Athletico 100 years: Lucho González, the competitive animal

As I wrote the day he hung your boots: when Lucho González He arrived at Athletico, the club was different. The shirt, name and badge were different, and the trophy gallery had much more space. His hiring in September 2016 was crucial for a change of mentality in the winning cycle of the second half of the last decade. Lucho brought the “yes, if you can” to the athletic lexicon. It’s no small feat.

With the red-black shirt, Luis Oscar Gonzales He played 140 games, scored eight goals and, in what he always did best, lifted four cups: Paranaense 2020, Copa Sudamericana 2018, Levain Cup 2018 and Copa do Brasil 2019. With these trophies, the number 3 reached 29 titles in his career , which leaves him in the top 5 of world football champions for a long time.

A player of hierarchy, he was an example for the generation of stars that emerged in Caju, such as Santos, Léo Pereira, Renan Lodi, Bruno Guimarães and others. Even though he was a veteran, he ran all over the field with game vision and intelligence, even if part of the fans demanded that he be the skilled playmaker, the archetype of the Argentine player in the Brazilian imagination.

Lucho was a collective player par excellence, and that’s why coach Paulo Autuori, who brought him to CAP, called him a “competitive animal.” The only regret of his time at CAP was the farewell without an audience during the cursed pandemic.

Coach Carlo Ancelotti says that a successful football professional is one who, when he leaves, leaves the institution better than it was when he arrived. Because Athletico became bigger after the passing of commander Lucho González.