Memoirs of Diego Sognora in Boca Juniors: From an incredible march with the river to the era of Maradona during the fight against addiction

“I've always been from the West. I was born in Casanova, but already settled in Morón when I was 8 years old, and today I still live in the area at 53 years old. In addition, we have been running a soccer school on Kaido for almost 30 years.” Diego Ciche Sonhora, intact with the same tenderness that he was known as a player, has not changed. He radiates a passion to talk about soccer, its place in the world, and its roots. Boca Juniors are proud of their two sons who escape from all the horses of this man working in the lowest echelon of the club and play in the first division of Argentina.

“I came to the club at an age before Novena, so I did well on the floor. I was 9 years old when I took the exam at La Candela. From that moment on, I was right there, starting with my football career and my relationship with the educational institution. It was then that Ernesto Grillo and Alberto Gonzalito Gonzalez led the underworld. They took care of the boys, so they were like two parents to us. Over time, Walter Pico and Diego Latorre participated, performing all categories up to the fifth. So they raised us to train with the U-21 team that reservists and Cesar Menotti gathered when they arrived in 1987. “Angel Capa”.

The yearbook was approaching in the late 1980s, when Boca had a very difficult time, but since Antonio Alegre became president in 1985, the ordering process began in all areas. In the first division there were no interesting elements in the lower division, so it was necessary to buy it permanently until the appearance of three boys with different characteristics that excited the fans who arrived early at La Bombonera It was there. Diego La Torre, Walter Pico, Diego Sonora

“We were trained in a court close to the first court in La Candela. We dreamed that we could join them until we woke up little by little, and we looked from the side. It happened so quickly. I remember very well the day when Pato Pastriza asked me to go play soccer with him and immediately told me that I had to focus on going to the bench with Platense in the league finals. I ran home (laughs) and didn't know. The joy was tremendous. I had experience and experience I joined a team of many average age men, Rocco Gatti was only 44 years old.”

The 1988/89 season was a huge expectation for our football. Assumptions about the Menotti River bring many great players, Boca is Juan Simon, Carlos Navarro Montoya, Claudio Marangoni, Walter Ferraso, Because it incorporated the return of Carlos Tapia and was not left behind. Obviously, because of this circumstance, the children were slightly demoted, alternating banks and reserves.

“It was tough, but I suggested it until I had a chance to debut for the first time. Of course, I was nervous a lot. The team lost two times in a row and when Pao brought me in we acted in a right-handed driving position losing 2:0 against Platens at home. Let's say it was normal. I immediately returned to the reserve, but I was in training and had a lot of faith. Little by little I got to the spot and in 89 I attended several matches in the Copa Libertadores, but I could not integrate until I succeeded. What is integration? When I owned a shirt. I was lucky enough to be part of the team that won the Super Cup and the Cup. The club had not achieved results for several years, but over time it became even more valuable, so it was a very important title. In November 1990, I scored my first goal. One morning, the stadium was fully booked against the race on Velez's court. I did almost last for Goyco and won 1-0. However, in the Kai-Aimar era, it did not begin until history changed at the beginning of 91.

Quotes of Cairn Chiche (nickname from childhood, very young in physique and looking like a toy, from which it became the pseudonym that accompanies him until today) are usually associated with the arrival of Boca and Coach It's done. Especially it is very important for him.

“Maestro Tavares was a phenomenon and gave me the opportunity to feel the title, but I went back to the right. Luis Abramovich and Ivar Stapya were there for a long time, but he asked me to try the position and never came out again. I wanted a chip marker like today, so I wanted to not only cover the band on the premise of defense, but also to place it with the steering wheel and get to the floor with the pointer, I have a permanent vocation to attack, so my eyes were really good. The team that won Klausla '91 without celebrating the Boca title and becoming champions after 11 years was better than participating a year later. There was a very strong defense and a powerful attack with the duo Batistuta-Latorre. However, due to matters related to football and regulation, Klausula's achievement was not worthy of the championship and she lost in the final against Newell. I lost in the final against Newell. I entered with an injured ankle and Dr. Andrea Chio entered the courtroom before starting the extension. The part was very swollen and the booty didn't suit me, so I could cut it off and wear it. At the same time, the semifinals of the Copa Libertadores and Colo Colo in Santiago were like war. I have always experienced that, for many civilians who have carried us, I have never done it. The carabinieri was very good and saved us. I can say that nothing unfortunate happened because God didn't want it. And at the sports level, if we had passed that series, we were champions. There's no doubt about that.”

Boca is his place in the world and Maestro Tavares has found his place on the court as a marker in the back right. His performance is constantly increasing, and in the same 1991 he received a worthy call to the national team, where he was just the champion of the United States. “I got a call from Coco Basile, but I wasn't sure. I think the press took a lot longer than that. They were the tastes of each coach, completely understandable, and there were also great colleagues like Fabien Bachualdo, Hernán Díaz and Nestor Craviot. I just went to the rivercourt playing against an otherworldly team and that was exactly the case. I wasn't excited about the 94 World Cup at all because I knew the reality despite my level.”

December 20, 1992 (Sunday) is a date that is always painted blue and gold. On that day, Boca painted with San Martin de Tucuman from La Bombonera to banish an 11-year-old ghost who did not have a local title. Diego Sonyola played the Olympics as an athlete and was also a fan of wandering. “It was really good, but it took a big dimension as time went on. At that time we were celebrating and enjoying it, but we don't feel that way every day, because Boca demands a lot. We have very good players, and we also had the pluses of coaches like Tabárez. He was a senior player because he brought another play that many coaches are doing today, the attacking model. I know that in my particular case I am very good at the offensive part, but the low score gave me a concept to learn. It was a time when we had great games, official or friendly, never losing to a river that we will never forget.”

The Tavares cycle began in January 91 and ended in April 93. Since the previous year's title, the team continued to descend as “hawks and pigeons” due to poor performance and conflicts within the team. After a short step by Professor Habbeger, he came to the technical director Cesar Luis Menotti. “El Flaco is a special person, a great motivator and has many teachings. In football, we learned that all coaches leave more positive things than others. But someone at that level is very important. What I learned from him is being applied now. There has been a lot of controversy about the dehydration of the space intended by Cesar, but in my specific case it has enriched and I think some TDs are applying it to the logical evolution that has taken place in the game.

In 1994, Boca did not fight one of the two regional tournaments and missed the Super Cup in the final against the Independente. At the beginning of 1995, Silvio Marzolini, the legend of the club, took over, bringing the expected strengthening around the middle of the year. Diego Armando Maradona: “The greatest thing above all was the immense generosity that we could not enjoy 100% due to addiction or other problems. It was huge outside, as if I were in court. As a unique and humble fellow, I felt like another member of the group. As a player... nothing else can be added. Life with him and Carnigia was special. Until Beto Martico became a substitute for Diego, we had a huge team with great footballers. The opening tournament was very intense and there was a huge advantage. We fell because of the problems of adding football, and that's because Velez played a great last role and it happened to us.”

To his beloved club nine years later with a first title and five titles when it was a dream to return to the Olympics with Maradona due to the pain of driving a championship that disappeared in an unusual way It's time to say goodbye. At that time, Argentine footballers had hardly traveled through fate. America: “I was a little tired of being away from a thousand people every day by calling from Cacho Cordoba, a former defender of Boca, to invite me to try my luck in the MLS, so I immediately answered 'yes' I did it. Argentina asks for you. The first 9 years old in Boca means 18 years old everywhere (laughs). I bet on another life and it worked. That's because they had fun performances, made a lot of friends, and two children were born there. It was clear that the day the Americans wanted would participate in football. Many football players were exporters before they retired, so they grew up at all levels.”

Four teams from the early MLS saw Chiche leave his mark. At the beginning of the new century, he again collected bags. At first they wore shirts from Cerro Porteno to Paraguay, and then in Chile in the colors of Deportes Concepcion. And there was time to say goodbye. “The idea was already mature, so it didn't cost me to retire. Also, shortly after the showball came out with Diego, we had a wonderful four years. In 2012 I was happy to return to Boca with Jorge Raffo and work in a low place until 2017. In Román 2020 there was a niche where you could work with Román with boys. That's what I'm most passionate about. Currently, at Blasgiunta, he is in charge of coordinating all sub-elements from the ninth to the fourth. We know how the boys are in first class. I'm very happy with this job because I know if it can adapt well.”

However, the name Soñora did not remain in the memories of seeing him leave the classic groove on the right side, making the entire band blue and gold. Now his children are in the first division. Independiente's Alain and Velez Joel: “It's a great emotion to see them like this. They were born to play soccer from a young age. They had a ball under their arm, so they struggled, fought with her and today he is in 10th place in the Independiente, and Joel's case is in a great institution like Velez, and the big There is a possibility that it will grow quickly I feel it.”

This talk also sets a place to remind him of the most important football player he had to face. “There were a lot of people. I had to mark a very young Ronaldo, but he has already revealed how he will be in another galaxy. The Beto Acosta was as hard as Tur Flores, which was a tank. He got along well with Botini and expected many times, but he grabbed it as a child. He is a phenomenal figure and has come very close to his son Independiente 10, who wears the shirt today.

Alan and Joel are proud of him because the castle is still valid in football. Just as he left his mark on Boca. His love club and his definitive place in the world, he now feels full and happy again.

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