The night couldn’t be sadder. It was pouring rain, Palestino had just scored the goal that eliminated them from the Copa Libertadores and the 12,576 spectators who arrived that Tuesday night at El Campín, almost in unison, booed the team in a way that had not happened in a long time. You have to go, perhaps, to the beginning of the Alberto Gamero era, before the pandemic, when Millonarios had not yet started, to find a reaction like that.
There is frustration. It is felt in the environment. The debt of an international title, beyond an isolated Merconorte Cup crown that was little celebrated back in 2001, remains unpaid in Millonarios. And the only way to be at peace with the fans and with the conscience is to try again, classify the Libertadores again and try to do things better than this semester, in which he could only score three points and in which there is still one last act, against Flamengo, at the Maracaná, on May 28.
The first step is to reclassify the Libertadores. And for that, the quickest way is to win a League in which the option is valid, although, for now, there is a team ahead, Junior de Barranquilla, who beat them on the first date of the home runs. In the second, Millos defeated Pereira. And now, Gamero’s team returns to El Campín to face the best team in the round-robin phase, Atlético Bucaramanga. Easy? Not at all. But you’ll have to try again. The match will begin at 8 pm and will be seen on Win Sports +.
David Mackalister Silva, a player trained in the club, team captain and blue-collar fan, channeled the frustration of the blue fans at the end of the game against Palestino, a 1-1 in which the team got tired of missing goals (he, for example, he had two clear ones). There, crestfallen in front of the microphone, he began to elaborate a duel that he hopes will now be overcome.
Mackalister Silva, in action against Palestino.
Photo:
“We want, on behalf of the group, to apologize to the fans. We are missing a nice opportunity to go to Brazil to qualify. It is evident, I believe that there is not a single person who loves Millonarios who is happy today,” Silva declared.
The option of fighting for the League is still latent
The outlook now is to win, win and win. First, so that the option of a title and returning to the Libertadores remains latent. And, second, to recover the relationship with a fan, who has expressed her pain and who has had to endure the ridicule of rivals, starting with Palestino himself, who in his official account has passed the collection bill again and again. because of that wild card qualification of the group, which, rather, ended up applying to Millonarios.
Since the game ended, the team opted for silence. Several interview requests from EL TIEMPO were not accepted. The pain goes inside. Goalkeeper Álvaro Montero had already hinted at it.
“We are hurt. We are aware that we have to cry today to wake up tomorrow thinking about Sunday’s game and that we have the chance to reach the final,” said the guajiro after the draw against Palestino.
Gamero continues to have problems. After 25 injuries throughout the semester, he still cannot recover those who, on paper, were going to support the attack, Leonardo Castro and Santiago Giordana. Daniel Cataño is also not available. And, to complete, Daniel Giraldo will be out due to an accumulation of yellow cards.
“It is a game that is important to win to continue fighting in the League. “It is a group that has risen from stronger things, from difficult things,” Giraldo said Tuesday.
Millonarios will have three games in the home runs (today, Wednesday against Pereira as a visitor and Saturday, again against Bucaramanga, but at the Alfonso López, before the trip to Brazil, where they will play against an injured and needy Flamengo ( has to win to qualify for the round of 16) and in which he will try to prevent the international burden from being much greater than what he experienced in the previous matches.
“I don’t know who is going to play, there is still a
long way to go and we are not the ones who decide it. Whoever goes has to leave with wounded pride. We are not going to wash our faces with that game, of course, what we stopped doing we stopped doing, but we are not going to go out and make a fool of ourselves. All the games, even if one is eliminated, we should play them like any game is played,” said Costa Rican defender Juan Pablo Vargas, in the mixed zone.
Gamero, resigned, had already said it on Tuesday: “This has been a hard moment for us, hard, hard. “It means sticking to the many criticisms that we are going to have, but already thinking about Sunday’s game.” Everything is at stake. Even credibility.
José Orlando Ascencio
Sports Deputy Editor
@josasc
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