He had a quickdraw to play in the films of Martin Scorsese or those of Brian de Palma. With a gun and a cigarillo, he would have made the perfect villain, the one who kicks the ass at the slightest confusion. Jorge Dominguez looked like an actor, but the Argentinian has always preferred football to cinema.
A good thing for the people of Nice who see him arrive in the summer of 1984 with his suitcase and his shirt open on a backpacker’s chest. Still traumatized by the nightmare experienced against Racing during the accession play-offs of the previous season, the Gym and its supporters began to despair. Missing the rise to D1 twice in a row causes heartburn and encourages pessimism. Especially when, in full preparation, we take a knockout in a friendly match against neighboring Monaco. At the club, panic strikes on all floors.
The leaders hasten to sign Mustapha Dahleb (PSG) and Albert Gemmrich (Strasbourg), two players with a good business card, but whose career is advancing towards dusk. Mario Innocentini wants more. In search of a striker, he dials an Argentinian number and asks the essential Rafael Santos to find him the rare pearl. A week before the end of the transfer window, the former OGCN attacking midfielder turned agent recalls the president. The future Gym striker will be called Jorge Dominguez, alias El Potro.
In Argentina, the man nicknamed the wild horse is renowned for devastating defenses and degrading goalkeepers. The fans of Gymnasia Y Escrima de la Plata and those of Boca Juniors loved this black-haired centre-forward madly. In France, nobody knows him. The case is settled in the form of a paying loan with an option to buy. Its price: 700,000 francs. Or 106,000 euros. Or 218,000 euros with the cost of inflation. A gift. Especially compared to today’s numbers.
“Jorge was a phenomenon”
Ray’s stadium discovers a force of nature that strikes in all positions and goes to the head with ferocity. The public is quickly conquered. His teammates love his efficiency as much as his smile. Jorge Dominguez is unanimous. Shocked by the sad news, André Amitrano, Patrick Bruzzichessi and Fabrice Mège will have the same expression: “Jorge, he was a phenomenon!”
During this 1984-85 season, Dominguez scored goal after goal. At the Ray, the announcer shouts. Outside, the stadiums turn the sound down. Puts the Gym on his back and the opponent on his ass. “He gave us incredible goals. He cut all trajectories. El Potro lived up to his nickname. He was the one who brought us to Division 1. He was strong, powerful, generous. Not only was he fearless, but he also terrified the defenders. He was going into them. At the time, the attackers were not protected like now, that did not prevent him from going to coal”, remembers Dédé Amitrano, flying goalkeeper with gloves of wisdom.
“The hotter it was, the better it was”
Fabrice Mège compares it to a hurricane. “On the field or in the locker room, it was blowing with him. The hotter, tenser, more violent the match, the better it was. He knew how to raise the aggressiveness cursor. Behind him, I enjoyed myself. He was easy to find. He knew how to take the depth or play placed. And apart from Mark Hateley, with whom I played in Monaco, I have never seen a stronger head. What a fool. And what a good guy. Wear his heart on his sleeve. Always ready to help friends”tells the middle to the panoramic vision.
“We went to the Félix and the Escurial”
In the streets of Nice, Jorge Dominguez never refuses an autograph or a kiss. In the evening, he sometimes goes on a trip with Patrick Bruzzichessi. Needless to say, no one is bothered enough to steal a parking spot or their wallet. Bruzzi is the guide. “We had our itinerary. Dinner at the Felix Faure where Nounours served him a nice red meat. Then we went to the Grand Escurial where we drank water mints (laughs) at the counter… We had a good time. He was the ideal friend. It was even I who introduced him to Dominique who was to become his wife”recounts the lumberjack stopper who cut more legs than wood.
On the pitch, El Potro leaves the light on. Or he sets fire. A battle horse. While all of France hopes to see the Greens find the elite, it is the Gym that invites itself to the floor above. Well done. On May 7, 1985, the team of Jean Sérafin signs its rise in the first division in Grenoble.
Victory 3-2 with a goal and an assist from his favorite Argentinian. All Nice rushes to the airport around 2 am to celebrate the return of the heroes. The next day, the players parade on a float in front of thousands of joyful Nice residents. Jorge Dominguez is the man through whom happiness came. He scored 28 goals in 32 games and finished top scorer in D2. Respect.
“He, the blood felt cheated”
In the summer of 1985, the loan became a transfer. El Potro belongs to the OGCN. Everyone is rubbing their hands. No one then imagines the showdown that will follow. Considering himself aggrieved by a bonus that has gone astray somewhere and a contract with vague outlines, Jorge Dominguez is demanding an increase that President Innocentini will refuse him. Result: the striker skips the first game of the season in Bordeaux. Between the two men, war is declared. Nobody wants to let go. “Jorge was whole, full of blood. He thought he had been cheated. And he wanted to be supported, loved. With him, the mind also passed through the affective”, rewinds Fabrice Mège. Meanwhile, the Gym has hired another Argentinian to play on the left side of the attack. Rolando Barrera, aka El Rollo. The dream duo with South American accents will only be a pipe dream. Dominguez has lost the thread and Barrera is injured too often. The first will still score ten goals in 25 games. A total that many attackers in the red and black jersey have never approached.
The Nice story ended, Jorge Dominguez will venture to Toulon where according to his coach Rolland Courbis his passage can be described as “half success. I had asked Delio (Onnis) to manage it. The wild horse was not always easy to lead…”
Subsequently, El Potro will choose Nîmes and Tours. Before a last lap with the Nîmes crowned by a promotion to D1. His total on French soil: 160 goals for 197 games. Stats that speak. Not mumbling data.
“The Gym was his favorite club”
“He was a jovial guy, always in a good mood, endearing”, whisper his playbrothers. Dominique, his ex-wife, mother of his two children Dylan (36 years old) and Love (33 years old) has not forgotten the benevolence of this extraordinary man, strong, proud, ready to reach out to those he thought were offside. Together, they lived in Nice-Ouest, Belles Terres, and Cagnes-sur-Mer, opposite the racecourse, before flying to Argentina. In 2009, following the couple’s separation, Dominique la Niçoise returned to her land.
“Jorge got shivers when he talked about Nice and the Gym. It was his favorite club. The one who looked like him…”, she explains, her voice full of grief. In Buenos Aires, Dominguez was a players’ agent before working for FIFPRO and the Argentinian players’ union. Two years ago, El Potro started an intense match against cancer.
“We believed in victory. Alas, despite his strength of character and his fighter temperament, my father relapsed”, cries Dylan who has been living in Nice for six months. His sister Love, she accompanied the last moments of the fighting dad. History that he gets to know his 6-month-old grandson. Sunday, Jorge Dominguez passed away.
He was 64 years old. Yesterday he was buried in Buenos Aires. Tomorrow, he will still be this fiery scorer who hoisted Nice in the first division. Idols never go very far.
Tributes
OGC Nice will pay tribute to Jorge Dominguez during the first L1 match against Lille, then by receiving his family before the Nice-Lyon match. Always caring for the heroes of the past, Virginie Rossetti did not fail to send a wreath with a message (Forever in our hearts. OGC Nice) for the funeral of the Argentine striker.
