Gonzalo Quesada's heartbreaking testimony of former Puma Aramburu's death: “I don't remember being sadder”

The murder of Federico Martín Aramburu generated enormous sadness in the world of Argentine rugby. After an altercation that took place inside the bar Le Mabillon, located in the heart of Paris, the former Los Pumas player and his friend and partner Shaun Hegarty, headed straight to the hotel where they were residing in the exclusive area of Boulevard Saint-Germain until a car with three crew members shot them.

After failing in his attempt, one of the protagonists of the event got out of the vehicle and fired on six other occasions. Four of these shells hit Aramburu's body, causing him to die there. In the last few hours, the suspects involved have already been arrested and the judicial process is expected to begin to clarify the fact that mourned the environment of the oval.

After what happened, one of those who spoke about Aramburu's death was Gonzalo Quesada, one of the historic goalscorers of Los Pumas. Today's coach of Stade Français, a team that plays in the top flight of rugby in France, told about the trauma caused by the murder of his friend. “It was doubly terrible for me to wake up to this news. I couldn't understand it. It was really hard. I have very fond memories of his last days. He was a true friend, we always shared good times. I must admit that I don't remember being any sadder,” said the former player in dialogue with L'Equipe.

He then explained how difficult it was to continue with what was planned when he heard the terrible news. “I came very close to not going to a training course. All I did was cry during the first two days of the course. I had to apologize to the staff, to the players, because I couldn't sleep and it didn't fit in my head. I am in touch with his wife (Maria), his close friends and his family. With our group, we told Maria that we would always be there for her,” Quesada added.

During the note with the French sports newspaper, who managed to be the goalscorer for Los Pumas in the 1999 World Cup, he explained that he was about to join last Friday's dinner in which several former Argentine players were present, including Aramburu, who then went to the bar where he fought with those suspected of being the authors of his murder.

“Last Friday I learned that Marcelo Bosch was coming to Paris with the Argentine channel ESPN and two former Pumas and his friends to watch France-England. It was I who suggested that Fede and all his customers come to Volver, the Argentinian restaurant, and we told Marcelo to come with his friends. We were supposed to go with Nicolas Sanchez and Juan Imhoff. In the end, Nico and Juan couldn't come and neither could I because at 8:30pm I was still at the club. The next day we were going to a rally (in Saint-Tropez) with the Stade Français. Fede and the others sent me videos all night to insult me and tell me that I had let them down,” Quesada laughed.

Beyond their relationship close to recent times, Queso took the opportunity to tell that their friendship happened over the years and that it did not begin when they were part of the national team's squad, since Gonzalo is five years older than Aramburu.

“With Fede we didn't know each other well at the Pumas. So we often met without necessarily sharing many moments together. So we got along well because we had a lot of friends in common. When I played in France, especially in Narbonne, of course there were Fede, Martín Gaitan, Manuel Carizza in Biarritz and we spent some weekends in the Basque Country and that's how we got to know each other a lot. Later we lost sight of each other a little, but we always maintained a very good relationship, whether it was when I was going down to the Basque Country or when he was going up to Paris,” he said.

“In January 2017 I was starting my final year at Stade Français and he called me to tell me that there was a new project in Biarritz and to ask me what I thought. We started seeing each other again very regularly, he believed in this new project,” he said of Aramburu's passage as leader of one of the most traditional teams in the top 14 of French rugby.

“He was a wonderful person, a hard worker, a bon vivant, an example of joy,” Quesada added after telling several anecdotes he lived with former Puma.

The friendship between the two became so special that they went out with their wives to dinner. This was shown by the historic opening in his last post on Instagram when he said goodbye to his friend after learning of his death. “It hurts a lot friend of the soul. You didn't leave. You will still be present in those who will never forget the example of friend, the example of good people, of energy, of struggle, of joy, of generosity, of great kind of the great prostitute. We are going to miss you a lot, Fede, thank you for the teachings of life dear friend. You didn't leave, you marked us, you will always be present, always,” said the coach who led the Jaguars and who was among those appointed to succeed Mario Ledesma as head coach of Los Pumas.

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