His time at Barcelona Sporting Club left goalkeeper Máximo Banguera with good, bad, and controversial moments. He spent a decade guarding the goal for the toreros, where he was instrumental in winning the titles of 2012 (which ended a 14-year drought without championships) and 2016 in the national championship.
Now with El Nacional, Banguera recalled the controversial episode he starred in during Barcelona's (1-2) loss to Atlético Nacional de Colombia at the Monumental stadium, in Group 7 of the 2015 Copa Libertadores.
In the 88th minute of the match, what some fans called, at that time, the 'show' of Banguera began, when he stopped forward Jonathan Copete with a foul, who was about to score Nacional's goal. The goalkeeper collided with the striker and stayed down on the field for several minutes.
"The referee said nothing when I pretended to be knocked out, so I asked the (BSC) doctor if I was going to receive a yellow or red card, and he said yellow. (But it was red) otherwise I would have stayed down at home," Banguera commented, smiling, to radio Área Deportiva.
Regarding his departure from the canario team by decision of Carlos Alejandro Alfaro Moreno, president of the club, who questioned Banguera's support for José Francisco Cevallos' candidacy during the previous elections, he said: "I'm at peace with myself after leaving Barcelona, I don't hold any grudges against anyone."
"I'm still a member and we're going to be sponsors (at Barcelona) with my company despite the debt they have with me (for the contract settlement)," he added. (D)