Carlos Zambrano fought for the ball with Renato Soares de Oliveira, from Corinthians. Photo: EFE
The Boca Juniors defender Carlos Zambrano He surprised locals and strangers when he expressed his desire to retire from football in the last few hours in a Peruvian television interview. He revealed that the only thing that keeps him tied to high-performance sports is that his family wants him to “continue even until the World Cup in Qatar.”
Zambrano, who is needed for technical director Sebastián Battaglia largely due to the absence of several suspended players in his position, also has an immediate challenge ahead of the fight not only for the Professional League Cup but also, and above all, for the Libertadores.
“Now I can say I am just one step away from retiring from football. I tell my partner every day, when I have trouble getting up to go to training. At almost 33 years old (on July 10 he is) and with more than 15 outside of Peru, I want to return and settle in my country to enjoy my family and everything I have achieved during this time, “said Zambrano.
Carlos Zambrano is expecting Giorgian De Arrascaeta. The World Cup is the only thing that keeps the Peruvian constantly tied to soccer. Photo: EFE
The Callao -born man has a long career in European football, especially in Germany where he played for Schalke 04, Saint Pauli and Eintracht Frankfurt, before moving to Rubin Kazan, from Russia, and then to PAOK Thessaloniki, from in Greece and Basel, from Switzerland, before joining Boca Juniors in 2020.
Summoned to the Peruvian national team by Ricardo Gareca after two steps by representatives of Peru’s Sub 17 and Sub 20, the experienced defender aspires to play the World Cup in Qatar, the first of his career, which will provide an end to his performance, according to his own family.
“‘You have to go on for a while longer, to get to the World Cup,’ they told me. We’re close and if we win the playoffs we’ll make it. Hopefully that happens. What happens is that before Nasa I backed the weight of payment management for my family, but after so many years of career I reached that, so now I want to enjoy it, ”Zambrano told Willax Television, from Peru.
Zambrano is 33 years old and he feels his career is over. Photo: Reuters
Aware of the situation, Gareca’s assistant to the Peruvian team Nolberto “Ñol” Solano announced recently that he would talk to Zambrano about his statements. He hopes that to convince him he will seek to “show him the fact that he doesn’t know how to feel the day after leaving football.”
Zambrano wants his immediate future “Learn to play the piano and do magic tricks. I have all the elements, ”he said.
Octopus González, in the operating room
But the bad news didn’t stop this Sunday, Labor Day, for this Boca de Battaglia, because after some studies conducted in the afternoon it was confirmed that Diego González suffered a torn meniscus in his left knee, the same where he had had a cruciate ligament rupture in September 2019.
The former Racing Club and Lanús will undergo surgery in the next few hours and will have about a month to recover. The injury was caused in the final minutes of Saturday’s game at Barracas Central that the “xeneizes” won 2-0 over Bombonera.
Source: agencies
Source: Clarin
