He was an idol of Racing and San Lorenzo, he retired at the age of 31 and left football: today he manages ten service stations

“I studied public accounting at the University of Morón and with the permanent concern of training myself, because there is something that is clear: nothing comes to you, no one is going to knock on your door to do business. initiative is essential. In all undertakings I am supported by my brother and we always say the same thing: You have to try ten times and get one. It is like the steering wheel on the right that bites into the void and the ball does not reach it. If you do it only once, you will never score a goal, now if you send yourself many times, it will happen on some occasion. This is the same”.

The analogy is very football-oriented and joins the two worlds of Paul Michelini. The once particular and special, as he was as a professional player, and the current one as an outstanding businessman in more than one area. There is life after football, beyond number five.

“Once you retire, the days are completely different, because you don’t live with the adrenaline of having to go out on the pitch on Sunday, with those mood swings that happen so quickly in football, where you go from applause to insult and vice versa. You don’t have that in business life, but you also enjoy other things, like aiming to have other types of goals and having weekends off, so at first you feel kind of weird (laughs). When the time comes to retire, some make a cut, turn the page, stop watching games and disassociate themselves from that area. Others get stuck and start going to the clubs, to the field, they see videos of their performances or magazine clippings. They are two well marked groups”.

When the century was ending, Pablo began to be interested in the possibility of making investments and thus he started linking up with different people who knew the field of service stations. The first ones were in Greater Buenos Aires, when he was still a footballer, later those from the Capital arrived and now they reach 10 (“it is the area that I know the most and where I am comfortable”). Also in the construction sector, with an apart, 20 years ago, in the then incipient Mar de las Pampas, and with a splendid hotel in the province of San Juan.

“It is undeniable that the fact of playing matches is missed and with a full court, but it is crucial that the player has a clear horizon for the day after, because your head is busy and you arrive at night tired, wanting to sleep and not to review your career. You deal with what is coming and not what happened and, for me, this is a fundamental point. It is healthy to be able to make a cut and start as a second stage of life. I have contact with some of the boys with whom I shared schools, especially in Saint Lawrenceas Pusineri, Campagnuolo and Tuzzio, with whom, in addition, we are partners in a venture. I also talk often with Bernardo Romeo, Leo Rodriguez, El Beto Acosta, Diego Capria and Felix Benito”.

Pablo decided to say goodbye to the soccer player who lived in him in 2005, with the clear idea of ​​putting his goal elsewhere. However, a short time later, he said yes to an offer that linked him again with San Lorenzo.

“I was manager at the time that Rafael Savino was the president and Oscar Ruggeri the coach. It was a very short period, just a few months; I accepted with the condition of not charging a single peso, so I could also continue with my other activities. I went to the Sports City every day, but without neglecting my business. It didn’t last long because when the team wasn’t doing well, they insulted me and called me a thief, when I didn’t perceive anything and gave them the time of my life. I fought with the representatives of the players, because their expectations seemed high to me and I sided with the club, obviously. I also didn’t feel comfortable discussing the awards with the squad, especially since some of the guys had been my teammates. I realized that I didn’t enjoy it and I never got involved with football again. The only exception was with the Chacho Coudet, that he came to see me when he was going to start his career as a technician to be his field assistant. He insisted on me, he told me to think about it, but I was clear about what he wanted. I was very happy for him, as he is doing a great job as manager”.

The pandemic also hit their activities, as it happened to most Argentines. However, the ever attentive eye made him venture into a new field: “I go down the street and observe the businesses, because some open in a certain area, who are not doing so well, and so on. And as soon as the quarantine began, I saw a great boom in bicycles and we began to sell them at service stations, until I received a complaint. Obviously it was from the bike rack two blocks away (laughs). So, since I have one of the premises with access to two streets, I closed part of the station bar, set up a small business to continue there and put my 21-year-old son in charge, so that he can have his first experiences.”

His debut in the First Division was in February ’92, as part of a Deportivo Español team. who had the average rope around his neck. In that Clausura he had an extraordinary campaign that led him to come out second, just two points behind Newell’s de Bielsa and forget about relegation. His bustle in the middle of the field seemed to him that he was going unnoticed, however, someone had noticed his conditions

“In the middle of ’94 they told me that Racing was interested in my pass and it was done right away. When I passed the medical examination, Bilardo appeared. She started talking to me and told me that she had been following me for a while. At that time, he was an advisor for Tournaments and Competitions and from there the link with the club had been made. I think nobody knew me (laughs), but Carlos knew about all the players. At the end of that year, President Juan Destéfano came to report that the new coach was going to be Diego. It was a unique experience, from which I was left with his warmth in the locker room and being close to the player in difficult moments. I was able to realize how difficult his life was on a day-to-day basis: he couldn’t go out on the street, because people loved him so much that they harassed him non-stop. Two years later, in 1997, I had to face him in a Boca – Racing at La Bombonera, in what was his last lap. I was a strong footballer and that was the only time I was on the pitch in fear of hurting someone, even if it was unintentionally, and that’s why I was more cautious than usual.. He was imposing, he had a special aura that hypnotized you as a person. I never knew why, but it was like that.”

Five years of his career passed in Racing, where he played 167 official matches and experienced a bit of everything, in that roller coaster of emotions that was The academy in the final five years of the last century: “The Turkish Garcia It was very important for the group and one of the most fun. I came from Español, where we performed with very few people in the stands and Racing was a hive, so he told me that when I went out to the Cylinder, it was like entering the Roman circus, going out to the lions (laughs). He helped to relax a locker room where the pressure was felt a lot. I had already gone through a call for creditors in Spanish, I was going to have it in Saint Lawrence and it also touched me there, added to the bankruptcy, which was a shocking moment. The debt was immense and that is why the limit situation was reached, to the point that the little we charged was paid to us in a court in the city of La Plata. The first date of Clausura ’99 arrived in March and we couldn’t play because of the legal problem. The fans called themselves in the stadium and we called each other and we also joined. It was touching and exciting, just like the following week when we were authorized to perform and we went to Rosario to face Central. It was an impressive caravan of cars on Route 9″.

In July ’99 there was a transfer that would mark him forever, going from one great to another, since the new destination was San Lorenzo: “Oscar Ruggeri, who was the coach, asked me to replace a great number five as Fernando Galetto. In total there were 6 years in which I was lucky enough to participate in very good teams. Many of us were in the prime of racing and with Manuel Pellegrini we exploded to win the Clausura 2001, the Mercosur Cup of that year, the club’s first international title and, already with Rubén Insúa as coach, the South American 2002, where I was lucky enough to score a goal in the final against Atlético Nacional in Medellín”.

The parable of destiny had reserved for Michelini an idyllic and dream ending for his career on a playing field: “It was in the middle of 2005. I was 31 years old and an osteochondritis in my right knee that prevented me from performing at my best and, due to my position, I always had to be at 100%. I could have surgery, but I ruled it out and decided to retire in June, with the fortune that the last match of the tournament was against Racing in Avellaneda. I prepared for a month and a half to dispute it, even for a while. And so it was, with the fortune that I recovered a ball as soon as it started and on that play we scored the goal. After five minutes the change was made and it was over. I remember that Simeone played, that he came to greet me. It was a perfect ending because both fans gave me an ovation”.

The deployment, the location and the ability to recover one ball after another were the characteristics that distinguished Pablo Michelini, who left every last drop of sweat on each of the jackets he wore. He must have marked excellent footballers and all of them have a story with Juan roman riquelme: “I had to face him a lot of times, even when the Bambino put him on the right lane. In December 2000 we played with Boca at La Bombonera, a few days after they had won the Intercontinental against Real Madrid. We had a tough team and that game in particular was very close. I noticed that he was tired and did not perform as usual, perhaps because of the trip. I had it under control until 41 of the second half, when he received a ball at the height of the crescent and suddenly made a half turn and put a filtered pass to Palermo, he left him hand in hand with the goalkeeper and bye, we lost 1- 0. That’s when I finished understanding the quality that these types of players have”.

We said goodbye on a sidewalk on Avenida La Plata, San Lorenzo street by excellence. In the background you could see the ghosts of the Old Gasometer, who also thanked Pablo for having left everything for those colors, as he did with each shirt he wore. The same intelligence with which he moved on the court he applies outside, to enjoy life. Beyond the soccer ball.

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