The Canayan idol went on to play in a better league | El Negro Palma died at the age of 66, one week after a stroke

The Canayan idol went on to play in a better league | El Negro Palma died at the age of 66, one week after a stroke
The Canayan idol went on to play in a better league | El Negro Palma died at the age of 66, one week after a stroke

The feeling is to be orphaned. The shock of the Central fan does not diminish with the passing of the hours, perhaps, in those who yesterday went to Gigante de Arroyito to say goodbye to the last ten that Arroyito had. Omar Arnaldo Palma, a player who was a leader of his generation, passed away. Who played soccer with the ball at his feet. When the game was more play than physical discipline. And he did it with a unique charm until he was 40 years old. Central lost one of those figures who transcend time. Palma made the leap into history. And that’s why since yesterday Central is a slightly bigger club.

The pilgrimage of the fans through Arroyito witnessed what Palma did for Central, for football and what it represented. Yes, Palma was Maradona for the Canayan sympathizer. He was the boy who came from the neglected Chaco to try to make a way with the ball. He didn’t dream of playing in a Cup. He dreamed of playing with Mario Kempes. And he did it in 1995 in a friendly classic with Newell’s in Arroyito. He had the pleasure of giving the goal pass to the Matador. But yes, Palma was Maradona. He was a friend of the weakest, always. He was the one who renounced the relationship with the leaders. He was the one who fought for the “copper” for the kids in times when being a footballer was more of a job than a profession.

Palma was Maradona. He was the player who made his feet and the ball an attraction for Argentine soccer. I challenge the greats. And he took Central out of the hell of relegation in 1984, five years after his debut in First Division. And then his best version appeared, the Palma of 1985, the leader of a team that amazed with the promotion and then with the title in the highest category in 1987, in a Sunday-to-Sunday bid with a Newell’s that had its own ten: Gerardo Martino.

Yes, Palma is Maradona. The Canaya Maradona capable of leading an entire team with the ball in his boot. They were other times, it was another football. Yes, but the Negro interpreted his time like no one else of his generation. He was the player capable of a quick dribble, like the best wing, the one who put the ball into empty space to show his teammate where he had to run or the one who kept the ball at his feet as long as he wanted. He left Arroyito because the leaders decided so. River and Veracruz of also enjoyed it. But he returned quickly, in 1992. At a time in the city where Marcelo Bielsa’s Newell’s had amazed everyone in the country with their fast football. The Diez got together with Don Angel in 1994, the Maestro joined the Diez with Raúl Gordillo, Eduardo Coudet, Pablo Sánchez and Polilla Da Silva and the souvenir photo: Horacio Carbonari climbing the fence when winning the 1995 Conmebol.

Palma is Maradona. If he was the first to suspend an internship to demand payment of salaries. In all crises, players found refuge behind the ten. But in truth it was Central that found refuge for so many years behind its number Ten. Idols remain subject to the failure of history. Great Greek scholars, military leaders or political leaders are exposed to discussion throughout history, without exception. But in football there is something that is sacred. Idols are not discussed. There is history to remember them and enjoy them again. That’s where the Negro is today.

#Santa Fe

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