In the middle and with the 10th, the genius of Zárate came to Avellaneda to crown Rojo as “King of Cups”.
It was just yesterday. An almost unknown Ricardo Enrique Bochini, with the number 16 shirt on his back, began writing the greatest Independiente legend and one of the most glorious pages of Argentine and South American football.
Legend who with the Rojo shirt has completed 638 games, scored 97 goals, many of which decisive (against Juventus, in 1973, and Talleres in 1977, just to name two) and who in 19 years of career won 14 scudetti, five Copa Libertadores (1972, 1973, 1974, 1975 and 1984), two intercontinental championships (1973 and 1984), three inter-American championships (1973, 1974 and 1976) and four local championships (1977, 1978, 1983 and 1988).
In addition, he was World Champion with the Argentina national team in 1986, albeit with little participation.
On 25 June 1972, coach Pedro Dellacha sent an 18-year-old Bochini onto the field, missing 15 minutes to replace Hugo Saggioratto. It was at Monumental and River won 1-0 with a goal from Jota Jota López. Legend has it, and Bocha confirmed it, that in the first ball touched he launched a spout.
Ricardo Bochini in one of the tributes that have been paid to him recently, the result of an immense career and the affection of his peers. Photo: Tomas CUESTA / AFP.
He had come from Zárate three years earlier to live in the club’s boarding house. That pension was under the current Ricardo Bochini grandstand, in the Ricardo Bochini stadium, in via Ricardo Bochini. Magical realism, a story that looks like fiction but is not.
When coach Pedro Dellacha called him up to focus with Primera’s team, Bocha was playing in the fifth division. He had played a few preliminary matches in Double Visor and so it was no longer a secret. “I played against Estudiantes on Saturday and they knocked me out at half-time. I was surprised because it went well, I had scored two goals. It seems that they have already decided to call me to make my debut, but they have not told me anything. Then I happened to pass in front of the First Division locker room and I saw my name on the scoreboard with the 16 players called up for Sunday ”, he recalled.
River and Independiente played in Núñez, 100 kilometers from Zárate. And that boy from Bochini had no way of letting his family know about him. That is why his parents, his brothers, his friends from the neighborhood or his former teammates from the Belgrano club were not present that afternoon. The game ended and he retired.
In May Bochini received an award in Bilbao for having played for the same team all his life. Photo: EFE / Miguel Toña.
The people of Independiente appreciate me because I have played for the club and won many titles. But the fans of the rival teams, to whom I scored goals, also show me affection on the street and it is very nice. I think it’s due to two reasons: first because I played the football that all Argentine fans like, which is the paddock; and second because I’ve never charged anyoneI have always celebrated with my teammates and my fans but I have never disrespected anyone “.
Source: Clarin
