Babington, Basile and Brindisi remembered the Huracán champion of Metro 73

“How time passed, idiot”, says Carlos Babington to Miguel Brindisi, while they wait for Alfio Basile. Coco arrives, hugs Miguelito, whispers in his ear how long it’s been since they’ve seen each other, with the English, also loud. The image resembles those goal celebrations from five decades ago, when they became champions with Huracán del Metropolitano in 1973. Three pillars of that team César Luis Menotti They did not hesitate before the proposal of Clarion. La Raya, the historic restaurant that will turn 80 on September 21, is the place of meeting and reunion. In the atmosphere you can feel the joy, nostalgia and expectation to remember that milestone in Argentine football, of which this September 16 marks 50 years.

Alfio Coco Basile, always memorable. Photo: Marcelo Carroll.

You don’t need too many questions. First, the warm-up, more intimate, linked to personal issues since they had not seen each other for a long time. Then the ball started rolling as soon as the group gathered around the table. “We had fun and really enjoyed getting on the field”they say and with a first-class masterful touch from Brindisi the memory of René Orlando Houseman arises.

Miguel Brindisi explains the secrets of the champion. Photo: Marcelo Carroll. Alfio Coco Basile Carlos Babington Miguel Brindisi they chatted until dawn and remembered thousands of anecdotes from that unforgettable Hurricane of ’73. Photo: Marcelo Carroll.

“Since Houseman never came out again in Argentine football”says Miguel. “He was unpredictable, good with both legs and very handsome inside the area,” describes Babington. Next, Basile, the most memorable of the three, remembers the day he arrived in Mar del Plata. “We were at the hotel and he appeared, tiny, short, with a red suitcase. We looked at each other and said ‘that must be the reinforcement’. I went to receive him, I introduced myself, shy, I barely stammered. I took him to introduce him to Flaco, who I don’t think even knew him. He created some doubt in us, but in the afternoon, in the first practice, he broke it, and drove Lavorato crazy. There we realized that we were facing a phenomenon”.

One could not talk about the Fool without remembering some story in which he had done his thing and, immediately, the Coco remembers the occasion in which he disappeared from a rally and they were alerted by Fatigue Russian, Houseman’s roommate, from this situation they went looking for him everywhere. He showed up before the game, played and tore it up. “Against Boca”says the Coconut. “No, it was against River”doubts the Englishman. The mystery of detecting that match remains valid.

El Coco, with his unmistakable loud voice, comes out playing from the background and strikes the chord of conviction. “When the preseason started we had a great team. “After beating River in ’72, we knew we were going to be champions.”. Babington stops her on her chest and explains that there was something else, an extra, a coincidence of situations that seemed to work in favor of Huracán being a great team and reveals how the arrival of Omar Larrosa, the champion’s scorer with 16 goals, came about. . “Omar says that he had everything arranged to go to Gimnasia, his car broke down when he was going to La Plata. took the opportunity to go greet Menotti and Flaco convinced him to sign with Huracán”.

The figure of César Luis Menotti floats in the atmosphere. Everyone was happy because two days before he had been discharged and he was recovering from his ailments. That, in other circumstances, he would have undoubtedly participated in the meeting. “The leadership, at that time, hired the four best coaches of the moment, Renato Cesarini, Néstor Rossi, Carmelo Faraone and Osvaldo Zubeldía. He didn’t lift. Menotti did not paint and ended up taking us champions”says the Englishman.

“Menotti’s talks lasted five minutes: two were to turn on the faso and put on the jacket. Then he spoke for three minutes. He motivated and sometimes threw away those key data. One was against River. He told us that everyone was talking about Beto, but that the good one was Jota Jota López.”, reveals Miguelito. Babington remains grateful for the trust he gave her. “Everyone told me that I played well but no one liked me. Menotti told me ‘You are the player I want to make the team.’ “El Flaco made you feel the best of all.”

Like all great teams, there were secrets that made it work. “Everything started on the left and ended on the right. “Hurricane played by memory”, says Basile and remembers what Jorge Carrascosa said in his ear, in the middle of the game, to whom he had warned that it was not necessary to project himself as he did in Rosario Central. “You were right, Coco, these solve everything, they are phenomena.”

“We played against all the teams. I, who was 10, played further back and Miguel, who was 8, played further forward.”clarifies the English. Also, there was room for infidelity. In times when how he takes free throws and how effective he is stands out Lionel Messiwe must remember that Huracán had two exquisite kickers in Babington and Brindisi.

One left-handed and one right-handed, the envy of any team. “From the middle to the left I kicked and from the middle to the right Carlos kicked. “We both knew that and there was never a problem.”, Brindisi specifies. In that tournament, Globo scored three goals from free kicks, two by English and one by Miguel.

In those times everything was different: there were no top-level playing fields, no extreme care, nor a variety of footwear. And very convinced, while the entire table remains silent, Brindisi reflects: “Today we would be much more”. Everyone approves.

Alfio Basile, Carlos Babington and Miguel Brindisi and a conviction: “Today we would be much more,” I said. Photo: Marcelo Carroll.

Coco Basile continues to be the leader of the group. When he speaks, everyone listens. And he confesses, for the first time, how he came to Huracán: “We went with Bocha Maschio to La Cumbre to do the preseason in 1971. Then I was about to fix the contract and I told them that if they didn’t pay me more I would leave Racing. At the airport I told Bocha that I was leaving Racing. I went to Mar del Plata and, to keep up the pace, I played ball on the beach. In a dive, where Seijo’s son (president of Huracán at that time) was, who was called Chichín, I hit him with an iron and broke him. Chichín, who was broke, asked me if he wanted to go to Huracán. I met at the Hotel Dorá with Seijo Sr. and Chichin. The transfer ended up being made for 12 million pesos and Carmelo Faraone, the coach at that time, spoke to me. It turns out that they went to play in Bahía Blanca and lost: Seijo threw Faraone in front of me and brought Osvaldo Zubeldía with Carlos Bilardo,” he confesses.

Suddenly, and taking advantage of the attention placed on him, Coco tells another anecdote from the time, although this one is related to PRODE, the sports forecasts that were very popular at that time: “It turns out that our match against Vélez and A boy came with the PRODE ticket to tell us that he had won all the matches and was missing ours, he asked us to please win. He had told us that he lived for Tigre and so on. The game was played on a Tuesday and we won 1-0 with a goal from me.. “We were hoping he would return the favor, but he never showed up again.” Basile doesn’t mess up a single fact. The only winner was Rogelio Romero, 40 years old, who won a pot of more than 600 million pesos at the time.

The note published by Clarín to the only PRODE winner, after Huracán’s victory over Vélez 1-0 with a goal from Alfio Basile, in the 1973 Metropolitano.

And, suddenly, a compliment floods the table. “I don’t know if Huracán would have been what it was without Basile. El Coco finished playing on Sunday, he was recovering all week almost without training and he returned to play on Sunday. “They carried him off the field on their shoulders,” says Babington. “I hurt my knee in Racing. “I had a torn meniscus and they took fluid out of my right knee all the time.”, clarifies Coco. However, he was the leader and the great guide that his teammates had on the court. In fact, at 50 years old, Babington and Brindisi still look at him differently: he is still their captain.

Carlos Babington tells details about the 1973 Metropolitano champion Huracán. Photo: Marcelo Carroll.

“If we had played the entire tournament with the same team, we would have been a record. We scored 5 or 6 goals as if nothing had happened”, emphasizes Coco, remembering that during much of the tournament Brindisi, Babington, Houseman, Carrascosa, Roque Avallay and Francisco Russo were called up by Sívori to the national team. “We were in Paraguay the day we became champions against Gimnasia. We wanted to return in a small plane, but they wouldn’t let us,” says Brindisi. The Englishman nods.

The talk lasted until after two in the morning. It was first half, second half, extension. Football and nostalgia won by a landslide. Also the emotion before the emotional question of the night.

-What did that Hurricane mean and why does it continue to transcend?

“I was in a team like Racing that was the best, but Huracán was technically the best team I played for. That Huracán had a very short career, but it transcended because the field was filled with people and people from any team came to see Huracán” (Basile).

“My history with Huracán is very long. It’s the best memory I have. I had a lot of fun, I enjoyed it a lot. That team was the football that Argentines like. That Hurricane was the popular taste” (Babington).

“Hurricane is a neighborhood, it is friends. With my father at the table we talked about the Globe. He was a fan of wherever I went. I was born in Sarda, I did a year at Bernasconi, I went to the Marist school and spent the afternoons at the headquarters. My parents never missed a game, whether home or away. It is a very strong feeling. The rectangle traps or expels. That team invited people to watch him play. It was a communion between the locker room and the people. It transcended so much because the father told it to the son and the son, even without seeing us, was nourished by that story”, (Brindisi, cadet member 14296)

2023-09-16 09:01:40
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