27 years ago, more precisely in the Malaysia U-20 World Cup 1997the Argentine National Team which was strategically commanded by José Néstor Pekerman, stepped really hard and took the title, thus ratifying the conquest plotted two years ago in Qatar and confirming his dominance in the aforementioned category.
In the grand final of that competition, Argentina, which had finished second in a group also made up of Australia, Canada and Hungary and which had subsequently left England, Brazil and Ireland in the way, began by losing to Uruguay but recovered on time and ended up finishing a 2-1 victory.
At that time, Pablo García put the Celeste ahead, but Argentina tied it through Esteban Cambiasso and would later turn it around through Diego Quintana. In this way, “Quintanita”, as he was known at that time, became the hero of a team that touched the sky with its hands.
The forward, who had made his debut a year earlier defending the Newell’s Old Boys jersey from Rosario, remained there until 2001 and subsequently wore the colors of Real Murcia of Spain, Instituto de Córdoba, Barcelona Sporting Club of Ecuador and Skoda Xanthi of Greece until who made the decision to hang up his boots.
However, unlike what happens with most players, Quintana decided to decisively distance himself from football. What did he do? He became a Reiki master, made the decision to live without social networks and even knew how to plan a 40-day spiritual retreat as a backpacker through China, Nepal and India.
“I was in several temples meditating and honestly that trip was a before and after. I began to experience increasingly deeper experiences of the ancient culture that exists in China, my way of being changed a lot. I spent seven days in the Himalayas and I based one day at the Everest camp with 15 degrees below zero,” Quintana said.
“I don’t use social networks because a lot of time is wasted and I prefer to dedicate it to my family,” the former attacker explained. And finally, in statements given to Infobae, he pointed out how he fully entered the world of Reiki: “I felt that a book was waiting for me, something woke up inside me and connected with spirituality.”
The goal of the U-20 World Cup
“It was the most important goal of my career because of everything it meant to have converted the second into a final. And more so with that group of colleagues,” Quintana said.
His retirement from football
“When I retired, I didn’t want to know anything about football. So, he didn’t go to the field or play games. I was completely disconnected until my son was born, he was growing up, I started taking him to soccer and at four years old he told me that he wanted to go to the Newell’s field,” he indicated.
