the tension, euphoria and unconditional love of all of River

Hearts were beating fast. Euphoria was in the air. The throats were prepared. “Muñeeeeeecooo, Muñeeeecooo”thundered from all four sides of the stadium when the fans saw their leader poke his head out of the tunnel. At 8:25 p.m., Marcelo Gallardo stepped on the Monumental as a technician River. And to feel enormous happiness.

Upon hearing the applause that came from all the stands, the Doll raised his arms and opened his heart to greet his faithful. Dressed in a jacket (with the River shield), sweater (with a white shirt underneath) and black pants, after passing by the substitute bench, he went to greet his colleague Frank Kudelka. And, once again in his place, from the moment Fernando Echenique blew the whistle, he stood still and experienced the game that his team played against Huracán with intensity.

He moved from side to side and gave many directions. And he jumped when Claudio Echeverri scored the goal. Just the Little Devil, whom you wanted to direct so much since he had been closely following his growth in Inferiores. And on top of that he put it together with Franco Mastantuono. To make it clear that his football touch and palate are still intact. For the team to begin to recover its identity.

“Look, look how crazy, look, look how exciting, that is the Gallardo Doll who returned to River to be champion,” they intoned, euphoric 85 thousand souls who took over the Monumental to see the return of the man with the statue, who put on his technical jacket again. And he continued with a song for the competition that the Doll likes the most: “I want Freedom…I love you Millionaire, I really love you…”.

One year and nine months after having directed his last game in this stadium, when the fans offered him an emotional and nostalgic farewellnow it was time to welcome him back. It was not a goodbye that night of October 16, 2022, but a see you later.

“I’m never going to leave River because River is my life,” he had said at that time. And a few months later he was back to see the inauguration of his statue, that bronze mass that is on Figueroa Alcorta Avenue, a few meters from the entrance to the club and close to that of Angel Labruna, the other great idol of the institution. .

In the blink of an eye, the Merlo native is once again leading the team from the substitute bench. Maybe faster than the fans and even he himself imagined. It happens that, as Muñeco himself said, he never left.

August 10, 2024 will be marked as the day of Gallardo’s return. To begin his second chapter as the club’s coach. Thus, the Doll complied with his personal calendar, which marks that He was never away from Núñez for more than four years. and if a timeline of his 48 years is made, it is observed that half of his life was spent in River.

First, as a boy from the Inferiores (between 1988 and 1993), then as a professional footballer (he had three stages: 1993-99; 2003-2006 and 2009-2010) and then as a coach (2014-2022 and now since August 2024 ).

In Núñez, since Gallardo’s return new air is breathed. There is another aura. In the week he revolutionized the club. With its official presentation, full of emotion and enthusiasm. With the fury to get a ticket. With the entry of five thousand new members in a handful of days. The arrival of the Doll renewed energy. And it was also felt in the stands.

But this is football and Gallardo went from euphoria to a serious gesture as Huracán began to step more firmly on the green grass of the Monumental. Echeverría’s equalizer arrived and a second half favorable to Globo made it clear that the new coach will have to work hard to adjust the pieces.

Despite the tie and the disappointment of not being able to cut points from Kudelka’s team, the public said goodbye to River with applause, remembering that the great objective begins this Wednesday with the clashes against Talleres in the round of 16 of the Libertadores. That contest in which the DT made a phrase flag: “Let people believe”.