Juan Fernando Quintero He was part of the minor divisions in Envigado where he came to play the pony football. She grew up without his father, who disappeared in 1995 after going to the VII Brigade to get his military ID and having an altercation with then-captain Zapateiro Altamirando, who has just retired as Army commander.
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His short stature did not prevent him from At only 16 years old, in 2009, Óscar Aristizábal made his debut in the first division. By 2010 the ‘oranges’ were experiencing a difficult situation trying to escape relegation.
Pedro Sarmiento assumed the reins of the team in the middle of the year and in the Completion Envigado barely added 9 points. Cortuluá relegated directly and the Antioquians had to play the promotion against Deportivo Pasto, which was runner-up in the B. The first leg was played in the Nariño capital, Quintero came on at 67 minutes and scored the only goal of the game in the last minute after a great individual play and a shot from mid-range.
On December 15, the first half could only be played at the Polideportivo Sur due to rain. The next day it resumed at 10:00 am and Weimar Olivares put the advantage for the locals at 55.
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The fans began to pressure the coach to get Quintero in, he wanted to see a show and they yelled at him: “Scary, scared, scared!” With 13 minutes to go, Sarmiento paid attention and according to Carlos ‘Chumi’ Álvarez, defender Germán Mera assured: “I’m going to throw it in the air.”
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The ‘Chumi’ scored 2 – 0 and the series was already finished. However, at 84 ‘Juanfer’ made a wall with Néider Morantes and Mera fulfilled his promise. Strong kick to the talented young man who went flying. He, crying and on a stretcher, left the field of play while he lamented: “My God, why? why?”.
An ambulance took Quintero and the victory and permanence in the A had a bittersweet taste.
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Of course, Mera was sent off and ‘Juanfer’ suffered a fractured tibia. The defender defended himself saying:
“I asked for his phone to apologize and to be aware of his operation. I also want to talk to his mother who was upset with me. But I never intended to harm him.” The thing did not stop there and in a conversation with Red Deportivo de Cali, Mera she said that she was warned that the environment “was heating up” and that she had better leave.
Almost immediately Mera picked up her things at the hotel and went to the airport to travel to Cali, since Deportivo Cali was the owner of her sports rights. “My colleagues told me that they went to the hotel to pick me up in a white van, but I had already traveled”.
In the stadium one of the Pasto players had been confused with Mera and they warned him that it would not stay that way. Fortunately The operation went well for Quintero and after 7 months he returned to play, while Germán Mera was given 7 sanction dates.
“He gave me a lot of stone because people think that I have a grudge against Juan Fernando. They began to say that I had to put it in and I put it in as an asshole. What I do is take care of it. I know the moments and I know how to measure the thermometer. I am to blame that the ‘pelao’ was thrown into the pack. I can’t dance to the sound of the stands,” said Pedro Sarmiento.
“The players from before were respectful, they entered with everything, but taking care of the skilled players. It happened to me that they were players with a lot of experience, strong, but without bad intentions. Now look at this play by Juan Fernando, it overshadows everything,” said Néider Morantes.
