The MLS season came to an end, with New York City crowning the Portland Timbers. For Dallas, the season ended in early November as it failed to enter the elimination rounds in the Western Conference. Among the 45 Argentines who play in the United States league, the Texas team has two: Franco Jara and Facundo Quignon.
In an exclusive interview for 90min, we spoke with Quignón about his adaptation during his first six months in MLS,
Quignon began his career in the lower ranks of River, being one of the great promises of the institution. In 2013, after being free, he arrived in San Lorenzo and after six months, by January 2014, he was placed under the command of ‘Patón’ Bauza.
His debut took place on April 19, 2014 in a match against Newell’s and he scored his first goal 15 days later against Atlético de Rafaela. During that year, although it was not a starter, the ‘Cyclone’ won the Libertadores Cup for the first time in its history and played in the final of the Club World Cup against Real Madrid, which ended 2-0 in favor of ‘Merengue’.
How was your adaptation to MLS?
Five months ago I arrived and the league surprised me for the better in the sense of the level of players there are. What struck me the most was the intensity with which it is played. With the GPS it marks that it runs up to a little more than in Argentina. It is a very dynamic league, it is not so cut, there are not so many fouls, without so many interruptions, it makes the game faster. The courts are impeccable and that favors. I have had to play and it has cost me, it is a process of adaptation to the league and to my teammates.
MLS was always seen as a retirement league, but it has grown quite a bit in terms of structure and organization. Which league do you think he aims to resemble?
It gives me the feeling that it tends to resemble the European leagues. As for the organization, which in Argentina we are not used to, the full schedule has been in place since the beginning of the season.
Inside the fields the organization is impressive, with clocks inside the changing rooms and the times to be respected are important. It seems to me that the United States league has been working well for some time. There are players from all over the world and that makes it grow and enrich itself.
Would you recommend Argentines to go play MLS?
Yes, the league is very good, it has a context in which the people and the stadiums create a very nice atmosphere that is different from South America. It is a good league that is growing. There are players who will like other leagues or wait for the opportunity to jump to another place, but personally I am enjoying the experience and I would tell anyone that if they have the possibility, come.
This season Dallas has fallen far short of qualifying for the playoffs. What aspects should improve for 2022?
I arrived in the middle of the year and it had already been between 10 and 12 games. The team was out of the playoffs and it didn’t go well for us. It is a team in training, with similarities to what happened to me in Lanús, with many boys. Dallas is a club that has one of the best academies in the United States, where they are constantly promoting young people to play and to start their careers. I think the team had some good moments but we didn’t have the consistency to win several in a row. Including me, there are many of us who arrived this year and it takes time to settle.
One of your teammates this season was Ricardo Pepi and a few weeks ago he declared in 90min that he wants to wear the Real Madrid shirt. Do you think you have the conditions to do it?
He is 18 years old, he is having a very good time, I met him as soon as I arrived and he had had many games, but suddenly he exploded. When a player is that age, he makes this difference and is the 9th of the national team, he clearly has chances. It is impressive how from one moment to the next he began to score goals regularly and being so young. Personally, he had a very good year.
What are the teams that you like the most for their game in the league?
Because of the Covid with the Eastern teams we practically do not play. Personally, the operation that Kansas has seems very good, quite oiled and worked. Then, even though it had an irregular season, there is LAFC which was one of the first games I played. Rossi and Vela were there and they seemed like a team that played football very well.
And which players from the Eastern Conference surprised you?
We played against the New England Revolution and there were Gustavo Bou and Carles Gil, who are hierarchical players. Personally, I always liked ‘Bebelo’ Reynoso, from Minnesota. He is a player who is one of the best in the league, a great player practically.
“‘Bebelo’ Reynoso is one of the best players in the league.”
– Facundo Quignon.
You started in the lower ranks of River and you had to leave a year before the start of this golden era of the club with Ramón Díaz and then Gallardo followed. What feeling did you have of having to leave? Would you have liked to be led by those coaches?
It was a very special moment. I left River in 2013 and had already been promoted. In that year I was 19 or 20 years old and it was an important time for any player. That year we had no Reserve competition, only training or sparring and it was difficult. The club was not what it is now and sometimes you have to make decisions. At that moment I decided to leave because my contract was expiring and I ended up going to San Lorenzo, where in less than a year after arriving I was able to make my debut.
I would have loved to play in River because I had many friends, colleagues and I had been there since I was little, but you have to find your way and I had to leave at that moment and I do not regret it.
Above a few months after your debut in San Lorenzo they won the Copa Libertadores. What did it mean to belong to that campus?
When Bauza arrived I started training with the squad. I made my debut at three, four months and at six we won the Cup, I didn’t play but I was part of the squad. At that time, San Lorenzo was something else, much more organized and had a highly hierarchical team. In December 2014 we traveled to the Club World Cup and I was able to play, which was unforgettable. There were players with a long history and idols of the club and it was pure learning. Every chance or opportunity was to take advantage of it.
Did you have to enter against Real Madrid in the final of the Club World Cup?
I played the semifinal against Auckland City and entered five minutes that we won in overtime. I didn’t play against Real Madrid. Ortigoza at that time was in doubt and if he did not play, ‘Patón’ Bauza had told me that I was going to play and finally he could play. There were 12 of us doing the warm-up, but then Nestor was able to play and I didn’t go in, but I remember everything as if it were yesterday.
Another of your teammates throughout your career was Ángel Correa in San Lorenzo. How do you see him currently at Atlético de Madrid?
Training you realized that it was different, from another category, from Selection. He was 18, 19 years old and he was one of the figures of the team, he was a crack. I have the best memories as a player and as a person. Today, after having spent several years, I see him quite established with a high level and with a well-deserved call to the National Team. You have to stay at Atlético de Madrid for several years, he is a player of a lot of hierarchy.
What was special about ‘Patón’ Bauza as a coach?
The virtue of the ‘Patón’ was the simplicity with which it was handled and the frontality with the players. A very simple person, open to speak and loyal, with a very good group management, he knew all the players and teams that we were going to face. That San Lorenzo played very well and had good individualities. The achievement of that Cup was a combination of players who had a great level and the mentality that he transmitted.
Returning to MLS and your life in the United States, do you fall in love enough to stay or do you plan to return to Argentina?
I don’t know, the process of adaptation to the country also counts. I finish training and for me it is all new as the uses and customs. I have been here very recently, so I can’t tell you if I would continue for ten years or if I would return to Argentina. I don’t have children and that also counts when making decisions. I like the league and I am looking forward to a good season in Dallas.
What dream do you have to fulfill in your career?
I would like to win more titles, basically I play to be champion. I know that it is not easy to achieve it because only one is the champion. The winning mentality is what motivates me every day to reach the title and be in the history of the club.
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