El cerrojo (SPA-ENG)

[Source](https://x.com/olimpia_argenta/status/1950692940524958073/photo/3) Para nuestra suerte parece que las selecciones nacionales de este deporte por ahora son inmunes a esa peste, en el dia de ayer la selección sub-20 obtuvo el importante Torneo COTIF L'Alcudia 2025 y la mejor noticia es que el conjunto local llevó a todos sus jugadores sub-17 como preparación para el mundial de esa categoría que se jugará en Qatar en noviembre próximo.

The bolt The title of this article refers to the translation from Italian to Spanish of the word "catenaccio" and since we are talking about sports here I must quickly mention, so as not to bore you, that this name was used in the 1950s to describe an ultra-defensive playing style that was devised and implemented by some of the great coaches of that country, including, and as main figures, Helenio Herrera and Nereo Rocco, coaches of Inter Milan and its neighborhood rival AC Milan respectively. To be honest, Helenio Herrera wasn't Italian but Argentine, who emigrated to Morocco as a child, where he began his career as a soccer player and later dedicated himself to coaching soccer teams. Continuing with this line of honesty, I must mention that this style of playing soccer isn't native to the Italian peninsula but to Switzerland, where it originated in the 1930s under the brainchild of coach Karl Rappan. Nereo Rocco, also not Italian, having been born in Trieste when that region was part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, was the first to bring the system to Italy. "Catenaccio" is a playing style that we might call ultra-defensive, based on a very tight defense with a line of four or five defenders and a libero or stopper running loose behind it as a last resort in the event of one's own mistakes or due to a better performance by the opposing team. Another defining characteristic is the quick counterattack with few touches to take advantage of the opposing team's advance. These were the main rules, and the absolute priority was not to concede goals in one's net. This system, admittedly petty in terms of spectacle, had great results in the 1960s and 1970s, when Inter Milan won the European Cup in 1964 and 1965, and also the Intercontinental Cup in those same years. AC Milan, with Rocco at the helm, won the European Cup Winners' Cup in 1967, the European Cup in 1968, and the Intercontinental Cup in 1969. These achievements led the Italian national team to adopt the system, which was very successful and remained in place for many years. Curiously, both coaches had very brief stints at the helm of the Azzurri, and neither achieved good results. Here in my country, the playing system was copied by Estudiantes de la Plata, obtaining excellent results. All this comes to mind because I remember some of the results we were seeing in Serie A closer to the turn of the century, when many teams still used that extremely tight defensive system. It was rare for a match on any given day to have multiple goals, with draws and narrow wins predominating. I compared it back then to the football played in my country, and it seemed like a nightmare to watch the few goals scored there against the many here. They're killing football, I thought. I never imagined I'd experience that feeling again. This weekend, the third round of our local championship concluded, and to cut to the chase, here's a rundown of the results: Sarmiento 0 Lanús 2 Independiente Rivadavia 0 Belgrano de Córdoba 0 Unión de Santa Fe 0 Tigre 0 Aldosivi de Mar del Plata 0 Newell's Old Boys of Rosario 0 Rosario Central 0 San Martín de San Juan 0 Platense 0 Argentinian Juniors 0 Velez Sarsfield 0 Instituto de Córdoba 0 Racing Club 0 Estudiantes de la Plata 1 Gimnasia de la Plata 1 Independiente 0 Talleres de Córdoba 0 Godoy Cruz de Mendoza 0 Huracán 1 Boca Juniors 0 River Plate 0 San Lorenzo de Almagro 0 Deportivo Riestra 1 Atlético Tucumán 0 Central Córdoba de Santiago del Estero 2 Defensa y Justicia 1 Banfield 1 Barracas Central 3. 13 goals in 15 matches, 8 matches finished without opening the scoring. In Argentina, we are inaugurating a new era of catenaccio. Let's hope this infection is only localized and doesn't spread to other places, because we'll die of boredom. Luckily for us, it seems that the national teams in this sport are immune to this plague for now. Yesterday, the U-20 team won the important COTIF L'Alcudia 2025 Tournament, and the best news is that the local team brought all of its U-17 players in preparation for the U-17 World Cup, which will be played in Qatar next November.

Héctor Gugliermo @hosgug