Alexis García has been, badly counted, 42 years involved in football. He is the second player with the most matches played in the entire history of the League: he entered the pitch 723 times, only surpassed by the historical defender Gabriel Berdugo, who acted in 733 games.
Not content with a brilliant career that took him to the National Team and that allowed him to win the Copa Libertadores in 1989 with Atlético Nacional, he also began a long career as a coach at Once Caldas, in 1999, a year after hanging up his boots. . Professionally, because today, at 61 years old, he continues to display talent on amateur courts.
After going through several teams (Nacional, Centauros de Villavicencio, Bucaramanga and Pereira), García decided to accept, in 2006, an offer from an emerging soccer club in the capital, with an important track record in amateur tournaments in Bogotá, but which was just beginning its journey in that separate world that is the promotion tournament: La Equidad.
With the arrival of Alexis in Bogotá, many things changed in the team. He gave them a great mentality, they went from long bus trips to traveling by plane and thus, the team began to take flight: at the end of that same 2006, La Equidad achieved promotion to the first division.
(Also read: ‘Byron Castillo is Colombian’: Ecuador, out of the World Cup? The latest)
A year later, and after correcting errors from the first semester that left the team in a last place to which it never returned while he was on the bench, it reached its first final, which it lost against Nacional. And then, in 2008, he won another crown, the first edition of the new Copa Colombia, in which he beat Once Caldas.
La Equidad is the house of Alexis García, literally. And although he spent seven years out, in which he managed Junior, Fortaleza, Santa Fe and Pasto, the legacy he left is still valid. He came back in 2020 and is in the semifinal home runs again.
This Thursday’s match against Deportes Tolima on Techo (7:30 pm, with a signal from Win Sports +) is the 500th of Alexis’ career with La Equidad, counting the promotion tournament, the League, the Colombia Cup and the South American Cup. Quite a merit, and even more so when he does it in a club that is not one of the historical local football clubs. The panorama to reach the final is not easy, but García has all the support to continue dreaming.
What does it mean to be in charge of a team like this for so long?
Credibility in what one works for is also doing something abnormal in football and in this country, which is having a process and also showing love for an institution in which I was trained and I have also been trained.
What was La Equidad like in 2006, when it first arrived?
It was a very famous team in the Olaya tournament, which had little aspirations and little success in B. With the president of that time, Dr. Clemente, we reached an agreement to make a team with a great mentality, not skimping on the essential things, generate a sense of belonging, rejuvenate the team, which was very veteran, and start training. That task of getting players was giving results and in that first year we got promotion.
Alexis García, recently arrived at La Equidad, in 2006.
Except for the first year, when the team was last in the first semester, La Equidad has not had relegation problems. How to show other clubs that come from B that way to not have that anguish and to think about bigger things?
It is order, having a clear vision and having blind faith in it and being faithful to that vision, how to walk the path, generate a sense of belonging, improve the institution. At least while I have been, La Equidad has never lost that north. The closest it has been was when I came back, in 2020, that the team was 10 points from relegation again. We’re back on track and today the team is in good shape and has generally qualified for international tournaments, which is the vision we have.
(We invite you to read: Sebastián Villa: with an arrest request, he plays and scores a great goal with Boca)
La Equidad has been fighting finals, it was one penalty away from being champion. What have they lacked to win the League? They already won the Colombia Cup in 2008.
For the League we have lacked a bit of luck and playing on our own stage. When we went to penalties against Nacional in 2011 we played in Techo, which was the only time. Against Nacional in 2007 and against Junior in 2010 we played with all the away fans against us, we played at El Campín and there because of the box office we resigned to playing on our usual stage and there, believe it or not, it gives the rival an advantage.
Can it be said that La Equidad already has a style of play, a school, a way of playing?
Actually, yes. When I left, the team changed, they played well, at times they played badly, but they didn’t play what La Equidad plays today, a team that recovered the DNA of what the institution has been since we formed it again, the people know what he plays, for better or for worse, to criticize him or to praise him.
Precisely, La Equidad is criticized a lot for the game at times, but it gets the results. That sometimes hits a lot, that you don’t like. What would you tell them?
People are here to hear things that are real. Equity in the tournament was the team that made the most shots to the opposite goal (N. of the R: 98, the same as Millonarios). The only thing I would tell them is to watch him play, they talk without seeing him play, most people don’t see him play. In addition, in Colombia there is a problem that needs to be improved, here soccer is not commented on but rather on a team, on a specific team, they do not comment on a match but only on one team, and with that half-truths are handled. See the team, enjoy yourself. That doesn’t affect us much either.
Alexis García was the coach of Equidad when they won the Copa Colombia in 2008.
He has promoted several players, including some who reached the National Team, such as Santiago Arias, Jherson Córdoba, Diego Valoyes. How has that promotional work been?
It has been part of the vision, to train players, to train people, the institution as a cooperative, as an insurer, has very clear values. It is so clear that the team removes one or two players, as Pacheco also left, as other players who have had the space to grow have left.
(Also: Piqué and Shakira: “hard” video of their “last goodbye”, the weekend together)
During this time, La Equidad grew as an institution and even has its own headquarters.
It has been very nice, unrestricted, total support, there has been credibility. This venue was a dream that I had drawn when we were champions of B. When that happened, the president asked me for a few words, I took out my sheet and I had drawn what has been done here, that is nice because the visualization brings the achievement of Dreams. There has always been total support for everything we have generated here.
Of all the teams that you have had, 500 games directed, which is the one that filled you the most?
There I have a political phrase: they have filled me all because I have formed them. The team I have now is a family in every sense of the word: they love each other, they respect each other, they pay attention. Since we can’t bring the best players, we bring the best people. That’s key, this team believes in its work and listens very little to outsiders. We are allergic to bad comments, we focus a lot on our own.
What is the contribution of Stalin Motta, whom you also have since La Equidad was in B?
It is a banner. Stalin is an example in everything, he is a professional, who has grown up with the institution and has a special sense of belonging. He is going to be the coach of this team very soon, when he decides to retire, because he is a man who is preparing himself. As a person who sets an example, he is the first to arrive, the last to leave, he is the player who prepares the most, he understands the position he is in, they respect him.
“Because we can’t bring in the best players, we bring in the best people. This team believes in its work and listens little to outsiders. We are allergic to bad comments.”
Alexis García, technician of La Equidad.
What do you need to achieve with La Equidad?
The League title is a pending task. We have been very close on many occasions. We usually qualify at eight and have been to three finals. That is the title we are betting on. We are missing goals and goals are worth a lot of money. Here the economy is managed in a very rational way, it is managed in accordance with the economy of the country. It is the team of the country’s cooperatives and management is too conscientious and measured for things to work in the medium and long term.
(You may be interested: Egan Bernal responds to Gustavo Petro for controversy over his birth)
What makes La Equidad so special to stay there for so long?
In La Equidad I have been happy, and regularly the vision that I have had has been made, that has given me continuity, I have been much more coherent in my thinking with what the institution is. It has allowed me to do good things. I have also made a mistake and they have not whipped me, they have given me continuity. For example, in Santa Fe I scored 60 percent of the points and they took me out, that’s not a score to take out a coach, but hey, it was time to leave. In La Equidad they would not have taken me out with that score and I would have maintained a process like the one that has been achieved. At La Equidad there is coherence, very good communication and a clear vision and that is why I am happy here. I enjoy all the things that are done, we celebrate the achievements, we mourn the sadness, but we stay united and that is fundamental. Here we have made history and we hope to continue doing so as far as possible.
Jose Orlando Ascencio
Sports Sub-Editor
@josasc
#Alexis #García #games #forging #present #future #Equidad