An extensive scar is pronounced on Andrés Pérez when he bends his right knee. He has also suffered a broken nose, a varicocele problem, and a fractured fibula that threatened to force his retirement from football in 2001, playing for Millonarios.
Few injuries for such a long journey. The Bogota-born, already experienced in the fields, is going through his most flourishing moment with Deportivo Cali. "My head and my heart are with Deportivo Cali. I was excited about the title and now I want to continue making history. I am very happy to have won three titles with the team (League, Super Cup and Colombia Cup). This is something difficult and grandiose, it is the greatest thing I have done," said the 34-year-old Bogota-born (September 5, 1980).
It was also in Cali that his flight began. He was only 16 years old when he and Kilian Virviescas and Fabián Vargas arrived at América, coming from Maracaneiros de Bogotá. The first two stayed and later emigrated to the Argentinian teams River Plate and Boca Juniors. "We did very well at América: I was in the Colombian U-17 and U-20 national team. We were called to the Valle national team, but they didn't allow three Bogotans to be in Valle," Pérez recalled.
Then he went to Millonarios, where Bonner Mosquera sheltered and guided him. For that extreme demand that Andrés Pérez maintains, he tells that he also followed the examples of Nelson Vivas, Matías Almeida, and Faryd Mondragón. After five seasons with the 'blue-and-white' team, Pérez also embarked on a journey to Argentina... he played for Quilmes, Arsenal de Sarandí, and San Lorenzo de Almagro.
To know that if his father had obeyed the initial medical diagnosis about Andrés Pérez's right kneecap being broken into four pieces, maybe his son would now be a great professional in another occupation far from the fields, like his two younger brothers, who went to study in New Zealand and settled there.
"I always want to be the first in line, my wife tells me that I am the obedient one in the class. When I was 11 years old and played for the Bogotá selection, they made a bet... the first one to get water. I arrived first, but couldn't stop and ended up against a rock. My right kneecap broke into four parts, I had surgery, and they told me I couldn't run again. It was very tough, I cried a lot, but I had the support of my parents and the doctor Édgar Muñoz," Pérez revealed.
Pérez remains upright, a leader, combative. Symbol of Cali's ninth star, with a young and enthusiastic team. "I've lived in many teams where there were two fights a week, but when people reach those extremes, it's because the fundamentals are over. Fortunately, in the Cali dressing room, there is the joy of youth, and it is a very serious team when it comes to playing and training, that's why we won the title," recognized 'the Gladiator', as the fans of the sugar team call him.
Pérez is adapted to Cali and his two sons even more: "They say they are not Bogotans, they are Vallunos". And about his future in football, he said that he wants to continue linked to Cali, working in the training part.