for some sharp darts, as he is used to. River, who chose to do the preseason in the United States, was the first in the sights. “We decided to do it in our country for every pre-season, because going to play in Salta or Córdoba is a wonderful day, because people can take photos and hug our players”said Riquelme.

And he followed: “Cristian was so lucky, it would have been very nice for Kevin to have fun, but the president of Unión (Luis Spahn) made it a bit long, so you missed everything”.

Then it was Lema’s turn. The defender stated: “As the president said, it’s a dream, I’m very happy. Every step that led me to be here means I did things right. What I have experienced so far is something beautiful, seeing the people, the passion of a club as big as Boca, I came with the aim of enjoying it.”. For his part, the former Union commented: “You always dream of playing here. As a child I dreamed of playing here like my whole family. “I want to start as soon as possible, I’m having a lot of fun and I’m very happy.”.

The former Lanús player, for his part, underlined the merits of his career: “I have always given priority to sacrifice, to willpower, to trying to correct myself a lot and to put things there. After the qualities I can say aerial play and marking, I have to satisfy everything to play in the First Division. “I want everything to be improved at this club and for me to work as hard as I can on my limits and to deliver performances on the pitch.”.

The 22-year-old midfielder, for his part, once again expressed his happiness at being at Boca: “Riquelme is an idol for me, we sang his goals in our city, we are fans and we remember the goals he scored. “I want to thank you for being here and I want to reciprocate the trust you had in me.”.

One of the good news for Boca was the AFA amnesty for expelled players, so Diego Martinez He will be able to count on Lema’s debut in Vicente López, who still had to complete two dates for the League Cup and 4 for the Argentine Cup. On the possibility of starting as a starter from the first appointment, since then Marcos Rosso He is also injured, Lema said: “I want to wish Marcos Rojo a speedy recovery, he is very important for us. I didn’t expect to get in so quickly. I want to achieve what the coach asks of me: to have order and attack constantly. “We have to score in attack and it’s not easy to play in the middle of the field with players faster than us, but what we put into practice is the work.”.

Meanwhile, Zenón confessed that he has always been interested in the world of Boca: “From the first moment I asked Toro Morales to know how everything was, that they passed through this club. They always told me it was the best thing I had, that I loved it, because you can’t feel what you feel here anywhere else. I would realize this after every game I had to play. The coach (Killy González) told me to be very calm and very humble.”.

Finally, both underlined the good reception received from the fans. After finishing the press conference, Riquelme together with Raul Cascini, member of the Football Council, gave both players, who arrived in plain clothes, the t-shirts with the numbers they will wear. Lema will play with the 2 remaining Facundo Roncagliawhile Zenón will do it with the 22, the one used by the Colombian Sebastiano Villawho left the club after being sentenced to two and a half years of pressure for beating and threatening his former partner.