Costas: about the future of Juanfer and the challenges to Almendra, to “God knows I’m from Racing” :: Olé

Since he went to Colombia to join the Pre-selection, ahead of the preparatory friendlies for the Copa América, Juan Fernando Quintero sowed doubt about his future. Having lost ownership in the Academy, there are many in the club who, at least, do not dare to ensure that he wants to continue in Avellaneda. Asked about this, Gustavo Costas was optimistic about the continuity of the creative steering wheel.

“Juanfer is going to stay. I talk to him every day. He had a family problem, but I think he’s going to stay in Racing,” said the coach in dialogue with ESPN. And he revealed a situation to expose his good relationship with him: “I was going to come to the club two days later in the summer, but I told him I wanted him earlier so he could be in the photo next to me.”

Colombia will play its first friendly this Saturday, against the United States, and on Saturday the 15th against Bolivia, also in that country. Very possibly Juanfer will be on the final list for the continental competition. With a contract valid until December 2026, between emergency trips to his country due to family issues and injuries, he played as a starter for the last time on May 2, in the 2-1 defeat against Talleres de Remedios de Escalada that marked the elimination of Racing in the Argentine Cup. From that meeting until today, seven more have passed through every competition.

Without Quintero at their disposal, Racing has been demonstrating the style that Costas likes most: a direct team, with quick transitions from defense to attack and intense pressure. The Colombian does not have characteristics consistent with that vertical game, although he is the footballer with the most inventive capacity, the best filtered passing and punching, ideal qualities to break closed defenses like the one presented by Deportivo Riestra, for example.

Beyond Juanfer, the coach spoke about another of the most talented players he has on the squad: Agustín Almendra. With his relaxed style, he confessed that there was a reprimand for the former Boca because he saw him lacking attitude. And he also accepted that, before taking charge of the team, many warned him about the player’s personality. “When I grabbed it, everyone told me: Almendra, Almendra, Almendra…It’s a phenomenon”said.

And the DT recognized about the midfielder: “I fart all day long. I want the best for him, he has all the conditions to be a great player. I told him, before taking him out: ‘You’re looking for me to take you out. I’m going to take you out. And I took it out. Did you see, idiot? I took you out.’ Then he played a great game. He has some qualities… And it makes me angry because I want the best for him. I put it back. Now you have to be on top of the players.”

In three individual cases, the coach evoked a situation that Maximiliano Salas was involved in when he coached him in Chile and that left him very seductive signs. “We took him and Barticciotto (today in Talleres) to Palestino. The wife of Salas was pregnant (she recalled) and had the baby there, with many health problems. She was very serious, and they had another daughter. Neither her parents nor her in-laws were there to help them.. Salas, in her house, slept in a short armchair, not the long ones where you can stretch out.

Costas recalled what happened next: “I told him: ‘Stay with the family, it is the most important thing that your daughter gets well.’ And he told me: ‘You wait for me to close the form.’ An hour before giving it, he came. The PT didn’t play, but I put it in second. And he ran against everyone, scored goals, we went to play in Viña and he left at noon, ate and asked to sleep for an hour. ‘You’re crazy,’ I told him. TEvery game he entered, he put it in. That showed me what kind of person he is. And he left a lot of money along the way to come here. He was already earning well in Palestine and they offered him double pay there.”

Very relaxed, spontaneous, he approached each topic with utmost directness. He became emotional at several moments in the talk, revealed some stories that addressed his religious devotion, reflected every time he kisses a rosary prior to the start of each engagement. “God knows I’m from Racing. But I clarify: I’m not just asking Racing to win, because everyone at the top must ask the same from other teams. I do it, too, so that it gives me the strength to accept if there is a defeat.”.

Costas is crazy about the Academy. And if God knows it from above, much more so those below. It is very clear to those children, young people, adults or the elderly who come across it on the street in daily life. “Spectacular, incredible things are happening to me every day. I never thought I would experience this. The other day I got out of the truck and some third, fourth or fifth grade kids were coming out of gymnastics. When they saw me they started singing: “Costas is from Racing, from real Racing. They all came running to hug me. We took photos with everyone and the teachers”he pointed out, visibly moved and with broken words.

There was another anecdote he told: “I was at my nephews’ house. We ordered a pizza, we went downstairs and the guy who brought it almost crashed into the wall… He started crying from emotion. “18 or 19-year-old boys who hug you and cry: it’s incredible, they are generations that didn’t see me play.”

Costas dedicates a large part of his life to the Academy. For his work and his immeasurable love for those colors. This caused him to receive many complaints from his loved ones. “I fought with friends who told me that they talked to me more when I was in Bolivia, in Ecuador, in Arabia, than now. What happens is that I came here and I am here 24 hours a day for Racing, for my players. ‘Racing is worth it.’ more than all of you,’ I told my friends.”be sincere.

And he traveled back in time to very difficult times that he had to live through in times of institutional crisis and personal efforts against the closure of the club during times of bankruptcy. “I spent years in which I had to go to the Casa Rosada,” he listed, “to the Quinta de Olivos, to the AFA, to raise money to concentrate… When I came now I said to myself: ‘I am now working 24 hours a day for Racing.’

The pain from the elimination in the Argentine Cup and the non-qualification to the quarterfinals of the League Cup were left behind. Today Racifn is the leader of the League and finished as the best first of all the Sudamericana groups. Costas beats his chest for the team he put together in terms of football and humanity. “I have a spectacular group. You always dream of achieving something, but these kids deserve it for what they are doing. When we put together the team,” he said, “I set out to bring hungry players.” and that they know what I want to play. In the second game we played, they had already grasped all the knowledge of what we wanted: high pressure.”

The attitude of his players is something that the coach always highlights: “The commitment they have… The other day was demonstrated by Solari and Almendrar, two players who were not going to be concentrated. Almendra had a fever of 38 and Solari, with pubalgia. I called them and told them that I needed them for at least 15 minutes because Carbonero was injured (strain) and Maravilla was not well (sprained ankle). When I got home I called them to thank them.”