While having breakfast at the High Performance Center residence, around 8:30 a.m. on Tuesday, Mauricio Molina (23) never imagined that the craziest day of his life was beginning. That he would achieve the dream that he had since he was a child and who, in addition, was going to meet Alexis Sánchez after La Roja’s victory against Paraguay.
Who is Mauricio Molina, the young man who entered the Nacional field?
Let’s go back to Tuesday morning. First thing in the morning, Team Chile made official a new qualifier for the 2024 Olympic Games: “After fighting until the last day, and with a brilliant performance in the World Championship, Mauricio Molina has just been made official in BMX Racing. “It is the first time for a Chilean athlete in this discipline.”
That same representative of Chile is the one who would later star in one of the most curious scenes of the Chilean team’s farewell before traveling to the Copa América. The rest of the story was told by him himself, in dialogue with AS.
“I woke up qualified for the Olympic Games and after lunch, when I saw the stadium full, I said ‘I’m Chilean,’ I have to go see this game… And there were three of us. “We got in and stayed to watch the game,” Molina said.
-How did you plan your entry into the field?
– At halftime I told my friends that I needed to get on the field after the game. They told me ‘how are you going to do that hueá?’ and I said I would do it yes or yes. I prepared myself, I took a breath, I made the decision and when I made the first jump, I thought ‘I can’t stop anymore because if I stop, the guards are going to hit me’. I made it. I saw the entire stadium full and it was beautiful. Having the video with Alexis Sánchez is epic.
– Wasn’t it caught by the guards?
– There were three guards and just when I was getting ready, they threw those little pieces of paper that flew and the guards moved to one side. I said ‘this is my chance’ and I jumped non-stop. My goal was to reach one of the Golden Generation.
– Was your idea always to reach Alexis Sánchez?
– I wanted to do it with Claudio Bravo because I was on Chile’s side of the goal in the second half. My plan was to hug him and tell him that I was qualified for the Olympic Games so that he would help me get to the dressing room and take a photo with everyone. That was my real goal, but when I saw that Gabriel Arias came in, I thought of Mauricio Isla or Eduardo Vargas. They were both taken out.
– Alexis Sánchez was alone…
-When I entered the court, I knew Alexis was there. And the first thing I saw was shirt 10, so I started running before the guards caught up with me. When I hugged him and recorded the video, I said ‘I’m paid.’ It was achieved and it was the best day of my life.
– What did the guards tell you? We saw when they took him out…
– The guards approached me and told me ‘don’t do any more shows’. I told them no, that I only wanted the video, so I was going to leave quietly. I just asked them to let me tie my shoes because they had come undone. Then I had to wait because they took a report from me and told me that I wouldn’t be able to go see a game for a year. That is the sanction. I told them there was no problem, that I only liked to watch the Chilean team (laughs).
– And what was the reaction of the police?
– I told my story to the Carabineros and they ‘cracked’ laughing. They thought I was a crazy ‘asshole’, but we talked, I showed them the Team Chile publication and they let loose. The problem is that a woman from Safe Stadium was obsessed with punishing me and she did it. I still achieved my goal, now I just need to meet the players and take a photo with them. I hope I can get it.
