Andrés Balanta received his last goodbye this weekend in Cali, where family, friends and soccer fans paid him an emotional tribute. The Atlético Tucumán midfielder died on Tuesday at the age of 22 during practice. Lucas Pusineri, the DT who had also directed him at Deportivo Cali, participated in the ceremony, where he was very affected, disconsolate, hit hard by the loss.
Deportivo Cali fans at the farewell to Andrés Balanta (AFP).The Dean’s DT traveled to Cali together with a club manager, Gabriel Díaz. Balanta was honored on Saturday at the Deportivo Cali headquarters. And this Sunday he was fired on a tour of the city before being taken to the South Metropolitan Cemetery.
The 22-year-old footballer died after collapsing in full practice. They did resuscitation maneuvers and defibrillator work for more than 40 minutes, but to no avail. He arrived at the hospital lifeless.
The Colombian and world soccer environment mourned the death of the Colombian soccer player, who had already fainted when he was a youth squad for Deportivo Cali.
What did the autopsy say?
“Mr. Balanta would have died of heart problems, which will be confirmed once the pathological anatomy studies are finished, according to what the doctor who performed the autopsy informed us,” reported Ignacio López Bustos, head of the Homicide Specialized Prosecutor Unit, which is investigating the case.
Who was Andrés Balanta?
The Colombian midfielder (a native of Cali) had made his debut at Deportivo Cali in 2018. A year later, already under the technical direction of Pusineri, he had established himself as a starter in the Cali team. A classic midfielder, like “Wilmar Barrios”, as Andrés himself had defined himself when he arrived in Argentina years later. He knew how to be a champion with Cali in 2021 and integrated different youth teams from his country. In the first part of this 2022 he had played the Libertadores, facing Boca in the group stage.
In the middle of this year he had the chance to go on loan (with a purchase option) to the Dean based on the request made by Pusineri. “I feel happy and lucky to have arrived at such a special place, a team with such passionate fans. The truth is that for me it is a great opportunity to be able to take this leap in my career, coming here raises my expectations as a player and as a grow and always want to evolve, and I think it will be a very important step in my life as a professional”, he had said on his arrival in the country, in addition to highlighting the DT himself.
In this semester he had had the opportunity to enter seven games in A. Tucumán, but playing just 38 minutes in total. He had provided an assist against Newell’s, with the Dean winning 2-0 on that occasion. Against the local and pass-goal for Tesuri from the late Balanta.
