Students – Boca: news of the night in which the drama won over football and – in the end – the show did not continue

All hands grab heads. From the press gallery, on those white desks, you can see the anguish of the public. On the grass, the images are desperate. Javier Altamirano collapses in the 27th minute of the first half and football goes to the tenth level.

There is a life at stake and the show must not go on, no matter how many people are in the stands. Enzo Pérez and Santiago Ascacibar embrace the Chilean. The Boca players approach and join the chorus of shouts launched by their Estudiantes colleagues. They call an ambulance which doesn’t even take a minute and a half., but the wait seems eternal. There is confusion and fear for the health of the 24-year-old Chilean midfielder who, as Dr Hugo Montenegro later confirmed, “had convulsions”. The situation justified stopping the ball. This is why Fernando Echenique closed down the party.

The campus doctor brought tranquility around 11pm to the door of the Platense Medical Institute, where Altamirano arrived conscious and was admitted to intensive care as a precaution. The tomography gave “good news”, according to Montenegro himself, who confirmed that this Monday morning he will again undergo a series of studies to determine the cause that led to his current clinical conditions.

An hour earlier, Chiche – as he is known in La Plata – had caused great concern. Nobody understood what happened. The pregnant wife quickly got out, accompanied by a family member. As Clarín was able to discover, Altamirano regained consciousness on the way to the sanatorium which is located in front of Stadium 1. “I was excited,” they commented. And he burst into tears. They had to sedate him.

“Everything is fine, it was already established that he had had an attack, he entered the sanatorium, all the relevant studies were done, a tomography came back good and he is already sleeping. We need to complete them to find out the cause,” Montenegro said .

There was great maturity on the part of the referee Fernando Echenique and the Boca players, beyond the fact that the Estudiantes fans exploded against Edinson Cavani and Diego Martínez, given that the coach brought together part of the group to give instructions. José Sosa himself, captain of the pincha, admitted this in a press conference held in the bowels of the modern Plantense stadium.

“And what will we be like?“, he reproached a journalist who had questioned him. “More than answering these types of questions, we must put ourselves in the other’s shoes. We have to thank the referees and players of the rival team for their patience. Regardless of any misunderstanding, they were always with us. I understand that despite all the murmurs and shouts for Javi to be treated as quickly as possible, nothing was heard. Chiquito Romero approached, there I spoke with Edi and they told us ‘we are all with Javi and his family’ and it is good to clarify this”, underlined the Prince, the Uruguayan’s teammate at Napoli.

There were insults against Cavani, but also against the president of the AFA. “Chiqui Tapia button,” he thundered on Uno. Until calm came from the loudspeakers, announcing that Altamirano was out of danger, because the worst was feared.

In this sense, the tears on Enzo Pérez’s face were touching. The scare caused by the Chilean’s convulsions lasted in every corner of the pitch. Even inside the locker room, where Eduardo Domínguez found a team in shock.

The Estudiantes players retreat to the changing rooms. Those of Boca, however, remained up in arms, waiting for a definition. Echenique was waiting for Sosa to return. “Is the boy okay?“Martinez asked.”The important thing is the child“, said Cavani. And the captain of Estudiantes made it clear that the spirit of fair play must prevail. Everyone agreed and the referee suspended the match.

AS, The coach used wise words to sum up the overall sentiment. “They told us something in the locker room. She had another situation in the ambulance … But life goes differently. We love Javi very much, the lady is pregnant and the boys were crying. The Estudiantes family moved very quickly. It was our turn, but if it had happened to others, we would have shown solidarity. Sometimes it’s all so frivolous… We don’t look at the anguish and all that it entails, we know that now our calendar will be changed, but this is secondary,” Domínguez reflected.

It was expressed in the same sense Marco Angelieri. “There’s not much else to say, the first thing in this life is health,” said the club coach, before leaving for the Platense Medical Institute with players and officials. A handful of fans also approached the hospital door, interested in the player’s condition.

Altamirano arrived at Estudiantes in August last year from Huachipato, where he made his debut at the age of 17. Estudiantes bought him at 50% and in recent times he has earned the title with the red and white shirt. Without going any further, two weeks ago he scored his first goal in that match. It was in the 2-1 win against Godoy Cruz in Mendoza.

The Chilean’s great footballing moment came on the other side of the Cordillera. To the point that Ricardo Gareca had called him up to play La Roja’s friendlies against Albania and France. The Argentine coach, logically, will have to lose love with him, given that at the moment what is at stake is his recovery.

What started as a birthday party for Juan Ramón Verón and Carlos Bilardo, famous DJs, ended abruptly. The best thing of the evening, in the end, is that Altamirano is doing well. AND It’s the only result that counts in this open-ended Estudiantes-Boca.