Yin and Yang have also learned to blend in football, far from their philosophical principle, but with a great component of reality. Playing in two teams that are classic rivals has always been a particular situation. To star in it twice, it is already very special and if you add to that the fact that you are champion with one and go downhill with the other on both occasions, it is to go looking for a place in the book of records. And for example is the story of Juan Carlos Delménico, a prominent goalkeeper in Argentina and idolized in Colombia, who knew how to occupy, among others, the hurdles of the two classic rivals of Rosario and La Plata.
“I came to Newell's at the age of 9 for baby football, hand in hand with my dad who was in the club working as a delegate and that's why I lived this sport with passion since I was a kid. At first I was a striker, because I always liked having the ball in my feet, until I went for the goal. When I was just 15 years old, they already put me up to train with the first one, while I was still playing in my division. There were great players in that top squad, such as Mario Zanabria, Alfredo Obberti and Carlos Fenoy, among others. In the following years, the great team that was going to be champion in '74 was assembled, betting on a different form of play from the rest, prioritizing the touch and good treatment of the ball. I had asserted myself as a starter in '73 and I started that way the following season, until I fought with the coach, Juan Carlos Montes, who had been my teammate until a year before and they separated me from the squad. I hadn't renewed my contract and I kept acting for 20% to get free by the end of '75″.
That was a situation that happened a lot in the 80s, but not because of those early '70s. However, an offer was going to change his thinking and much of his professional destiny.
“At the beginning of 1975 the president of Newell's called me to tell me that he had an offer from Junior from Barranquilla, to which I automatically answered no, that I planned to continue another year to have the pass in my possession. My dad and a good part of the family convinced me that it was a good option, because I was going to have the continuity I needed and I agreed to go to Colombia when I was very young, because I was 19 years old and my wife was 17. It was a great bet, which went well, because in Colombia they pampered me a lot and made me feel like one more of them. Many archers have passed through the club and to this day they keep calling and inviting me. They had never been champions and we achieved it in 1977, where I had as my partner Juan Ramón Verón, who at one point played the double role of player and coach. Seeing the images of Maradona's Napoli, it reminded me of that, because Junior was a painting without rival in the city and fighting permanently against the powerful of Cali and Bogotá. I am an eternal grateful to that city.”
In full swing for that achievement, where the Colombian map was painted in the Junior's white and red colors, Delmenico assembled the bags and returned to the country, with a major challenge ahead.
“The president of the Junior was a very special person, who didn't like having outstanding footballers on the squad, because the figure feels it has to be him, at least that's my impression. After the historic campaign of '77, my contract did not renew me and I returned to Argentina, where the chance for River came out, because Pato Fillol was going for several months to the rally with the National Team heading to the World Cup. I had to make my debut against Boca at the Mar del Plata summer tournament and then the local championship was quite particular, because it was cut off in the face of the World Cup dispute. I saved in some matches, both official and friendly, until the teammates who had been world champions returned. There the coach Labruna was clear: “Kid: What are you going to do, stay or leave? Because from now on Fillol is going to save all the matches.” I replied that I recognized all the virtues of the Duck, but that I wanted to have continuity. With Ángel I lived a very particular anecdote. It was a match day and we were having breakfast at the rally with Luis Landaburu, who was the other goalkeeper and he arrived. He looked at us and began: “Ta, te, ti, lucky for me” and when he finished he said to me: “Today you play” (laughs). That's how he determined who was going to be the starter.”
The experience at River was brief, where only a handful of matches are counted under his belt, inserted into a squad that had a constellation of stars, but most were focused on the goal in Argentina '78. At the end of the Metropolitan, they started their saves for the first time towards the city of La Plata.
“I went to Gymnastics because there was José Varacka, whom I had as a coach in Colombia. The starter was Quique Vidallé and they were looking for an alternative goalkeeper. It was a strange year, but I immediately realized that things were not going to go well, because I always say that when the fans get inside the institution, nothing good can happen. For example, we had an obligation to eat roast with them, something that I had never experienced. It was an experience that helped me to value and differentiate the good things from the murky ones. The results gave us and we ended up descending. In '80 the president of Junior came looking for me, we agreed and I came back. The great team that had been champions was largely reassembled and we repeated the consecration that same year. We qualified for the Copa Libertadores and there I saved a penalty to Passarella, which was a satisfaction from the side of self-love, because I felt that I had an outstanding debt to me in the passage through River”.
Colombia had given him a lot and would also open the door for one of his most successful cycles, albeit in Argentine football. Carlos Bilardo had been coach for Deportivo Cali and had always wanted to wear it. Even when the Narigón coached that country's national team and called him, since Delmenico had been nationalized for a year. It was just a couple of meetings as a substitute, but they sowed the seeds of what would happen in 1982
“At the beginning of that year in Junior I made the best preseason of my entire life, but the agreement for the renewal of the contract was not reached when I received the call from Carlos who was in Estudiantes. We agreed right away and I traveled. I arrived on a Friday, with the championship already started and he asked me how I was doing, to which I answered that impeccable. “Ready, you start on Sunday,” he answered quickly and in his own way. The team had started by drawing 0-0 with local workshops and lost with Gimnasia de Mendoza as a visitor. In my debut we beat Huracán 2-0 and I didn't get out anymore. It was a luxury to be part of that painting that was strong and where I inserted myself without problems. At first I understood myself perfectly with all the defense and especially with Brown, who was the one who handled the movements. Tata was the libero, because Carlos was already playing that way and in the middle of that Nacional we also made a line of three. An advance. We did very well in that tournament, which escaped us when we lost the semifinal with Quilmes. The outsiders had us classified as a speculating team and it was the opposite, because we were betting on something new, such as the rise of the top scoreboards to become strikers, which was an innovation. We attacked with a lot of people and that dislocated the opposites.”
“In the next tournament we were candidates from the start and in the final stretch it was a head-to-hand fight with Independiente. I am very aware of a game that was key, because we beat Sarmiento, who was fighting the relegation, in Junín by 1-0 and I saved a penalty when there was very little left to finish. It was a small light of advantage that we took from them and kept it until the end. I had great confidence, because in Estudiantes I had great freedom. For example, I liked to change the color of the divers according to the mood and nobody imposed anything on me there, as they did in other clubs. I always maintained that the goalkeeper had to have a presence, be a reference for his defenders, turn around and know that one is there, which was something that dear Tata Brown thanked me. In Estudiantes everything was wonderful, even when something didn't work out for me: we faced Independiente on his court and Bilardo gave us a short technical talk, where he remarked that if we didn't make mistakes, we won. I went away from the goal to try to reject her away and get her out of the stadium, something I never did. He went under me and Morete scored me the goal. Luckily Gottardi then tied. When I arrived in the locker room Carlos just told me: “You didn't do what you know”, which was to stop it and play it. It was a learning experience.”
Few characters in the world of football have been providers of as many anecdotes as Carlos Bilardo. Over the years of relationship with Juan Carlos Delménico, this could not be missed: “The World Cup in Spain '82 was coming and a boy had arrived at the club who sold televisions, video cassettes and camcorders, among other things imported of great value at low cost. Several teammates of the squad bought him. One day we were with Professor Echevarría chatting at the door of the dressing room and this man offered us his products, when he passed the Narigón and without stopping he told us on the bass: “Don't be stupid” (laughs). The funny thing is, I didn't even know what we were talking about. The next week he had put them all to bed, because they had given him a sign and the guy was never found. Luckily I got out of it. Carlos was a genius with his vision of things.”
On February 14, 1983, Estudiantes shouted champion at the Córdoba stadium beating Talleres 2-0. It was the consecration of Carlos Bilardo, who a few days later signed as coach of the national team. Delménico had been a protagonist of the team with perfect assistance in all 36 matches, however, the loan was not renewed, in a situation that, almost 40 years later, the protagonist finds no explanation: “They never told me why, although I have the slight impression that there was a black hand, not from the coaches, because Bilardo He loved me and Eduardo Manera, his successor, too. It was said that the pass was very expensive, but it wasn't that. I had a house in La Plata because I thought I'd be there for a long time. The last six months I played them with broken menisci and that's why I fought with Bertero, who was the substitute goalkeeper, because in the final stretch I hardly trained but I was starting. One day he grabbed me and hurried me ugly because of that situation to which I told him to talk to the technician who was the one who was wearing me and not me. It was a limitation that didn't stop me from playing on Sundays.”
With the counterweight of the joy for the title and the disappointment of not continuing in the club, came the postponed meniscus operation and a 45-day recovery. There came a new move, now to Córdoba: “I didn't have a club, the people from Instituto called me and we immediately agreed. My wife was a lioness, because we moved everything there, including the boys' school, of course. It was a nice experience until the next year it was time to return to my city. The president of Central convinced me to finish my career there and it was something I was excited about, being able to be back in my city and show myself, because I had left so young. In the Nacional we did well, reaching the round of 16, but then it was all bad, because the bar got into the club to squeeze us, like the day that Negro Scalise was put a revolver on his head. It was impossible to do well in that climate and, despite having a good squad, that atmosphere, coupled with poor results and changes in technicians, led to the descent.”
The blow was hard and perhaps because of this Juan Carlos began to become more involved with business, starting a life outside football. However, he gave his last saves to the fans of Douglas Haig de Pergamino in the first National B in history, back in the 1986/87 season. And it was the end. From there, beyond the coaching course that did not end, his life moved away from the playing fields to dedicate himself fully to the business world: “For almost 40 years I focused on commerce, where I have three businesses: “Delmenico Tires”. There I represent the most important firms in the field. I am very happy and enjoy what I do.”
At the end of the talk, the concern arose of a very particular trip that football allowed him: “At the beginning of 1984 Bilardo summoned me to the national team and we went to Calcutta, where we had the opportunity to meet Mother Teresa. The delegation brought a lot of non-perishable food and there was plenty left over, so Carlos told Grondona to donate it to her and her institution. It was great and exciting.”
He traveled a good part of the planet with his saves. A character that football allowed him to travel several paths, including that reserved for few: Champion with Newell's and Estudiantes and descent with Central and Gymnastics. A curiosity that occurs very rarely, such as that of finding a frontal and grateful man like Juan Carlos Delménico.
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