Javier Pedro Saviola is spotlessHe dribbles through the crowd of people participating in an event to pay tribute to Diego Armando Maradona in Miami as he did on the field. Given his physical condition, he could continue playing. Given his analytical skills, too. The player who emerged from Parque Chas has the privilege of having shared his time with the Argentine National Team (40 matches and 11 goals) with Lionel Scaloni, Pablo Aimar, Roberto Ayala and Walter Samuel -the members of the technical team-, and also with Lionel Messiwhom he saw take his first steps in Barcelona in Spain and with the Albiceleste.
For all this, it is a more than authorized word for, in a conversation with Clarionaddress the current situation of the Triple Crown-winning team that now enjoys being just another fan, accompanying the team through Atlanta, New Jersey and now Miami, the third stop for the team that wants to defend the Copa América title.
“Impossible to be bad here. Because of the weather, because of how the National Team is playing, also already classified, meeting with Guillermo Pereyra, with Ariel Ortega who we have known each other for a long time. Nice to be able to enjoy and have beautiful moments,” portrayed the ‘Rabbit’, Today, 42 years old, U20 world champion in 2001 and who played with the Majors in Germany 2006, Messi’s first.
-How are you seeing this Selection process?
It makes me proud to know that this team has moments when you really enjoy football, and when you can’t play you can also show off your winning streak, your physical strength. The sport has evolved a lot, the rival plays against you, they are difficult to beat, but here they know when to attack, when to defend. We don’t know what the limit is, because every time they have a competition or whatever, they have accustomed us to seeing good football.
– Speaking of Messi, you played with him and he is still showing the same level as at that time, does that surprise you?
Messi is taking us to the best we can be. We are surprised by everything and nothing, we know that he is something spectacular, that he is an example, I had the privilege of having had him as a teammate at Barca, of playing in a World Cup with him, of having known him as a person who is always guided by the values he received as a child, with great humility. Having been able to play throughout my life with one of the best in history is very nice.
– If there is someone who has known him since he was a child, it is you, who sponsored him at the time. Was he as good as he is now?
I can say that I went to see him in the Barcelona youth team, he was different. We immediately realise when you see a player who does things that are not for everyone and enters a privileged place where the best are. At that age he already showed different things with an enormous future, then he matured, acquiring things that he was missing, improving in everything he could and his virtues, which were many, to become what he is today.
– It’s surprising that he remains in the elite for 18 years, isn’t it?
It’s what surprises everyone. Perhaps a soccer player is used to spending five years, with a Ballon d’Or, and seeing Leo who is awarded almost every year, has broken all possible records and has won absolutely everything with the World Cup, which was what he was missing, now It’s all enjoyment. We know that this at any moment and unfortunately it will have an end, knowing that in a short period we have had two of the best in history with Diego Maradona and more
– It also happened to you that you are going through that moment at the end of a race, without giving direct advice. Do you understand what is happening to you if you take care of your physique a little more?
Against the passage of time you can’t do anything, whether it’s Leo or Angelito Di María, especially the way football is now, where there’s a lot of running that’s not like before when you could play a little more. So it is a difficulty, complicated, but Leo has it because he makes a difference in some moments of the games, he manages, doses and continues to show us that he is intact. I hope he has much more time on the court, which is what excites us, what makes us happy and what inspires, because everyone wants to be like him.
– You know several members of the coaching staff, you were teammates with them, do you feel that this National Team transmits the values that you received?
Yes, as well as praising the players who have won absolutely everything, I must also highlight the staff. I had the privilege of having been with all those who are here today, I know them as people and professionals, and there is nothing better for our team than having this kind of great people. Practically a large percentage of it is thanks to them, to having such a united, winning, positive group… The best thing that could happen to us is to have this group, led by this kind of players.
