It is heard that the lighter fails, so it insists one, two, three times. It is also heard that smoke is released after an extensive puff. The question about whether she had quit smoking doesn’t make much sense anymore, but she answers anyway. “Yeah, I’m leaving it… In the ashtray,” and she bursts out the usual laugh.
Germán Burgos is in his family home in Madrid (Spain), where four dogs, two cats and a parrot also live. He is a renowned Argentine ex-goalkeeper. He formed a rock band and played for River Plate, Atlético de Madrid and the Argentine National Team. He believes in zodiac signs. He has been controversial and a character that has made headlines in the world’s media. He is strong-willed, but playful. He did not lose his humor even when he went through kidney cancer in 2013. He had an operation from one day to the next. They then explained to him that the culprit could be tobacco.
The failed lighter, with its clicks, once, twice, three times, accompanies this talk.
Is cancer a memory?
When you have cancer, you have to do a follow-up for five years, and that’s it. If everything goes well, it is presumed that you are already cured.
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But did you discover a more human dimension?
I experienced this situation in a very special way and I tried to help
I believe in the strength of the mind and sometimes you have no dimension of how far you can go or who you can reach. I experienced this situation in a very special way and I tried to help, to accompany the people who are fighting for their lives in hospitals. We have also experienced it with covid. My idea was always to give strength to so many who are struggling.
Have you already realized your public weight?
With the boys you understand. They believe that there is a distance that prevents them from seeing that one is also a human being, one more person. With a simple gesture to the kid you can change his life. And if you do the opposite, a rudeness, an oversight, you also leave them with a horrible memory.
You always show yourself very close to the children. How are you with your children?
I’m a dad, we’re not friends (laughs). I seek to give them the confidence to lead them until they are older and show them that they always have a place to return to.. With the player, the same: I don’t establish friendship, I establish trust. Because putting together a team is like putting together a family.
Did you take time to get to know Greece?
Not to walk. I took time to listen to people. Later, I lived in concentration. My days are 72 hours. The coach doesn’t stop, that’s the big difference with the player. The player is two hours, two and a half hours, maybe a little more in the preseason, but for the coach it is 24 hours out of 24 hours, you never turn off the phone. It’s so much more, and so much more fun too.
And more responsibility. The player takes care of him…
No, as a player you take care of the team too. They are individuals within a team: the better you do, the better the team will be. One does not enter the court thinking of oneself, this is not chess, it is football. It is a team sport: if you play well individually, the team has a better chance of winning.
(Keep reading: Luis Díaz, with tintico and bread: the photo that goes viral).
In three months you qualified Aris Thessaloniki in the Conference League…
It’s nice to see when the team reacts, because ultimately it’s about fixing situations, which is what we coaches do. We fix and we aim to win. We started eighth and finished third, it was brilliant how the players responded. It’s what I learned after so long: the player needs to be led and when he finds the coach who tells him how, he responds. But that is the most difficult thing for the coach: to establish the how.
Do you feel very observed by footballers?
It’s 15 to 20 minutes no more… (laughs). In 15 to 20 minutes the player already knows what he is going to get. With the way the training is presented, the player realizes what it is about. The player walks, looks at the field, and it’s one thing if he doesn’t see anything, and another if he comes across a presentation of what he’s going to do, the cones, the ribbons. That alone motivates him by thinking about the exercises he is going to do.
Is that an international language when there is a language barrier?
But language is never secondary, it is fundamental. There are players who speak five languages, and coaches who speak four or five languages to you too. One has to prepare. I speak three languages, English, Italian and Spanish. Because depending on a translator is not the same as reaching the player directly. When going through a translator, the message does not come through with the same force. The translator can transmit the words, but not your emotional charge.
Did the passion of the Greek fans surprise you?
They are very similar to Argentina. And I relate it a lot with Rosario, you know? Because in Thessaloniki there are two teams, three actually because Iraklis relegated, there are two left, us and Paok, and they give me the feeling of a Newell’s-Central.
What do you think of the hysteria of Argentine soccer?
It doesn’t go through madness, it goes through this need that clubs have to win now, so that makes speed settle in coexistence, but one is also trained for these situations. One studies, prepares and has many years of wardrobe to be able to solve. You have to see the folklore of each country, of each institution, and know what the directors, the people, the players and the coaches, who are the four legs of the table, want.
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You once said that of the #2, the aides-de-camp, you were #1. Do you want to be the 1 of the 1?
I want number one to be my team. I run from being the one, from being the hero. I don’t waste time. I think about how to improve it, how to train it, how to talk to them so that they free their minds to win. That is what I spend my time on: freeing up my mind to win.
Is River on your horizon?
Yes, I would like to direct it one day. I’m making my way, I’m not in a hurry, I’m where I want to be and my present is the Aris. But I know that it will be around the corner.
Is River in good hands?
Yes, he has been doing very well and I always tell Marcelo (Gallardo): to continue in the same way. He is an extraordinary trainer.
How would the Germán Burgos player get along with this Burgos coach?
Perfect, because I believe in professionalism and responsibility. One can be more or less funny, laugh more or laugh less, but I look for professionalism. That the guy who plays, the guy who is in training, if he has to stay all day to win the game, do it. And then, the next day, you have to try the same thing to win. Also, I would get along well with the player I was because I still go to training two hours earlier.
Does the sloth get along with you badly then?
No, because maybe the team needs it, and I have to think about the team. You have to know how to adapt to the player you have and demand from him, but not over-demand him in circumstances with things he can’t do.
What do you think of social networks?
I like people to express themselves. It doesn’t go very far from what one does with his family. If you are cutting, removing, no, I don’t like that. There are certain things that one has to get used to because they are expressions.
If the coach has a lot of character, shouldn’t the footballer be docile?
But it is not for docility. The player must understand what the coach wants, the team needs and the fan dreams of.
Is managing emotions as important as getting the strategy right?
Sure, you always have to talk to the players. Channel them, clarify their objective, permanently. Coaches are like parents.
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But you have to find the right point to not be invasive…
This is achieved based on respect. If so, the player will rarely feel invaded.
Is intuition essential?
There are things that you learn in the locker room. You analyze the silences, the diversions, but it’s unconscious, you don’t intend to do it. It is in you because you learned it.
What does the player most value and expect from the coach?
make it better And that is how, which is the great challenge of the coach. You may have been the best in coaching school, or you may have been an exceptional footballer, but if you can’t explain how, it will be difficult.
What do you not forgive a player?
I wouldn’t put it in terms of forgiving. That he is not honest with himself or with the group. Because on the court there is nowhere to hide.
You once said that rockers don’t cry because they give a bad image. Haven’t you cried in a long time?
No, I don’t allow it. I didn’t cry even when Atlético paid me tribute at the farewell. I held on (laughs). I do not cry.
Is there music in your life? Do you listen to your band?
(laughs) Nope. I’ve been in a cloud in the 70s. But I also listen to a band that I like: Greta Van Fleet.
Will you return to the stage?
I don’t think so. If they invite me, I say no (laughs). It is an old perfume. Rich, but past. I already had fun.
Have the years of fun already passed?
No, remember that I believe in professionalism, and it’s not about being serious or not. If the mood of the campus is good, that affects everything.
And do you also believe in zodiac signs?
Yes, of course, the first thing I do when I analyze a team is to look for the zodiac signs of its players.
Why do you believe in that?
Think of five friends you have, or five family members with whom you are closest, and see what sign they are. And see if they don’t relate to your sign. It is eye-catching. I am Aries, and my best friends are Taurus.
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Isn’t that prejudiced?
No, I look at the relationships, how it is linked. I manage a team, so everything I seek and do is for the benefit of the team. And I know that the signs are related.
Taurus best friends you said? The ‘Cholo’ Simeone is a Taurus…
We are friends too.
And why was the feeling of something unresolved?
We are friends. That answer frames everything.
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CHRISTIAN GROSSO
THE NATION (ARGENTINA) – GDA
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