Jorge Chino Benítez: “Boca is the champion, but River is the one that plays the best”

Oscar Chino Benítez is a benchmark for Boca. As a player he wore the blue and gold jersey in 329 official matches and won six titles. And as DT he was also key in winning the 2004 Copa Sudamericana. He had to take over on an interim basis in a difficult context, after the resignation of Miguel Angel Brindisi, and not only balanced the internal waters but also gave the club an international star in a team played by Guillermo Barros Schelotto, Martín Palermo and Carlos Tevez , among others.

At 71 years old, He gave his opinion about the recent championship won by Boca: “He won it. Boca won it. There are two analyses. As a player, I tell you that we are champions; As a coach I tell you we won the championship, but I also have to continue evaluating things. I have to improve? Yes. Where were the flaws and errors? It has to be done. But one who lived inside Boca and knows the club: the thought is ‘first I win’ and then comes the analysis of what is right and what is wrong… It is like this. It was always like that and it will be like that, ”he said this Monday in statements to the program Lower Plateauby Radio Del Plata.

Was Boca the best team in the championship? They asked him. And Benítez maintained: “Boca is the champion, but River is the one that plays the best. Students liked it too. Racing in the last month and a half, what Gago proposed was good because I know Fernando and I know he likes those things. Afterwards, the finals are played separately. I glimpsed that Boca could win over Tigre, with the aerial game. So it was”.

Regarding the team’s game, he was balanced in his words, although he did not like some criticism either: “In general, criticism depresses me because it is aggressive at times, or it is a different way of thinking. You can’t believe that because you played soccer you know more than others, all voices are valid, but I didn’t like the criticism that was made of Boca. You ask me: did you like how Boca played? No. It is the truth, but sometimes the criticism was harsh.

In relation to the current Boca squad, he said: “There wasn’t a player that you would say… the best player. It was widespread, everyone goes everywhere. In the future I look and I think that Alan Varela it’s going to be important. Pol Fernandez is 5? Pol Fernandez is a cold thinker who has to play later to define things”.

former midfielder, that he conquered the titles as a player of Metropolitano 1976 and 81, Nacional 76; Libertadores Cups 77 and 78 and the Intercontinental Cup 1977, knows what the Copa Libertadores means in the life of Boca. “Toto Lorenzo told you that in the Copa Libertadores no one was going to ask about the runner-up or the one who came third. The one left in history was the first. ‘How did he play?’ They don’t ask him that. They analyze the one who won. We got here, and we have to win. That was always the thought in Boca, that’s why it’s logical that there is so much expectation with Thursday’s match against Deportivo Cali”.

And he continued with his analysis: “The Cup is important. Everything is day to day in Boca. The local tournaments are obviously important, you have to come out every year among the first 4 because you have to participate in the Cupin international tournaments. Fundamental the party with Cali, the thought of always”. If Boca stays in the first stage, is it a failure? They asked Chino Benítez. And he said: “No. Many things will have to be evaluated and everyone can give their opinion. It’s going to make noise if that happens, but I don’t fail.”

Benítez compared the reality of Battaglia with what he had to live with Juan Carlos Lorenzo (DT) in his time as a player: “The same thing happened to Lorenzo. They wanted to kill him. The only one who saved him was Alberto J. Armando, the president at the time, who said: the last one to turn off the light is Lorenzo.” The results also lead you to gain confidence. I arrived at the first in Boca but without first-class experience. I had worked in football and there were decisions that cost me dearly. It happened to me. Why doesn’t Battaglia deserve criticism? Sitting on the bench in Boca is very expensive, you have to accept certain things because they can happen to you. As a technician you have all the responsibility and accept criticism, which goes wrong. They weren’t all wrong. Did he play a lot of games badly? Yes. There were games that Boca played badly. And why did he play bad? I think Boca is 4-3-1-2. Hence for whatever. There are talents on the squad, do we know how to take advantage of all of them?” Benítez closed his analysis.