Millonarios is one game away from getting the long-awaited star 16 and, after drawing in the first leg with Deportes Tolima (1-1), the ambassador team will have to assert the locality at the El Campín Stadium to get that result that allows them lift the first league title of 2021.
The fans of Millonarios are anxious, and of course, it has not been an easy road to reach the grand final. One of them is Mario Alberto Vanemerak, former champion player with Millonarios and also a former coach of the blue team, who spoke with FUTBOLRED and gave his feelings for the second leg. The idol ambassador recognized the work of his friend Alberto Gamero and praised the team’s performance throughout the championship.
“I think the result was very good. The first half of Tolima was quite good, Millonarios did not catch the ball, and the game was up 1-0 -for Tolima-. Starting the second half with the expulsion of Arango became much more complicated and it was believed that difficulties would be passed. But how is football, after the expulsion, the team improved, Gamero released Mackalister a little more and began to have the ball, and well, at the end of the game, a very clear, innocent, childish penalty, gave the peace of mind that it only touches to win. With 1-0 it was time to overcome the scoreboard and score two goals to become champion, so this result leaves much more peace of mind, you do not have to rush to be able to handle the game. You just have to win. It made me very happy. ”
“Now we have to define the match with Tolima here, it is a very difficult team, very physical, very fast, We have to play to the rhythm of Millionaires, we have to catch the ball and not play back and forth, which is what they want. It will be a tough match, but I have complete confidence that we will win“.
Regarding the absence of Cristian Arango, Vanemerak assured that it is an important loss for the final, because without the ’10’ ‘goals are lost’.
“As Arango is not there, we lose goals, he is in a good footballing moment, it was so much so that it was sounding for the National Team. If they are there, one sleeps more calmly, it does not mean that the other boys have no conditions, but experience, continuity … it will be a very important absence. I hope Uribe is physically well, also Mackalister. I am of the idea that I cling to the greats who are the ones who have to manage the team, they have to order you and the young people have to be guided. It will be time to suffer. “
Mario Alberto Vanemerak’s relationship with Alberto Gamero is special, they were champions with Millionaires in ’88 as players; then they met in Boyacá Chicó to form the coaching staff of Eduardo Pimentel’s team. Now, with different realities, the blue bond is the one that unites them and that is why the title of Millionaires, with his friend at the helm, has added value.
“Gamero is very good people, very healthy, very noble, he is a good friend. As a coach for me he is among the best three in Colombian football. I think that Gamero already has to jump abroad, not go to Arabia to look for money, but go to Argentina, Brazil … He has shown that he is very good, very tactical, he prepares the games very well. Sometimes it is difficult for him to start with the teams, but without a doubt it is proven that he is among the best coaches in the FPC. It is the moment to go to a more important League “.
“For him it would be a pride to be a champion as a player and later as a coach, which is not easy. All the litter that we were know who Alberto Gamero is, Where does he come from, what he is like, and well, he deserves it for himself, for his family. ”
When Gamero arrived at Millonarios in December 2019, the rumor grew that Vanemerak could be his assistant on the bench; However, this never happened, because, despite the possibility, Mario assured that it would be incoherent to accept to return to the club in the hands of a leadership which he has strongly criticized.
“It was rumors and I never asked Gamero if he was going to take me or not. I was one of the main people who always wanted Gamero to arrive, because of what he loves Millionaires, because of what he is a fan, because of the desire to reach Millionaires as a coach, but no, It is an uncomfortable thing, he loved me as a friend, as an assistant, but there is a difference between the leaders and me, so it would have been very uncomfortable for Gamero to be there with me“.
“Obviously I have been very critical of this leadership and I don’t like how they run the club. Out of respect, I never told Gamero to take me to avoid that problem. If I’m honest, if I had been asked to go back to the club, I’m not going. I have been a very harsh critic against the leaders and it is not good that after talking so much, go to work with people who do not think the same.
Vanemerak will be one more fan this Sunday when the ball rolls in El Campín, as a good fan and lover of football, he has a cabal to get the title and that is to be with his family. He stated that the ‘Pájaro’ Juárez suggested that he watch the game at his restaurant; However, the former DT albiazul who put Millonarios to dream of the South American in the 2007-2008 season, prefers to be calm on the sofa at home, and after lifting the title, go out to the street with the car, whistle, and celebrate wisely.
“The cabal is to see him in my house with my wife and my daughter. They have called me to comment, to talk … even the ‘Pájaro’ Juárez, who is my friend, has invited me to the restaurant, but I watch the Millionaires games here at my house and for me it is a cabal. I like to see him calm, analyze, when there are a lot of people you get very distracted. If we win, we will go out in the car to whistle, flagging, but hey, we wait to see what happens. “
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