“Give it so’ vo’, give it so’ vo’… Merentieeeeeeel”shout Mario Celedon on April 21 at the stadium Mario Alberto Kempes when Boca Juniors beat River in the quarterfinals of the League Cup and the Uruguayan scored his second goal, which defined the Superclásico. A month after that moment, the 30-year-old Salta reporter who burst onto social networks due to the viralization of his stories dedicated to Xeneize, had to go to The Bombonera to report to the La Ribera club.
The game was not just another one in Marito’s life because it coincided with what would have been the 75th birthday of his father, who passed away in 2016 after fighting pancreatic cancer.
“He spent many years undergoing chemotherapy treatment, He fought for two years and then died due to the deterioration of his body.. They had already sent him home and it was simply a matter of waiting for what unfortunately happens,” the rapporteur told Clarion.
Mario said that throughout the week before the game he was opening his email non-stop waiting to see his name on the grid next to the words La Bombonera. “I got up very early one day, opened the email and it said ‘Celedon La Bombonera’I screamed with happiness, a lot of things were coming to my mind and Being here today was a dream to fulfill“, he said when he saw the designation.
Upon finding out that he was going to tell The Bombonera He didn’t realize that it coincided with his dad’s birthday, but when the token fell he thought it was a sign from heaven and took it as a gift from his father. What would her father have told him before the game? “Let Boca’s goals shout loudly, enjoy it. He wasn’t one for many words, but he would have told me things like ‘don’t forget anything‘and in the silences that he left me he left me many teachings.
Like anyone who goes to La Bombonera for the first time, Mario was surprised as he approached the stadium and the blue and gold frame became bigger and bigger. It was early to Mouth and he had the luxury of walking the different streets where Xeneizes fans live the preview of their games with pure passion.
Video
The young announcer went viral in the last Superclásico, played at the Kempes, and he got the opportunity to work on a larger radio station.
“Since I stepped foot in the neighborhood They looked at me and asked me if it was me. A Neuquén fan came to greet me, another told me that he liked me ringtone, one yelled at me from afar ‘Merentieeeeel‘ and those things are kept in the memory and soul of a narrator,” said Celedón, who also said that Even the people at the club recognized him and greeted him..
Tell about a day so special for him
To start the transmission Mario Celedon He wanted to talk about his father Rafael, however, he was not sure about doing so lest his emotions get the better of him. After thinking about it for a while, he recognized that he was all in to do it. “I put together a special opening for him that I titled ‘Dad and football‘about what a dad and football can mean, which can sometimes be on the same path and transmit the same teachings to you,” said the man from Salta.
Mario prepared professionally in the same way as always for the match: he was writing down phrases, putting together possible formations and looking for curiosities, but every time he remembered that he was going to go to The Bombonera On his dad’s birthday, he got excited and thought about his father.
“When I went up the stairs and saw the field, my old self came to me, the times we watched the football matches Libertadores Cup, South American, the superclassics in the field. I didn’t want the emotions to overcome me but that’s part of me and who I am,” Celedón reflected.
Mario didn’t want to cry when talking about his father on the broadcast and had to try very hard not to break down. “In the second half he was already calmer and I loosened up more to enjoy the game because I knew something could happen, but in terms of the weather I really enjoyed it. I like to take breaks when the fans are singing and in one of the videos that I uploaded to my networks I show it because that part is the one I enjoy the most,” says Mario.
The narrator also dared to tell where his father would have been in the stadium if he had been present. “He was very silver plated, the times we went to a popular one he didn’t like it“He liked to sit and enjoy the show, drink his glass of soda and buy a chori,” Mario remembers with nostalgia.
Mario also told how the rest of his family experienced the news and the joy it brought them. “My sister is a big Boca fan and sent me photos of herself buying new t-shirtsmy brother told me that they were preparing the barbecue to listen to the radio. I didn’t open WhatsApp so as not to get too excitedbut I’m sure they will be very happy.”
From working in a dealership to La Bombonera without stops
“When I had to tell the superclassic I worked in a dealership and today I am here in La BomboneraTomorrow I have to tell the story in Parque Patricios and This week I’m going to San Pablo for my first international trip.“, Mario said excitedly.
It’s good that Celedón is happy about everything that is happening to him since he went so viral after the match between Boca and River for the La Liga Cup that he hired him Chain 3 to narrate the matches of the Cordoba teams. Until then, Mario worked in the communications part of a car dealership and reported for the local radio. Suquia.
The 30-year-old rapporteur is also very grateful to Chain 3 because they gave him all the comforts for his trip to Buenos Aires. “The trip was very comfortable, the radio found us a hotel so we could arrive rested for the game, they gave us the freedom to walk around the city a little on Saturday morning and they picked us up to take us, it’s everything a reporter can do. have and I am grateful for that“.
Like everyone who wants to make a living in journalism, Mario Celedón had to work from the bottom up, and about what he would say to the Mario of 20 years ago, he said: “I would tell him not to unplug, not to get upset if he didn’t get a job. match, if it wasn’t his turn to go to the field, May he continue clinging to the dream of nine years and continue fighting because at the end of the road everything comes“.
Mario says that today when they ask him what he does he says with pride and with great satisfaction that he is a football reporter, and when he remembers that he can’t help but be happy for everything he has had to experience in the search for that dream that invaded when he was just a child.
“Merentieeeel” met Miguel Merentiel
When the game ended, Mario hurried down to the mixed zone where he asked the Talleres coach a question, Walter Ribonettothen he was going to meet a friend to go to lunch at the Quique’s Glorietabut along the way he crossed paths with someone very particular.
The Boca players were just leaving and the reporter approached the large group of people who wanted to take a photo, among them Miguel Merentiel. “People wanted to take a photo with him, I looked at him, he looked at me and started telling me ‘you, you‘, he signaled to me and I approached to take a photo and when I arrived he told me ‘Merentieeeeel‘The truth is, a genius,” said Celedón and added that he has no explanation because it was a coincidence.
Despite everything he experienced that day, it was difficult for him to assimilate the entire experience. Only at the hotel was he able to reflect on his adventure in The Bombonera, also check if the transmission went well. However, he also did not have the luxury of thinking much because on Sunday he had to tell Córdoba Institute on his visit to Hurricane in Patricios Park.
The next adventure of Mario Celedon took him to Brazilian lands where he had to recount Belgrano’s 2-1 victory against Inter Porto Alegre in Sao Paulo for the Copa Sudamericana and Talleres’ 2-0 defeat against Tricolor by the last date of the group stage of the Libertadores Cup. The present smiles on the 30-year-old Salta reporter who, in addition to making a living from sports reporting, travels around the region fulfilling his dream.
