From Soccer to Falcon Training: The Journey of Morales Neumann

Morales Neumann and his falcon

Jerónimo Morales Neumann made the decision to hang up his boots “quite young”, at 31 years old. The former Mendoza striker had debuted in River’s Primera with Daniel Alberto Passarella in April 2006, in a 3-3 against Gimnasia y Esgrima La Plata for the Clausura Tournament. In his debut, he scored one of the million-dollar goals and shared a team with Gonzalo el Pipita Higuain, Juan Pablo Carrizo, Rubens Sambueza, Nicolás Domingo, Augusto Fernández and Lucas Pusineri, among others.

With the River Plate shirt he played three games in the highest category until he was lowered to the Fourth Division for a “political issue”: “They asked me for 500 thousand dollars to be able to continue playing in the First Division for one more championship. That money was not there, so they took me down to the Fourth directly,” denounces the former attacker, who preferred not to give the names of those who demanded the money.

After a short time in Nuñez, he ended up in Emelec in Ecuador to play in the Copa Libertadores. Then, he went through San Lorenzo de Almagro, Instituto de Córdoba, where he did very well and was sold to Estudiantes de La Plata, requested by Alejandro Sabella.

“I missed the 09 Club World Cup final against Messi’s Barcelona because I got mononucleosis. Enzo Pérez replaced me. “I wanted to kill myself,” says the native of Godoy Cruz, Mendoza.

After a year at Pincha, he was sold to the Premier League to join Barnsley FC. Later, his career also took him to Independiente Rivadavia de Mendoza, before emigrating to Australian football to wear the shirts of Adelaide United and Newcastle United. “I did very well in Australia for five years, but I returned because I prioritized my family after the death of my sister,” explains Morales Neumann in a one-on-one interview with Infobae.

With Pipita Higuaín, in River

The former soccer player retired professionally after suffering various injuries that led him to “suffer from soccer.” He “retired” at 31 and is about to turn 38. Today, he lives far from the fields, enjoys the countryside and his personal businesses, and has a very particular hobby: training falcons.

– What is it about your life, Jerónimo?

– I am calm and relaxed, leading a peasant life in La Pampa. I am from Mendoza, but I am here working in a field. In addition, I have some businesses in Bariloche with some friends who have fields, and in Mendoza I manage properties.

– Is it true that you train falcons?

– It’s a hobby I have, I don’t dedicate myself to that. But I have been a falcon trainer for a long time. I like hunting with falcons. The falcon is trained as if it were a dog. I have to take him little by little and have him in the field. I have a friend who is a falcon trainer and he has helped me a lot, but I don’t know how to train. I just go with him and learn.

– How long have you had a falcon?

– Five years ago. The wild falcon lives 20 years and the one in captivity, which is the one I have, lives 25 years, because it is better fed and cared for.

– What do you feed it with?

– We buy chicken and give it the right and necessary food. With that they live five years longer, compared to wild falcons.

– Did you ever miss any?

-Yeah. They don’t really escape, because I put a chip on them to track them. They go away chasing a bird, but since they have a built-in chip from the iPad I can see where it is. Once it happened to me that a very strong wind caught me and carried the falcon 40 kilometers away. We couldn’t rescue him at night, but we did the next day. At night he was in a forest, up a tree and we couldn’t see him. But the next day, with the clarity of the sun, we rescued him. He doesn’t have good visibility in the dark, but once he sees you, he comes to you, looking for you. The only thing I did was stretch out one of my arms so that it was placed there as if it were going to eat. Where do you sleep? Not in a cage, because if it flies it hits itself with its wings. He sleeps in a shed.

-What was it like going from being a soccer player to training falcons?

– In my last year as a soccer player, I was already doing it while in Mendoza when I played for Independiente Rivadavia. I always liked birds, and a long time ago I met a person who gave me the contact to buy a falcon and I bought it. So, I started when I was a professional player and I had the hobby that I keep to this day.

He came to Estudiantes at the request of Sabella and shared a team with Verón, Gata Fernández, Enzo Pérez and Chapu Braña, among other great players.

– Do you like animals a lot?

.-If I like a lot. In Mendoza I have raptor eagles. It is a sport, almost a science. You have to train the eagles well, because if they don’t fly and they won’t come back. What I do is go hunting with eagles. It’s a hobby. I always liked wild animals, like buffalo and deer. But before I couldn’t have them because of my career as a soccer player, which allowed me to travel constantly. I really like nature and the countryside, and I enjoy doing this right now.

– Do you still have the habit of playing ball?

– No, I walked away from football due to injuries. In addition, I have both broken shoulders and a very complicated knee. I tried to play, but my shoulders came out of place. If at some point I feel like playing, I’m going to do it, but right now I don’t have those intentions.

-How were your beginnings in football?

– I started when I was seven years old in Godoy Cruz, Mendoza. Then, at 12, I traveled to Buenos Aires to try out for River Plate. I was signed and was in the River pension until I debuted in the First Division, where I played three games: a friendly against Temperley, I made my professional debut against Gimnasia y Esgrima La Plata for the local tournament, scoring a goal, and then I faced Racing de Avellaneda. Then, the 2006 World Cup came, and for “political” reasons, they dropped me to the Fourth Division of River Plate.

– What was the reason that made you leave the First?

– They asked me for 500 thousand dollars to be able to continue playing in First Division for one more championship. There wasn’t that money, so they dropped me to the Fourth Division, directly.

-Who asked you for money in River?

– I prefer not to give names, and when they took me down to the Fourth I wanted to leave. So from there I went to Emelec in Ecuador.

– With whom did you share the millionaire team?

– Gonzalo Pipa Higuain, Marcelo Gallardo, Burrito Ortega, Radamel Falcao, Lucas Pusineri, Germán Lux, among others. I got along very well with Falcao, we were excellent companions for five years in the same category. And we are still part of the 86 WhatsApp group, and we talk often.

– Is it true that Falcao was the one who told you that you were concentrating for the first time with the Primera team?

– Yes. I was training in the Reserve, and one day he grabbed me and took me to the local locker room, where the Primera was changing. We went in and he showed me the list of those summoned and showed me that my name was there. I will never forget the gesture that Radamel had again. That day was an immense joy for everything I had fought to fulfill the dream I had since I was little. He was 19 years old and he was impressive. He had not reached the First, but he was very close, since he was going to concentrate with the professionals. I entered the concentration with such monsters. No one is going to take that away from me.

In addition to falcon, he trains eagles

-How was Gallardo as a locker room partner?

– He was a father to me. I debuted in First Division with some boots that he gave me. Marcelo with the boys was very generous and attentive. It made us endure a lot. Furthermore, he was the captain and highly respected. Around there, some of the older ones went too far and Gallardo defended us and supported us a lot. The truth is that as a teammate he was excellent.

– What were those boots like for your debut? Do you still have them?

– No, I don’t have them, I used them until they broke. They were Adidas, yellow with gold. Once a month, Marcelo came with a backpack and gave me booties. He gave me three pairs, like that, in one. It was impossible for me to buy them, I couldn’t even afford the backpack. Gallardo took money out of his own pocket to buy me boots.

-After River you went to Emelec in Ecuador.

– Yes, I was there for a while, before returning to Argentina to play in San Lorenzo de Almagro. In the Ciclón there was Andrés el Cuqui Silvera, Juan Carlos Menseguez, Pocho Ezequiel Lavezzi, Bernardo Romero, Gata Fernández, Látigo Peirone, Gonzalo Bergessio… A great team. We had the best forward in Argentina. So, I couldn’t play and ended up at Instituto de Córdoba with Jorge Ghiso, whom I had had in the River Reserve. Luckily I did very well there, that’s why Estudiantes de La Plata bought me.

– Did you come to Pincha at the request of Alejandro Sabella?

– Yes, he asked me. But I missed the 09 Club World Cup final against Lionel Messi’s Barcelona because I got mononucleosis. What’s more, he was going to play as a starter, but Enzo Pérez ended up doing so. Two weeks before, I started to feel very bad, they did the tests and I was in bed for 60 days. I had things that could have changed my future, because who tells you that after Estudiantes I would have made the leap to Europe.

– What assessment do you make of your time at Pincharrata?

– We had a great team. Although he was not an undisputed starter, I showed that he was capable of playing in the First Division. There were very good players, like Gata Fernández, Mauro Boselli and the Uruguayan Juan Manuel Salguero. Even so, in some games I was a starter, in a team that was difficult to get into because I had just won the Copa Libertadores 08. Despite everything, I played a lot, and for this reason they bought me from the Premier League.

– What club?

– The English Barnsley. But I had everything arranged verbally to go to France. We were in Buenos Aires, at my ex-wife’s house, and my ex-representative called me to tell me to change quickly because I was going to play for England, since they had sold me. I arrived at Barnsley, signed the contract and stayed, but it was difficult for me to adapt. He was very small. My dream was always to play in the Premier League. What’s more, when I was little he wanted to buy me Crystal Palace so that I could join the Inferiors, but it couldn’t happen.

– Because?

– Because River didn’t want to sell me, and I was left with a thorn in my side. Before going to England, he had signed a pre-contract with a French team, but when the Barnsley thing came up I didn’t think about it. When I arrived, he struggled with the English language, I didn’t have a translator either. I couldn’t have a dialogue with the coach on duty to understand what he intended. I stood out as a forward, but he played me as a midfielder. So I didn’t end up adapting and I left. I was a teenager and I wasn’t interested in money, although the pay was good. So, I talked to my representative to get me out of there. I returned to Argentina, I went through Tatengue and Mendoza Leprosy.

– Then, you went to the Australian league. What is soccer like in that country?

– Similar to what English football is, bridging the gap. But with the same game system. When I got to Australia, it was a little bigger. I played as a winger and also as a forward. I was there for five years and it went very well. I spent three seasons at Adelaide United and two years at Newcastle Jets in Sydney. But then, for a personal reason, I returned to Argentina, more precisely to Independiente Rivadavia in Mendoza.

– At what age did you retire?

. At 31, while he was quite young. I had a personal problem, since my sister had cancer and died. That affected me a lot emotionally. It was too bad to continue being a professional player. I must have been strong in the head, but I couldn’t handle it. I didn’t feel good and I wasn’t performing at my best. I didn’t enjoy football, I suffered from it. So, suffering and not playing the way I wanted, not feeling well emotionally and on top of that having to go to training every day, I decided to hang up my boots. From there, I started doing the things I liked to be happy again.

2024-03-18 06:47:00
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