Remembering Raimundo Tupper

After retiring from professional soccer, the twists and turns of life took former Universidad Catolica defender Daniel Lopez down unexpected paths. He studied psychology and began working in the mining industry. Currently, he owns his own consulting firm and is far removed from the world of professional football.

"It feels like it was just yesterday. Almost every year, I have conversations with people in football about the loss of our teammate. Beyond what happened, we obviously have an indelible memory of him as a friend, teammate, professional, and football player because he was not an ordinary player. He was a highly admired person by his teammates for his personality," commented Lopez to AS Chile.

"He was a very generous person who shared with everyone. He had no preferences for any friend or teammate. As a player from the province who arrived at Catolica in the early 90s, I was very well received by the club, but especially by the teammates who were there at that time, led by Raimundo," added the former defender, who emerged in Coquimbo and then signed with UC.

The club has organized a series of events to commemorate Tupper's legacy. Regarding this, Lopez stated that "everyone remembers their loved ones in a certain way. Raimundo represented everything that Catolica projects. He was a very special and beloved person. He was admired by his teammates in a positive way: he had good looks, was very friendly, and was very comfortable on television, among other things. What Catolica is doing now is honoring an idol who was a correct, impeccable, and loyal person."

The remembered UC footballer died in the capital of Costa Rica, San José, due to deep depression. The team, then led by Manuel Pellegrini, was on tour in Central America and the blow was devastating for the squad.

"The first impact was that we were all afraid. Nobody wanted to be alone, especially since the majority of us were young, between 22 and 25 years old. We ended up gathering in groups of five or six in a single room. We slept like seven people in one room, all crowded, before returning to Chile," said Lopez.

"We didn't know he had depression. I think only two or three people knew, who were the older ones. At that time, the issue was socially hidden, very few people knew. Those were different times. It was tough, especially since Raimundo had just returned to training, as he had been away for about a month due to his illness. He came back looking different, very strange. In fact, his behavior was the subject of jokes from the team because he seemed spaced out. He communicated very little and almost always walked alone," added the owner of the Consultora Psicouniversal.

Regarding the return to the country after the tragedy in Central America, the former UC footballer expressed that "in the plane, we couldn't believe what was happening and tried to think that we were coming back without any issues. Until we arrived at the airport, where the people waiting for us made us very emotional and made us understand a little more the tragedy that had occurred. That's when we fully assimilated the profound dimensions of what had happened."

Finally, Lopez recalled that "it was very difficult for that team to recover. We learned about Raimundo's real illness and began to understand what was happening. We were a football team, and you strengthen yourself on the football field, and everything passes. But outside of it, we had great sadness and a lot of questions. There was also a feeling of guilt because we felt that maybe we could have done something. We could have taken care of him, gone everywhere with him. Those questions left a void in the majority of us."