The decade of the ’80s was marked by fire in the hearts of pirate fans. Those were times when the “a lo Belgrano” was taking shape. Each achievement cost a lot. Money was scarce and achievements too. While Instituto, Talleres and Racing rubbed shoulders with the greats of Argentine football, in Alberdi the faces were only seen with the teams of the province.
And it was within the framework of that adversity that the Pirate managed to emerge from the hand of a team that made history and that had a scorer named Germán Martellotto among its ranks.
The arrival of “Tato” to Belgrano occurred at a very special moment: in the club there was a strike of professional footballers for lack of payment and the board had to go out to look for players from other football entities in Cordoba and the interior. In the case of the forward, he came to test from CA Calchín and stayed in the “B” after receiving the OK from “Pucho” Rooted.
The end of the story is known to all: Martellotto got tired of scoring goals with the celeste (he scored 57 goals in 167 games) and was champion of the 1983 Provincial tournament, the Official ’84 ACF tournament and the 1985-1986 Regional tournament of the AFA.
“All the titles were special. The one of ’83 was important because Belgrano had been many years without winning anything so relevant. And the one in ’86 was very important. There, also, I made the goal that I remember the most. He was the one that I got in the final against Olimpo, in the home game. I started almost in the middle of the court, went to three and defined next to a stick. It was my most beautiful goal, but also because of what we played for, “the ex-footballer told World D.
At all times, “el Tato” remembers that those years were not easy for the Pirates. He says that they had no field to train, no clothes, or money for the group. Almost everything was lunging. “Fortunately, today everything changed. In those days, the illusion of most of us was to do something for the club and have a good individual career. We were young people and we dreamed of that, ”explained Germán.
And he added: “The nice thing is that we were able to crown all the good we did with three titles. There were players with very good footing, but I stayed with José Luis Villarreal, a crack of selection. He was joined by forwards with enormous power. And behind, people of experience, with Juan Manuel Ramos in the goal. We developed an idea, eliminating rivals and winning on all fields until we were champions ”.
Your life today
Martellotto has just turned 58 and lives in Calchín, the town where he was born. For three years, he has been the coach of the Almafuerte club, from Las Varillas, and competes in the San Francisco League.
“We are waiting for the activity to restart. It is a beautiful championship, there are strong teams, several are armed to become champions ”, said the coach, who took the DT course after hanging up his boots in 1997.
Regarding the retirement, he remarked that he had the chance to do so in Belgrano after a talk with coach Pedro Marchetta, but due to an economic issue there was no arrangement with América de México, owner of his pass.
And it was precisely in the Aztec country where Martellotto became an idol and was champion in the three clubs where he played: America, Monterrey and Pachuca.
“I was the first Mexican soccer player mentioned to the Argentine national team in all of history. Wearing that shirt for an hour in the friendly at Wembley against England was the icing on the cake of my career. It is a nice memory of my time as a player “, said” El Tato “.
Finally, he acknowledged that he has not been to the Alberdi Giant for a long time, but he assures that he follows everything that happens with Belgrano on TV. And he said: “He has what to aspire to ascend, he has a couple of good players in attack and combative people in the middle. Up there are footballers like Nahuel Luján and Pablo Vegetti, they are players who, due to their individual level, can help you win closed games.
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