To understand this dreamed present of Defense and Justice that will play the final of the Copa Sudamericana, you have to travel back in time and stop at two moments. Or at least that’s how the many leaders who have been at the club for several years believe it.
The first occurred on June 3, 2006. The equipment was bad and the institution worse. Deportivo Morón was the rival in the Promotion to determine if the Hawk it continued on the National B or it descended to the Metropolitan B. The first leg was 1-1 and the rematch was played in Florencio Varela. The locals had a sporting advantage because they belonged to the highest category. At 45 minutes into the second half, the Cocky he was winning 3-1. Stoics, the Defense fans cheered from the stands. They maintained the illusion that it resembled a utopia. But at 46 ‘Marcos Ramírez discounted and a few moments later Ezequiel Miralles scored the final 3-3. The euphoria was so great that from then on June 3 became the day of the Defense fan.
“It was a bottoming out after several bad seasons. We suffered a lot and told ourselves that we had to change course. We started targeting coaches with an offensive game philosophy and focused on reinforcements. We no longer wanted the established that was in the last years but we went to look for the boys who did not have opportunities in other clubs “, he tells Clarion the secretary of communication Juan Moreno, leader since 1998.
Clarín’s edition of Sunday June 4, 2006.
The second moment is due to the entry of Christian Bragarnik to the club. It happened in 2009 at the hands of goalkeeper Martín Perafán. Since then, the representative has served as an advisor full time and he is one of the heads of the technical secretariat in charge of football.
“In 2009 there was the possibility of reaching Defense. I had been abroad for a long time. In Mexico I saw the working model in the clubs. When I got here I found an institution with a policy of listening to new ideas Eager to consolidate something that they had been working on for a long time. They opened the doors for me. I came to Argentina with modern methodologies to propose, aiming at lines of coaches with offensive characteristics. That was going to make it possible for them to enhance the style. of the game. The club’s consultancy was carried out by Diego Lemme. We analyzed the price, the quality and the options we have to have the player we are thinking of at that moment “, Bragarnik told Ole in 2019.
The technicians who arrived under the Bragarnik-Lemme binomial have a clear profile: Juan Carlos Almada, Julio Rodríguez, Ricardo Vila, Jorge Almirón, Diego Cocca, Hernán Franco, José Oscar Flores, Ariel Holan, Sebastián Beccacece, Nelson Vivas, Juan Pablo Vojvoda , Mariano Soso and Hernán Crespo. One of the culminating points was the promotion to First in 2014, led by Diego Cocca.
Bragarnik also changed the way footballers are negotiated: they no longer come to the club on loan without charge or option. “We are a shop window club. We have that right, the clubs understand it that way. We empower many footballers who return to their clubs and sell them to them. We get a lot for having the shop window contract, for giving them that space and helping that they train as professionals “Bragarnik confessed.
Representative Christian Bragarnik has been advising Defense since 2009. photo silvana boemo
He also began buying Defense and doing monumental businesses. The paradigmatic case is that of Lisandro Martínez, bought from Newell’s for 1,500,000 euros and sold to Ajax of the Netherlands for 7 million euros. Other important exits were those of Leonel Miranda to Xolos de Tijuana and Matías Rojas to Racing.
The balance for 2019 yielded profits of more than 222 million pesos, many of which were used for works. In the Tito Tomaghello stadium, the missing stalls with 19 boxes were built and the lighting was completely changed. The pearl of the club, likewise, is the Bosques estate (located at kilometer 28.5 of Avenida Calchaquí) that has a high-performance sports complex with different courts and a hotel with all the amenities and more than 50 rooms. There Defense not only trains but also concentrates and performs all the preseason.
It is perceived: it was not a whim that Defense and Justice reached the final of the South American Cup. Neither magic. Two key moments and a project. This is how Florencio Varela’s club was transformed.
