An accident that left two injured goalkeepers allowed teenager Acevedo to return to his development process with Santos
Goalkeeper Carlos Acevedo has had to overcome different situations in his career, but there was a moment that marked his career because, unexpectedly, an accident involving his teammates gave him the opportunity to fight for a place in Santos.
Acevedo has sought to make his way in the Santos team since he was little, and at one point the club had decided to remove him from the squad, but there was an unexpected call that brought him back to the team.
Nicolás Navarro, Santos goalkeeping coach, stated that when the goalkeeper was 16 or 17 years old, he left the team, but the U-17 team suffered an accident in which both goalkeepers were injured, and that meant Acevedo's return to the team.
"He had a problem that led to his dismissal when he was 16 or 17 years old. He was removed from the team, they fired him, there were two goalkeepers in that team and on a trip, I don't know if it was to Mexico, on the way back the bus crashed and both goalkeepers got injured, so they didn't have a goalkeeper."
"They called him again, they told him he was going to be on trial to play the remaining matches while the other goalkeepers recovered, but with his desire and love for soccer, he played them quite well and in the end he stayed. It's a story with a lot of value," he told ESPN Digital.
After that, the goalkeeper didn't give up, he stayed in the lower ranks of the team until he made his debut in the First Division with Santos on August 20, 2016 in a match against Cruz Azul.
Now, it will be against La Máquina when he seeks to crown himself in his first final in the top league, where he will face an experienced goalkeeper like Jesús Corona.
Nicolás Navarro stated that it will be an interesting duel between goalkeepers, because there will be the experience of Corona against the youth of Acevedo, who already knows how to face players with a long trajectory and quality, as he has faced Guillermo Ochoa and Alfredo Talevera, among others.
"I see it as a good duel between goalkeepers, interesting, 40 years of experience which is a lot, and in soccer, he hasn't won any league title, Chuy Corona is in need of it, I had him in the national team, I know him very well, he's a very dedicated guy, with a lot of experience, I even took him to the Olympic Games and we became champions, in the London Olympics."
"Speaking of Acevedo, it's youth, desire, in a year where he has been a starter, he hasn't stopped playing a minute, he has matured a lot, I see a balanced encounter, he has faced Ustari, Ochoa, he has faced the best goalkeepers, Talavera, and sometimes we have won, he has overcome with his saves and in these two seasons he has helped us a lot," he said.
Nicolás Navarro considered that in the future, Carlos Acevedo could have an opportunity in the Mexican national team, "they have even asked me about him, Gustavo Piñeiro, who is the national team goalkeeping coach, before he became a starter, he was saying good things about him, they didn't call him because he wasn't playing, but now that he has a year and will play a final, they will pay more attention to his performance, maturity, everything."