former referee Paul Lunattirenowned fan of River Platerevived some stories of his time in the First Division, such as the times he had to direct at La Bombonera at times that, as he acknowledged, the entire soccer environment knew of a fanaticism for the millionaire team.
“I was 16 years as a referee and in National B I was already saving myself. I was a First Class referee and I went down to the National and I had to save myself because I was already known. I’m not ‘Thermo’, I had a bad time (when River Plate was in B). Things happened, it happened to Milan, to Juventus, the greats also descend … ”, he said in an interview with the radio program lap and a half.
Although there were moments that were complicated, such as directing a final in the Ascent: “The Defensores de Belgrano-Temperley, the day they break the partition to the 6 Defensores; It was a brave bar that entered the locker room. The Temperley court was not to play a final.
He also revealed the obsession that referees have had for years, that at halftime they want to check controversial plays on their cell phones. “It’s universal because for work I watch a lot of Paraguayan soccer and at halftime everyone is looking at their cell phones. Maybe those who are weak here (points to the head) conditions them for the worse. I was prohibited from using my cell phone for my line judges, ”he said.
Continuing with Ascenso, he referred again to the final between Chicago and Godoy Cruz, in which he harmed the Buenos Aires team due to a badly sanctioned penalty. “That day in Chicago I wanted to kill myself”. When asked if a judge, realizing a mistake, could “tilt” the court, he acknowledged that he “could pass unconsciously. The good referee is the one who changes the error chip and quickly concentrates on the game”.
In addition, he remembered a particular episode with Riquelme. “It was with Juan Roman. Then we spent three or four years without speaking to each other. He was brave… You put the line with the spray and he ran the ball to you. But he did it fucking, it was 20 centimeters and with his little foot he erased me with the line. He did it three times and on the fourth I touched his leg, I made the mark again and he said to me, ‘what are you touching me?’ I told him, ‘he didn’t touch you anymore, now the next time you move the ball to me, you go out. I invent you even why I cut you’. Because I couldn’t legally kick him out for running a ball, at most I had to caution him and, if he was cautioned, kick him out.. She talked bad to me. The same, I always say, he was one of the three best players I saw on a court when I managed”.
“When I was directing on the Boca field I felt like Superman because they pissed me off; It was beautiful that they pissed me off. He loved me. Everyone knew that he was a River fan. He told Beraldi himself, who was the leader who brought me a souvenir, ‘there’s no chance I’ll get it,’ or he also screwed with Crespi, but it was part of folklore,” he confessed.
Regarding his reactions to referee errors when he is in the stands, he stated that “inside I cannot express or show what I feel for a referee error on the River court because everyone looks at me. Also, I don’t swear at a referee.”
“Just like when I was a referee, I had a fucked up time for River, between 2006 and 2007. But since I retired, I began to live my whole life as a River fan. Forget what I’m going to miss directing! ”, He added.
Finally, in the segment of the program called “Fútbol Muerte”, in the heat of the discussion with the “panelists” he recognized that a particular episode as a referee: “I even went out with the River shirt down”.
KEEP READING
