He was young, he let go of his dream of being in the Argentine National Team and is going to play in the Euro Cup :: Olé

Like that child who grows up and stops crawling to walk, begins to say his first words and before he realizes he is having fun with a ball with the hope of representing his country’s national team in the future, this is how it is. Vernon De Marco Morlacchi. He was born in Córdoba and at the age of ten he was already outside Argentina. Now, a few hours after his official debut with Slovakia in the Euro Cuphe tells Ole why he decided to represent said nation, his beginnings between basketball and helping his mother in a bar and what the expectations are in such an important tournament.

The Cordoban did not play for any club in Argentina. He currently works as a defender for the Hatta Club of the United Arab Emirates and, at 31 years old, is preparing to make his debut in the Euro this Monday starting at 1:00 p.m. against Belgium. In addition to the Belgians, they will share Group E with Romania and Ukraine. As for his personal successes, Vernon already has four leagues and three cups in Slovakia with Slovan Bratislava.

-How are you preparing for the Euro Cup?

-With great enthusiasm, a lot of enthusiasm. For me it is going to be the most important championship of my career, so I am very happy.

-What are your beginnings?

-If we start with Argentina, I only played soccer for one year and I was a goalkeeper, ha. Then I played basketball until I was 12, but I was in the country until I was 10. There I went to live in Europe for family work, I spent three months in Mallorca and then in Austria. I changed sports because I started to like football more and it all started there.

-When you returned to play was it with the desire to be professional?

-What I had the most fun and was excited about was playing, kicking the ball, scoring goals. That made me more excited than being in the goal. I tell you the truth, the dream I had and what I enjoyed the most was being with the ball, playing soccer. He didn’t look beyond whether he became a professional or not, besides he was a boy and he didn’t have those aspirations yet.

-What were your days like when you were making your way?

-At that time he played in the Fourth Division in Mallorca and works in my mother’s bar. I got up at 5 in the morning, went to open the bar, and worked. Then I came back, took my brother to school, fed him and went to train. I played six games in a whole year and I didn’t have a good financial situation, so since I couldn’t afford the money I earned in soccer, I looked for another job and started working in a hotel. Three weeks later, a representative called me to tell me if he wanted to try me out in the Second Division of Slovakia. Michalovce is the name of the city and I had to look at it on the map to see where it was., but first I said yes and then I looked at him. One Wednesday he called me at 11 at night and I was on the plane on Thursday at 7. I arrived on Friday at 9 in the morning by plane, bus, well… Everything. I took the suitcase and from there my career began.

-Did your family support you in the decision to go to Slovakia?

-Let’s say that yes, they supported me as much as possible, but also There were doubts: “Why are you leaving? Football is not going to feed you.”“And well, it is the most protective side. It was a bet I made. I spent four years in that city and in the last one they let me go to Slovan Bratislava.

-Was it difficult for you to adapt to the country?

-It was hard. It was a small city, it is 30 kilometers from the border with Ukraine, people do not speak English. I had to manage it and in two years I learned the language, the hard way, ha.

-How did you get the chance to represent the Slovakia team?

-When you grow up and become a professional, you have the idea of ​​reaching the Argentine National Team, but you see how the dream is moving away. I had already been in the country for more than five years. One day the assistant coach of the national team called me to ask me if I was excited to have a Slovakian passport to represent the national team and I I said yes because I had already assumed that I was not going to play in Argentina. In Slovakia I feel at home, people treat me well, I already have a history with my career because of what I achieved and it ended like this. God willing, I’m going to play in the Euro Cup.

-What are the sporting aspirations in the Euro?

-Without any pressure at the moment, we are going to have to go game by game, but my hope and that of all my teammates is to go far. It is a small nation next to the large countries of Europe. We would like to go as far as possible so that the country is proud of us.

-Is there something from Argentina in the locker room?

-They know that I am Argentine. They take me as just another Slovak, but they know that I am Argentine. Sometimes they play “The Hand of God”, the song about Maradona, because they like it too, but also for me so that I adapt more to the team. When I have to listen to the song I get happy too.

-Would you like to play in the country at some point?

-I have all my family in Argentina. You always think about the possibility of being in a stadium playing and having your family come. Unfortunately I can only go once a year and being there would mean seeing them frequently. My whole family is Canalla, they love the club, especially my grandfather, so Just to make them happy I would live in Rosario, but any place would be fine.

-Do you regret the overshadowed return of Di María due to the situation that Rosario is going through?

-I was aware of the news, but I don’t like that kind of news that’s why I think the best thing we can do is not talk about it. and let it pass so that people who don’t have to have it don’t take center stage.