The day when Freddy Rincón had to stop Tino Asprilla for misbehaving in the Colombia national team

This Saturday the burial of Freddy Rincón was held at the Metropolitan Cemetery of the South, in Cali (Valle del Cauca). In the midst of salsa songs, t-shirts he wore and minutes of silence, his loved ones gave his last farewell to the 'Colossus of Bonaventura', who had previously received a tribute in his native Buenaventura.

Before burial, thousands of fans were able to attend the Pascual Guerrero Stadium, where the body of the Colombian idol rested between 10 a.m. and 6 p.m., to sing to him while wearing allusive flags and t-shirts. Even the figure of the 'Colossus of Buenaventura' brought together the two city teams (América and Deportivo Cali) in the prelude to the Vallecaucano classic, which will take place this Sunday for the 16th date of the 2022-I BetPlay League.

In the midst of the testimonies of former teammates, family and friends, very particular anecdotes about Rincón in his time as a footballer have been known. One of them was recently released by former defender Luis Carlos Perea, who shared with Freddy as part of that golden generation of the Colombian national team, in the 1990s.

The 'Coroncoro', as he was popularly known, traveled from Miami to Cali to attend the funeral ceremonies in Rincón, and there he spoke about the good relationship that the two had inside the 'Tricolor': “In the World Cup of 90, we 'morochos' set up a hairdressing salon. There we dedicated ourselves to motivate each other. Arriving now in these conditions breaks my soul,” said the former player in dialogue with Noticias Caracol.

“Every time he scored a goal, I was the last one to ride the pyramid, I was the heaviest and I rode the 'Colossus'. He said to me: 'morocho', why do you climb on me if you weigh a lot. And I said to him: 'why do you score so many goals'”, he said.

However, Perea also recounted once that, together with Freddy, they had to scold Faustino Asprilla because he was not behaving in a good way in the Colombian national team: “We had to brave 'Tino' Asprilla. It was in '93, before playing for Argentina. I think it was two weeks earlier. The 'Tino' was handling very badly in the group and we decided to teach him a lesson, a lesson”.

Regarding Asprilla, this was one of those who was very affected during the funeral of the 'Colossus'. A person who was there recorded one of the words that the former Newcastle player mentioned to the group with whom he was surrounded. He regretted what happened, said that he cried for what happened and even asserted that the situation has “turned to crap”.

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Similarly, Colombian coach Jorge Luis Pinto, who made his professional debut for Rincón in Santa Fe in 1986, said during the tribute that Freddy “is an example of life for this country, an example of transforming humility into greatness.” And, in addition, he recalled that discipline was one of the virtues that most characterized him.

“I haven't had a player who has the ability to work like Freddy Rincón, a man of trade, work, dedication (...) He was a playful football player, one of those that nobody stops them. It hurt in our souls, to me personally because I saw him grow, I saw him play and win for the world”, he concluded.

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