Miguel Ángel Russo: A Blessing for Football and a Fighter Against Cancer

Russo spoke these days about the new chemotherapy treatment he is undergoing while he does not leave the Central bench

Yes, of course, like everyone else, the years change our physiognomy. In his case I notice the more prominent cheekbones, the more refined neck and the slightly weaker gait. In addition, he received “old invoices” from some complaining knees that accounted for 420 professional matches as an exclusive Estudiantes player. Oh… and 30 years of coaching without respite. But the attitude has not changed: the haughty look, the incessant walking with his hands behind or pointing parallel to the line, the hidden observation of the opposing bench, ready to make claims – without exaggeration – to the main judge, incessant diatribes to the fourth referee with his full voice, but in the lowest tone possible. Always, always the cordial greeting with the rival coach and not to mention players whom he could have coached: the affectionate hug and that toothy smile with white keyboard perfection.

It’s exciting to see Miguelito. We older journalists remember him from that Estudiantes champion of ’82. From when it was directed by Bilardo and the midfielders were Alejandro Sabella, Marcelo Trobbiani, Bocha Ponce or Cabezón Lemme who provided brakes, dribbling, changes of front or walls knowing that Miguelito ran them all. And he handed them wounded to those in the back: Tata Brown, Manzanita Gette, Julián Camino, Abel Herrera and sometimes Flaco Landucci. Everything seemed easier for goalkeeper Juan Carlos Delmónico. At that time there was no GPS but how much should Russo run per game: 15 or 16 kilometers? At least… And perhaps that’s why the forwards Hugo Gottardi and Guillermo Trama started when he captured the ball because they knew that he would have a terminal in one of those talented midfielders for the filtered pass or a surprising change of front that would leave them hand in hand with some advocate.

Russo is a blessing for football. He belongs to an endangered breed that maintains behaviors and ethical codes that no longer exist. And his career demonstrates everything that Miguelito or Miguelo give to football. He could tell many examples; I will only mention a few that my memory never forgets. The first of them was the day Bilardo left him off the list for the ’86 World Cup and obviously we went looking for a statement. The emotional puncture always facilitates a discharge. Not only did we not get it, but 38 years have passed and we still cannot describe his frustration or his anger. Perhaps that experience inspired him to reiterate his classic phrase so applicable to all football dilemmas: “And… they are decisions, right? “. That had been Bilardo’s and since then he knew and maintained that a leader does not always have to explain what he does; Rather, he should do what does not require an explanation… And the wonderful thing about his greatness is that a few days ago, when he turned 68 and at night Central – his beloved Central – was playing in Brazil against Atlético Mineiro – 1-2 after damaging errors arbitrations – Miguelo was relaxed when Bilardo told him by phone the same day he inaugurated his first house. Carlos had been invited to the party and did not arrive. Suddenly, phone. On the other side, the straggler Bilardo: “Russo – Narigón told him – I’m telling you that I’m not going to take you to the World Cup” and he hung up. By the way, he never came to the party.

The emotion of Miguel Ángel Russo during the last championship achieved by Rosario Central

Another episode that I remember occurred when Lanús, whom Russo coached in its promotion to the First Division in 1990, was fighting to maintain the category in 1991. But it was very difficult for it. We were on the Ferro field and the rival was San Lorenzo, the club of my loves. There were a couple of dates missing. It had emerged, not without foundation, that some Lanús fans had “visited” Leo Rodríguez, that star who emerged in Lanús and broke it in Boedo. Those boys asked Leo for the impossible, that Cuervo let himself win so that Lanús could be saved. The match was won by San Lorenzo 1-0 and in the end the Granate players generated an expected tumult around the San Lorenzo players and the referee Abel Gnecco – a symbol of honesty – against whom they directed the understandable anguish. But in the midst of that chaos I saw a man desperate to preserve, reassure, separate and calm his players. Yes, Miguel Russo who would place Lanús again, for the second time the following year in the category to which he belongs, the First. In that aggressive and desperate football, it was not very common to see a coach carry out his leadership without joining in the violence.

Two days before Julio Grondona died, he learned that Sabella’s decision to resign from the world runners-up team in Brazil 2014 was unchangeable. His most trusted emissaries could not persuade Alejandro to continue. In other words, we had to think about a new driver for the Argentine national team. It was then when the president of the AFA became interested again in the present of Miguel Angel Russo who was directing Rosario Central for the fourth time after achieving promotion. It was not an inaugural thought in Don Julio. He valued and loved Russo very much. He could have been coach of the National Team after Coco -2008 for South Africa 2010- but Miguelo led San Lorenzo that could be champion and also the flood of Diego left him no options. Whenever I heard Don Julio talk about Russo, it seemed to me that Grondona felt indebted to Russo. And I associated it with the list for the 86 World Cup, from which Sabella and Russo left so that Negrito Enrique and Chino Tapia – River and Boca – could enter, as Don Julio used to ask Bilardo: “You can’t go to a World Cup without players from River and Boca…”. At that time, Sabella – how much we miss him – at a great moment in his career brilliantly led the National Team. Was Russo missing for Don Julio to “absolve” himself of old guilt? It could not be because Grondona died on July 30, 2014 before the appointment of the new coach who would be Tata Martino.

Russo during his time in Peru, where he directed Alianza Lima

In football, luck never turns one year old and Miguel has been dignifying his profession for 30 years. In those three decades he did not roam around 30 different clubs. On the contrary, he always left the doors open of the places where he was: twice in Estudiantes, twice in Boca, twice in Vélez and five in Rosario Central. In addition to Colón, Racing, San Lorenzo… He won promotions (the first two with Lanús in 90′ and 92′ and the third in Estudiantes in 94’/95 with the unforgettable Eduardo Lujan Manera), he also achieved championships among clubs abroad , Libertadores (with Boca in 2007) and 10 Leagues with different clubs. And he gave prestige to Argentine football by working in Chile (Universidad), Spain (Salamanca), Mexico (Monarcas), Colombia (Millonarios), Peru (Alianza Lima), Paraguay (Cerro Porteño) and even in Saudi Arabia (Al Nassr). Success and validity are not explained, they are exercised. And to that wisdom we must add his ethical behavior. Miguel knows what to say at every opportunity. More than that, he knew how to remain silent in the most tense moments. Or did he not know that they were “putting him to bed” in that triangular final of 2008 against Tigre and Boca? By the way, he knew that the winner of a first triangular match never plays again with the one who was free, in that case Boca. He preferred to complain discreetly where he should – in the AFA and in the CASLA – and then he left silently but full of recognition. That wisdom of knowing when and where to speak coincides with ethics: note that in his unmatched career – more than 1,100 games – there is no “classic” rival to the clubs he directed. Let’s ignore Gimnasia for “genetic” reasons. There is Boca and not River; There is Los Andes and no Climbing Remedies Workshops, there is San Lorenzo and no Huracán, there is Racing and no Independiente, there is Lanús and no Banfield, there is Colón and no Unión… And by the way, there will hardly ever be Newells. Well, Central is his home.

This wise man now fights against the aggressiveness of chemotherapy for prostate cancer. He did it a few years ago and in Colombia he already beat this disease – in the bladder – after a successful intervention and subsequent treatment. And today, like yesterday, he assumes it with the courage with which he managed his life. The repeated invocation of it is to value the privilege of living and taking care of what is done with vocation and passion. In his case, football. Blessed are the leaders who allow us to enjoy the experience of the Maestro Tabares, the Julio César Falcioni or the Miguelitos Russo who from a wheelchair or with a probe under their clothes or covering their heads with a beret due to the effects of chemo can – and should always – offer us their moving examples of fighting to live.

A little over a month ago Central beat Instituto 1 to 0. After that and when the actors were leaving the playing field, Miguelito waited for an Instituto player at the entrance to the locker room. He walked next to him and when the player was going to his dressing room Russo asked him for his shirt. The boy is Nacho Russo, one of his sons. Miguel took it and took it with him as the most precious of memories to be treasured in all future times, the times for which we will have to continue fighting.

Great Miguel, you are a blessing for football and God knows why…

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2024-04-14 04:33:00
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