The whim of Germán González was always Omar Sebastián Pérez. He saw him play for the first time in 1999 and wanted to bring him to Santa Fe in 2005, when he was the team's coach. He could only sign the Argentinean 10 in 2009. Six years, 200 matches and five titles later, 'Basílico' shows that he was not mistaken.
"I met him for the first time when he was in Tandil, Argentina, in 1999. I was there during the Sudamericano and Boca Juniors was doing their preseason. Since then, I noticed Omar Pérez," recalls the former Santa Fe coach.
When Omar arrived in Colombia, 'Basílico' remembered that kid in Tandil and started the desire to see him wear the cardenal jersey: "I saw him again in 2005 playing for Junior, and I liked him a lot. I wanted to bring him to Santa Fe since that year, because of his playing characteristics, his intelligence and his collective work. I proposed to sign him, but it couldn't be done at that time," he explains.
His obsession with signing Omar Pérez was due, among other things, to the memory the Argentinean brought him of another great idol of Santa Fe: Alfonso Cañón.
"At that time I thought that Santa Fe was very great when they had Alfonso Cañón, and Omar has the characteristics and the football of Alfonso. In 2008, when I returned to the team as sports director, the first reinforcement I thought of was him and I suggested to the directors to sign him. Finally, it happened in 2009."
And since then, Santa Fe has achieved two Leagues, two Superleagues and one Copa Colombia, the latter directed by Germán himself. For the coach, age is not an obstacle for the 10, because "with his intelligence he makes up for everything." That was Basílico González's legacy to Santa Fe: Omar Pérez, a whim that turned into an idol.