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The coach most revered by the Real Valladolid fans has died during the pandemic, for reasons beyond Covid-19, but he has not been able to receive the tribute, the ovation, that he deserves from the Blanquivioleta fans, who hope to return to Zorrilla to honor him.
Vicente Cantatore passed away on January 15, at the age of 85, and left as he had in the last decade: in silence. Affected by alhzeimer, he had not been to Zorrilla for many years, the stadium where he did magic in three different times, the field where he was considered a hero, the club he took to some of his highest levels. That same week, the Chilean coach, who was nationalized from Argentina, but who lived in Valladolid, had undergone hip surgery after an untimely fall. He was operated on on Monday at the Río Hortega Hospital, on Thursday he was discharged and returned to the nursing home where he lived. That night he went to bed and passed away. He had dodged Covid-19, but his tired heart said enough. At that moment the race was opened to remember one of the most important coaches in Blanquivioleta history, if not the most. Not in vain, Cantatore is the coach who has directed the most games (174) all in First Division and the one who led the Pucelanos to two of his three European appearances, although, curiously, he never led Valladolid on the continent.
The Chilean coach did not receive any tribute from the Pucelano club in life. Both former president Carlos Suárez tried it twice, as well as the current top leader, Ronaldo Nazario, but his weakened health did not invite it and the family declined the proposals. Neither after his death could he receive the heartfelt tribute of a hobby that adores him. The pandemic prohibits the presence of the public in the stadium, so the club prepared a simple tribute: a minute’s silence was observed in the duel against Elche, on January 19, with his image reflected in the video scoreboard, while Sergio González, current coach and the third-party who has directed the most games at the club, laid down a bouquet of flowers and a ball in one of the corners of his technical area. It wasn’t much, but it was the most that could be done to honor a historic coach, with all the letters, of Real Valladolid. If, at least, the Blanquivioletas fans had been able to enter the field, the minute of silence would have been overwhelming, as is often the case in Zorrilla. Without music, without a single voice. Because Zorrilla in silence, with 27,000 people respecting him, is as impressive as the applause that would have taken after those 60 seconds.
Talking about Vicente Cantatore is talking about an iconic coach in Valladolid. In three different times he was in the Blanquivioleta club and in all three he triumphed. He led the Blanquivioleta team to their second Copa del Rey final in 1989, against Real Madrid (1-0) at the Vicente Calderón, and, in addition, he is the architect of two of the three European pucelan presences in Europe. So special was it that the ‘Europucela’ players, the white-and-blue team from the 1996-97 season that qualified for UEFA, planned to meet last year to remember that season in the city of Pisuerga and visit the coach. The pandemic prevented this meeting from being held in 2020 and it will never have the climax of the visit to the coach. Among the members of that team are César Sánchez, Edu Manga, Harold Lozano, Juan Manuel Peña, Álvaro Gutiérrez, Benjamín Zarandona, Alen Peternac, Alberto Marcos, Javi Torres Gómez, Víctor Fernández and José María Quevedo, that every time they talk about the Chilean they highlight their ability to motivate them, raise awareness and be a friend with phrases, as José Anselmo Moreno tells in his book “Aúpa Pucela, 40 stories in white and purple”, such as “In football the who wins ”,“ Those who are going to face (in the final of the Copa del Rey in 1989) learned in the street, there is no football university, they are like you ”or“ The credit belongs to the players ”
In his first campaign, that of his debut, 1985-86 season, he completed the 34 games of the season, saving the team with solvency, without major problems, and winning, for example, Real Madrid in Zorrilla (3-2) in a squad where players such as Juan Carlos Rodríguez or Eusebio began to appear, aged 20 and 21, respectively, who would end up winning the European Cup with Barcelona in 1992. The following season, 1986-87, Cantatore had disagreements with him. Chairman Gonzalo Alonso for the signings and only led the first game, being replaced by Xavier Azkargorta, who did not end a tough campaign in which Santos and Pérez García also led, who finished in the middle of the table.
It would not take long for Cantatore to return to the Valladolid club since with the arrival of the new president, Pérez Herrán, the Argentine returned to the Pucelano bench to direct two more campaigns to the Pucelanos in the 1987-88 and 1988-89 seasons. In the first of them he finished eighth, in the middle of the table, while in the second he finished sixth and led Real Valladolid to their second, and last, Copa del Rey final. It was at the Vicente Calderón stadium against Real Madrid on June 30, 1989 and the merengues won with an early goal by Gordillo. That team, led by Fernando Hierro, who weeks later would become a Real Madrid player, qualified for the second time for European competition, the Recopa de Europa. The coach left the club on his way to Seville, where in his first campaign he repeated sixth place, leading the Andalusians to UEFA, while in the second he reached the round of 32 in European competition and finished eighth in the League, before leaving for the American continent to direct the Catholic University of Chile and later take charge of Rosario Central and Colocolo. He returned to Spain to train in Tenerife and save the chicharrero club from relegation in the 1994-95 season.
Cantatore’s third adventure in Valladolid began in the 1995-96 season, with Real Valladolid last and very off the hook on matchday 25 under the command of Rafa Benítez. The Argentine, as José Anselmo Moreno tells in his book, stated that the first thing he wanted to know “is whether the goalkeeper (César Sánchez) has hands” due to the large number of goals the team received. I had them and they were very good, as it turned out later. Cantatore managed to make the team trust itself by making a magical second round, achieving the historic 3-8 in Oviedo and saving himself in the last days, which earned him the renewal for a 1996-97 campaign, when the team qualified for the UEFA, his third European participation, at the end of the seventh season. That team was recognized as “EuroPucela”. However, this time he did not manage to lead the team in Europe in the 1997-98 season either, since after a bad start in the league, with three consecutive defeats, and a radio discussion with the son of President Marcos Fernández, who was already very ill. , was dismissed live before the disbelief of the Blanquivioleta fans, in particular, and that of Spanish football, in general. An ugly end at Real Valladolid for a historic coach at the club to which he would never return. Twice he qualified the team for Europe and never led it on a continental event.
Cantatore still took charge of Sporting de Portugal, Betis and Sporting de Gijón, but in the three clubs he had discrepancies and resigned, so after his Asturian adventure he decided to leave the benches and live between Chile and Valladolid, until he settled in the Castilian city, where he died in January.
Now, through the Federation of Peñas del Real Valladolid, the City Council, within the Participatory Budgeting Program, has been asked to build a statue in the Parquesol neighborhood of Valladolid, near the stadium, to remind it, waiting for that his family, his son Marcelo, grant permission to carry out this tribute, as one more that Real Valladolid could do in the future in the stadium or in the club’s sports center. Don Vicente deserves it.
Another of the people who have been left without a heartfelt tribute is Gonzalo Alonso. One of the most beloved presidents in the history of the club, the one who presided over the Blanquivioleta entity when it won its only title, the League Cup in 1984, died on June 23, 2020 at the age of 95. That day Pucela was playing against Getafe and his death was known at halftime, causing great sadness in all the Blanquivioletas. The pandemic situation caused the tribute in Zorrilla to be reduced to a minute of silence, on July 1, against Levante.
Alonso presided over the club between 1978 and 1982 and, later, between 1983 and 1986. Under his tenures, the team reached the Cup semifinals, promoted the team to First Division and was one of the architects of the construction of the José Zorrilla stadium in 1982, in addition to presiding over the entity when he won the entity’s only national title, the 1984 League Cup, which led Real Valladolid to the UEFA Cup for the first time. In addition, he signed at the time Fenoy or Gilberto in the first period or Polilla da Silva, Pato Yáñez, in the second, obtained the loan of Mágico González, and was present at the appearance of Eusebio or Fonseca as first team players.
The former president of Blanquivioleta could not receive the tribute of the fans, nor could Vicente Cantatore, or the club’s partner number 2, Alberto Muñoz Muñoz, who was honored before the first game played in Zorrilla after confinement, against Celta, along with the rest of the deceased Blanquivioleta subscribers. Ronaldo Nazario, current president of the club, proceeded that day to place a bouquet of flowers in its usual location to honor him and all the deceased Pucelanos. When the public returns to Zorrilla, the farewell applause and gratitude will have many recipients and a single direction: the blanquivioletas fallen during this pandemic
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source https://pledgetimes.com/valladolid-waits-for-the-pandemic-to-pass-to-pay-tribute-to-cantatore/
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