This is what the boy who debuted as a professional soccer player in Santa Fe looks like, 15 years later.

Mauricio Alarcón fulfilled the dream of many children, young people and even adult soccer fans: debuting as a professional player in the first division of Colombian soccer with one of the largest and most historic teams in our country.

That achievement of playing professionally, even for a few seconds on the grass of the El Campín stadium in Bogotá, He went down in history for being a child who was barely 14 years, 8 months and 26 days old.

Mauricio Alarcón, from Bogotá and from a Santa Fe family, was born and grew up playing soccer in the Egypt neighborhood, in Bogotá, and says that sport was his escape to avoid the bad habits and vices of the street: “The environment where I was born, where I grew up, is complicated. I started playing at the Compensar Academy thanks to my mother, so I could keep my mind busy and get out of the street environment.”

“The love for soccer was always there,” says Mauricio, however, at only 11 years old and before arriving at Independiente Santa Fe, he wanted to stop playing it because “I felt that it was no longer for me.” Months later, and “because of things from God”, He began his training process in the minor divisions of the 'Cardinal' team.

The 'U18' standard, the reason for its debut

At that time, 15 years ago, there was a rule in Colombia that required the first division teams to field a young person under 18 years of age on the starting roster in each championship match. This controversial law, which was in force for just under a year, was the reason for Mauricio to make history and mark his entire life.

Given the annoyance that was generated in several teams by the 'U18' rule, coach Hernán Darío 'Bolillo' Gómez, Santa Fe coach at that time, decided to call Mauricio for a match for his team against Pereira, and so comply with the rule. “I will use a 13 or 14 year old boy to take a photo with the team and I will take him out,” said 'Bolillo' prior to the match.

I will use a 13 or 14 year old child to take the photo with the equipment and I will take him out

At 14 years old, this is how he received the news of his debut: “'Bolillo' didn't know me”

Mauricio, who was in the eighth grade of his high school in 2009 while alternating school with soccer, does not forget the person who gave him the opportunity to train and play with the Santa Fe professional team: “The one who saw me and discovered me was Germán 'Basilo' González, Santa Fe's minor division director at the time. 'Bolillo' didn't know me.” Without expecting it, Mauricio remembers that they told him “Wednesday and the game was that same weekend. On Friday they concentrated on me with the team and I couldn't go back to school that week. “Everything happened from one moment to the next.”

With the innocence of a 14-year-old child, Alarcón participated in some pre-game training to meet the players of the Santa Fe professional team, who had no regard for giving him a “hard leg” in training. “The training sessions were very different from what I was used to in lower divisions.“, confessed Mauricio, who also remembers receiving 'diablazos' (or balls) from Juan Carlos Quintero, Jairo Suárez and Omar Pérez, former 'León' players, in one of the 'recochas' that footballers usually practice to have fun with each other.

The night before his debut day at the El Campín stadium, Mauricio shared a concentration and room with Maximiliano Flotta, a former Argentine player who was in Santa Fe between 2008 and 2010; The age difference between him and the experienced soccer player was such that “he could perfectly be my dad,” Alarcón says fondly. since Flotta was one of the players who advised and accompanied him the most during his short adventure in the professional team.

March 8, 2009, the day of the historic debut

“I couldn't even sleep, if I slept for two hours it was a lot. That day my teammates tried to convey to me the tranquility they felt, since it was a normal match against Pereira, at home”, but for Mauricio, it was the opposite, it meant an opportunity to do things well and demonstrate his football skills. , even if it were for a few seconds in front of the fans who attended the stadium that afternoon and in front of all the people who, with amazement, watched it on national television.

There is not much a player can do in one minute and 38 seconds in a first division match, especially for a 14-year-old boy who had never played in a stadium of the magnitude and importance of El Campín. In his own words, Mauricio explains what his participation was like in the only ball he touched that day: “It was an aerial pass, precisely from Maximiliano Flotta, and I returned it to Jairo Suárez with my head“, and after that game action, the ball went out and he had to leave the field by decision of 'Bolillo' Gómez. “When they took me out, people screamed and asked that they not take me out. Obviously I would have liked to play longer.“, remember.

“My life totally changed”

The echoes of his unexpected appearance in Colombian football reverberated in Mauricio over the years, as he began to gain recognition in all areas of his life, from school where 'he was no longer a normal child' to football, when he began to be called to the youth categories of the Colombian National Team. I was going the way I was.

Alarcón had a contract with Independiente Santa Fe during the almost nine years that he remained in the institution, in the same way he added more minutes in the professional team but in Copa Colombia matches under the leadership of technicians such as Néstor Otero, Wilson Gutiérrez and Gustavo Costas, whom he always considered like a dad. However, after Costas left the team in 2015, his football career was set adrift.

“It's no secret that they asked the players for money back then”

With the departure of Gustavo Costas, Mauricio did not play again, and he assures that it was not because of a football issue. “At this moment the dark part of my career began, some administrative issues prevented me from continuing to play in Santa Fe“, and points out that “it is no secret that they asked young people for money back then to play, and I got money from where?” In addition to this, Alarcón had no businessman nor direct communication with César Pastrana, the president of Santa Fe at that time. This is how the doors closed for him in Bogotá.

Once his relationship with the 'Cardinal' team ended, he traveled to Santa Marta to try his luck at Unión Magdalena, where he did not play since the club's squad was completeas Mauricio recalled.

Life after football

Mauricio's opportunities in football ended, but study opportunities came to him almost immediately thanks to a scholarship awarded to him by the Sergio Arboleda University to begin his career in Sports Management. With the gratitude that characterizes him, he says that this scholarship came when he did not have a clear direction in life after football.

Today he has several projects underway and emphasizes that sport gave him the necessary discipline to achieve his goals in life, without leaving aside his taste and love for football. “People remember me fondly and that is worth more than anything.“, he says with emotion, while thanking Santa Fe for everything it has given him in his 29 years of life: “Everyone knows the great affection and love I have for this club, for everything I have experienced in Santa Faith”.

Santiago Pabon Lopez

EL TIEMPO journalist

In X as @santipabon

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