Magazine No. 21 October 2002
The Best Football
The winger who came from Argentinos Juniors is today a key figure in the
Independiente that is fighting for the title of the Apertura Tournament. He
is a jewel that shines in an Argentine football that he tirelessly
compliments and where he had the pride to wear the number 10 shirt that
Diego Maradona wore at the beginning of his career and he is also wearing
Ricardo Bochini’ shirt now.
He has talent and skill to play football and he is humble. Federico
Insua has enjoyed football since he was a child and today he is a leading
figure in Independiente though he doesn’t show off. His left kick is
excellent, he passes the ball with great precision and he beautifully
scores, features that he learned when he played in Argentinos Juniors and
that he has taken from La Paternal neighbourhood to Avellaneda.
I have always tried to play in the same way though adding some other
things. This is the way I feel football and in my position I have to play
well, to join the players who want to score and create goal-scoring chances
, explains the 22-year-old winger giving the kick-off in the interview with
Futbol Argentino.
He first caressed the ball at Club Parque and then he passed to
Argentinos Juniors where he grew up both individually and as a player.
There he made his debut when he was 17 and he feels a great love for it now
.
What do you remember of Argentinos Juniors?
I was very happy; I made friends and great mates. I spent most of my
childhood there. I can speak all day long about it because it is an
institution that has given me the best and I have always felt very
comfortable.
Insua arrived at Independiente at the beginning of the current year with
the intention that the team, at that time coached by Nestor Clausen, could
make a good campaign to avoid a future relegation. But everything went
wrong and the bottom place at the Table showed the worst season in the
history of the “King of Cups” that at least avoided losing the category.
Have you ever thought that you have been transferred to the wrong club?
No, never. I have always said that it was the right team but it is true
that I have never imagined that the team’s performance could be so bad.
I still feel angry because the players didn’t deserve to come last
. Unfortunately, things went wrong. I can’t explain it but I’m sure that
some other teams weren’t better than Independiente.
Is that a thorn in your side?
Yes, it was a setback. We didn’t deserve to lose some matches because we
played well though we didn’t score. Luckily, everything goes better now
The words of the young player born on 3 January 1980 take the
conversation to the present time. Independiente is going through a better
period and the team is working almost perfectly in a way that makes Insua
feel good.
Have you ever been in a team as good as this?
Though in Argentinos Juniors I took part in very good teams, I have never
been in one with the play level of Independiente. I think that we are doing
very well. We hope to keep this pace. The best way to achieve results is to
play well and I think that we are doing it.
Do you have a lot of hope?
Of course I have. Such a team gives you the chance. We are on the right
way and winning the championship would be a dream that comes true. But we
have to be calm because there is a long way to go yet.
Did you think before the tournament that you would be having this
performance at this stage?
Yes, because we were positive and the group was each day better. We
really believed that we would able to reach the top. Luckily, the coming
players adapted themselves very well and we went slowly up.
What are the main features of the squad?
There aren’t negative things. We are always happy and nobody complains.
We get along fine and joy predominates everywhere. I think that these are
the main virtues though I admit that the results are a great help.
The "taste" of a fan of Independiente is very special. It is well defined
and most of the times he accepts a new player provided he has a good
behaviour with the ball. Insua has far exceeded this feature and he still
has to keep a more difficult condition: to carry the number 10 on his back
wearing the shirt that belongs to Independiente’s idol and to hold the
weight of the history of Ricardo Enrique Bochini.
What do you feel when you wear that shirt?
I feel very happy; I do it with great joy because I feel very proud.
I try to do my best – though sometimes things go wrong – to help the team
. Bochini is the greatest player and we all see him like that. But I don’t
feel any pressure wearing it because I like wearing it indeed.
You are wearing the number 10 of Bochini and also you have worn the
number 10 of Maradona in Argentinos...
(He laughs as ashamed) And... it feels good. To think that in Argentinos
Juniors I wore the shirt of the best player in the world is very nice.
I’m between two major shirts and I believe I’m doing well. Anyway, I try
not to think of it and instead, I try to do my best without comparing.
Do you feel privileged to wear those shirts?
No, I feel privileged to be able to play on the First division of
Independiente and to have played on the First division of Argentinos
Juniors. Regarding the shirts, it is just a nice circumstance due to my
position in the field.
Though year after year several Argentine players emigrate to join the
European leagues and we are afraid that our country may be emptied of
talented boys, this side of the world continues generating the raw material
for the joy of football lovers.
What do you think when so many young players leave Argentina and it looks
as if there aren’t many talented players now?
I think that there will be players like Carlos Tevez,
Andres D’Alessandro, who have just started and are not forced to go to
Europe. Besides, they are playing in major local teams that are much better
than most of the European. I feel very proud in spite of the crisis we are
living as a country. I’m 22 and I’d like to play here some more time
. Though it would be important for my career, I don’t feel like going
. And when the time comes, I’ll see the offers and the teams because there
are only a few that are better than Independiente on a world level.
Do you think that European football isn’t so good?
I watch the European matches and I don’t think they are better than ours
.There are of course the great figures and there are teams such as the
Real Madrid or the Barcelona that play better because they have several
stars in their squads.
What do you like most of Argentine football?
That there are more players each time, that there is a promotion of boys
coming from the lower divisions who adapt very well to the First Division
and that I like this championship very much for the way it is played and
because there are teams betting for good football.
It is the football that he feels, that he brings from the cradle and that
he shows date after date wearing the number 10 of Independiente.
Past of Pekerman's boy
One of the times that Federico Insua remembers with ambiguous feelings is
when he played with the U-20 National Team the World Cup in Nigeria ’99.
Then his happiness to represent his country for the first time in such an
important tournament crashed against the sadness of the early goodbye to
African lands. The team coached by Jose Pekerman -–there were Insua,
Daniel Montenegro, Esteban Cambiasso, Luciano Galletti – arrived as
favourites and they were edged out in the rounds of 16.
"the best was to wear an Argentine shirt in a World Cup I won’t ever
forget, it was a pity that we didn’t succeed. There were very good
players and the team was unable to do its best”, tells Insua with a
shade of anguish.
By Santiago Durante/futbol Argentino
--
※ 發信站: 批踢踢實業坊(ptt.csie.ntu.edu.tw)
◆ From: 140.112.224.141
※ 編輯: Insua 來自: 140.112.224.141 (02/11 14:00)