Buenos Aires -
"It was the saddest Sunday of my life. I didn't want to watch television or listen to the radio, I didn't have dinner, and I went to bed at eight o'clock in the evening. My wife always tells me how I can get so upset over a soccer match, she didn't talk to me for a day, but that time she didn't say anything, I think she understood me. I cried in the bathroom, alone; I must have cried until I fell asleep. I wanted to wake up a week later, a month later, when no one would talk about it anymore and I would forget it myself. I didn't want to buy newspapers or talk to friends. No one can imagine the pain you feel until it happens to you..."
Alberto talks about the afternoon when Independiente was relegated, the seven-time champion of America, the King of Cups, the club of great achievements, like being a champion playing a final with eight men, away from home and with the country against them (especially the referee). However, as it always happens, the terrible management, linked together, kept dragging it down, because it's not the players or the coach who relegate a club but the terrible directors. And one day what no one would even dare to imagine happened: the club of Bochini and Bertoni, of Trossero and Burruchaga, of Pavoni and Pastoriza, of Yazalde and Artime, of Erico and De la Mata, the one that beat Real Madrid 6-0 at the Bernabeu, with Di Stefano and all, went to the "B". Avellaneda was a downpour of tears, but it dripped all over Argentina.
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The memory comes to mind about El Nacional, the "Bi-Tri", a great team that has just lost its category and that until eight years ago was a crowned champion alongside Barcelona. A formidable team if there ever was one, a scourge of its rivals and the birthplace of great players, including Antonio Valencia. The Ecuadorian capital, which has the most representatives in the First Division, loses another reference in the top league, just like it lost Deportivo Quito.
The bitterness lasts a month, maybe two, until they compete again, although the stain is permanent; since their relegation on June 26, 2011, River Plate's Boca Juniors fans call them "RiBer". The heartbreaking cries of Tano Pasman, a River Plate supporter who became famous when he was filmed watching the Belgrano 2 - River 0 match, for remaining in the First Division, in his house: "Nooooooo... We're going to the B... We're going to the B...!" A peaceful man overwhelmed by the fan who lives inside him, explodes when he realizes the outcome of a frustrating campaign. The video was seen on Youtube by millions of people around the world, and it is extraordinarily funny, but it illustrates the affliction that fans feel in the face of the supreme suffering that this game can bring: the collapse.
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But River Plate knew how to come back in a big way. In July 2013, they returned to the circle of honor and a year later crossed paths with Marcelo Gallardo, the coach who would turn them into the most powerful team in America over the past five years: they won two Copa Libertadores (and were finalists in another), one Sudamericana, 3 Recopa, 3 Copa Argentina... And the dream of all their fans, winning the 2018 final against Boca in Madrid, with marked superiority. "I'd rather not win anything, but not go to the B," say Boca Juniors fans. However, Pablo Álvarez, former Boca Juniors defender who won a Libertadores and scored the penalty goal that gave them the title, had a different opinion: "It's worse to lose a final against your eternal rival than going to the B."
A large number of historic clubs around the world have gone through difficult times and relegation. Manchester United and Liverpool, who are part of the biggest rivalry in English football, played several years in the Second Division. Atlético Madrid, AC Milan... Like El Nacional, the club with the largest following in Peru just descended: Alianza Lima. Despite having the biggest budget in the league and playing all their matches in Lima, without going to other cities due to the pandemic, they still went down, causing a deep sadness in a very football-loving country.
The glorious present of Liverpool and United clearly demonstrates that relegation fades away over time if the team returns to greatness and achieves new successes. Victories are very strong and the new generations, who didn't suffer the setback, don't see it as a burden, they don't feel such sorrow.
Cruzeiro, a great team in America, two-time Libertadores champion, the club of Tostao and Dirceu Lopes, Palhinha and Ronaldo, fell to the Brazilian Serie B last year for the first time. A drama for a large part of Belo Horizonte. And they started in the worst way in the second tier, among the relegation spots to the third tier, but on October 16 they made a reassuring move: they hired Luiz Felipe Scolari, a prestigious coach, a hardworking man with discipline. Cruzeiro improved and, although they have slim chances of promotion, at least they are safe from being relegated again.
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The case of São Caetano is unheard of; they were the runner-up in the Copa Libertadores in 2002, losing incredibly to Olimpia (they defeated them 1-0 in Asuncion and were winning 1-0 in San Paulo, but ended up losing 2-1 on penalties). São Caetano was never a big club, but they had a long period of glory: they won the São Paulo state championship, played in three Libertadores, and were managed by Tite, Muricy Ramalho, Jair Picerni, Cuca, Levir Culpi, Dorival Junior, renowned Brazilian coaches. They started to decline rapidly and have just finished last in their group in the Serie D of the Brasileirão. In other words, they have around 120 teams ahead of them. The curious thing is that their president has been the same for 31 years: Nairo Ferreira de Souza, the one who had the good times and the bad times.
Last night, at the close of this edition, Portuguesa de Desportos and Marilia played the final of the Copa Paulista. If they become champions, Portuguesa will return to the Brazilian tournament structure, starting with the Serie D. The club that gave football players like Djalma Santos, Julinho, Cabinho, Jair (later a star at Inter Milan), Leivinha, Zé Roberto, and many others is still outside the mainstream. Unthinkable. (O)