Darío Cvitanich, the farewell of an ordinary man who left a mark on Banfield and for every place he passed

Osvaldo Ardizzone he spoke, he actually wrote -and how he wrote! -, from the place of “The common man”. Ardizzone, teacher of journalists from whichever way you look at him, lived for much of his life in Banfield, in Berutti 591, just opposite Dr.’s house. Norbert Rilla, the family doctor (and anonymously) who cured many of those who live and work (we live) in the neighborhood. This is the same neighborhood that at this time proudly said goodbye to one of its sporting heroes. Yes, this Tuesday, from 7:15 pm and at Florencio Sola, Darío Cvitanich said goodbye, on the 20th of Drill.

You’ll say (say, of course, if you’re younger) what Cvitanich has to do with Ardizzone and Rilla. Good Darío is the prototype of a common man. An extraordinary common man. Here we will try to develop it. Probably not successful, of course. But we will try.

Cvitanich is a common and amazing football player at the same time. He has no privilege of defending the colors of the Argentina National Team -whether in the youth or in the Major-, although he will surely like it and still leave a mark. Cerebral, charismatic, focused, with another head. He may not be as dazzled as others, but he is always able to make a change in his intelligence, which will allow him to be brilliant in whatever discipline he chooses to go through in his life.

His career, which is 19 years at the highest level, has coincided with a generation of impressive strikers who, from Leo Messi down, don’t need to go into detail. Hence the absence of photos and videos in light blue and white. However, Darius He won at Ajax from Holland, Pachuca from Mexico, Boca and Racing. He’s a franchise man in Nice in France, where everyone is still talking about him. Y He was an idol in Banfield, where his story began and where he decided to end a wonderful career. that, added everything he did in the round, so far has 481 games, 160 goals and five Olympic laps.

“I think footballers make us useless. They make everything easy for us. Obviously this doesn’t happen to one hundred percent of players, but it’s like this, it happened to me: you get here, they give you booties, you have the folded dress, the cut fruit, you have to travel and they fill up the form for you, you have to go to the bank and they open an account for you, you have to do a paperworks and you pick up a phone, you have to buy a car and they bring you to the door of the property … like. There is always someone in this environment who is willing to do it for you. “he said Clarion last February when he decided to close his career at Banfield.

Banfield was the place where he emerged as a spare part of that team led by Julio Falcioni to take him to a Copa Libertadores for the first time in its centenary history. That kid from Baradero who felt the burden of not failing in soccer to change reality for his family. Once dressed as Flash with a Jesús Dátolo Robin for a historic production of the newspaper Olé in the best style of El Gráfico. A place where he was a scorer and where he left his mark in a historic 5-0 win against a champion and undefeated Lanús who were left on their knees in their Guidi and Arias Fortress — now Cabrero -. A place where he left money, a lot of money, that turned into bricks that shaped the youth residence that still boils down to children from everywhere on Luis Guillón’s estate.

“When I was living here at the club, it was 2000, 2001, in the midst of the country’s crisis. And it was a different world, not like how property is now. The pension was nice and hard at the same time. No. it without food, but it was rice day and night.At noon with sauce and at night however it came.Sometimes we get meat.And here we worked.We painted trees, we kept the park … They paid us 20 pesos and with that I could go back and forth to Baradero.If there was any left, we bought a hamburger for 10 cents at Carrefour next door.We were 70 kids and each one with their own story.In my case, I was lucky to be 150 kilometers away. I could go to Baradero for the weekend and see my family. I remember that I would return Retiro by bus, I would get off at Cruce de Lomas, at midnight, and I would run to the property . It was carrying a cake that my mother had sent. Do you know how long the cake is? Ten seconds. They are the things that mark you, but I don’t want that to happen to men “he recalled in the same conversation with Mariano Verrina.

He returned to Banfield across anger in Marthita’s gutBanfield’s fanatical fan – who was later forgiven by him and his wife, Chechu Bonelli, also joked – that He was furious on unexpected levels when he was spotted from the Lencho fence with a Boca shirt. A place where, despite the short circuits that drove him to live a good fall in Racing — where he was respected by all —, he returned to close an imperfect circle. Like the gesture of giving one of his last shirts to a girl who asked for it from Fani, the gallery behind one of the arches in Granaderos and Arenales, with a friendly message written with fiber on cardboard.

The Cvitanich is the prototype of the common man that is not common. On Monday he turned 38. This Tuesday, against Catholic University of Ecuador, his last game as a footballer. And his life is just beginning. His intelligence made him different. It won’t be Pampa Orte or Garrafa Sánchez. It will not be Erviti, the tank Silva or James Rodríguez, three of the champions of color in 2009 of that eternal team of Emperor Julius Caesar … But it was Darío. The typical striker changed the name Darío to a registered trademark in the South of Greater Buenos Aires. And that became a surname, Cvitanich, with an indelible mark. Like Ardizzone, like Rilla. And like all ordinary people, they will never be forgotten.