A legend in the global game is reaching the end of his career. Layla Carlsson looks back at Argentina striker Martin Palermo’s greatest and not so great moments, as she makes a case for the Boca striker being a genuine, living footballing icon and the latest addition to the TFT Icons series.
If there is one moment in football that is etched in my memory, truly deserving of the word epic, it is that of Martín Palermo celebrating his match-winning goal for Argentina against Peru in an all or nothing qualifying match for the World Cup of 2010. A torrential rainstorm in Buenos Aires battered players, spectators and TV cameras. You could literally see water flowing across the lenses, and the wind caused the cameras to sway back and forth. Everyone present was soaked to the bone. Yet this setting was somehow perfect for the events that were about to unfold.
A draw would be disastrous for Argentina’s qualifying hopes, and it was 1-1. When Martín Palermo - who was 35 at the time and one of the surprise call-ups in Maradona’s squad - took the pitch, it was as if I knew Martín would do something special. Perhaps because it would be so typical for him to be the one to bring salvation to the drama on the pitch, which, not in the last place aided by the Weather Gods, had taken on biblical proportions.
When he scored, it was indeed a goal of a typical number 9: predatory in the box and at the right place at the right time. It made you wonder where on earth he had come from, as it was as if he had suddenly teleported to the perfect spot.
The Monumental, home of River Plate, home of Boca Juniors’ arch rivals, exploded with relief. The hero himself took off his shirt, the ice-cold rain could not harm him. Nothing could. At that moment in time, Martín Palermo was invincible. His name echoed in the stands and around the stadium after the match ended, and Palermo flung himself into the arms of the man who had believed in him. Two legends, Diego Maradona, the Hand of God himself, and El Loco, ‘the Fool’, wept like children.
Vitals: Martin Palermo
Clubs: Estudiantes, Boca Juniors, Villarreal, Real Betis, Alaves, Boca Juniors
Goals: 252
International Caps: 15
Legendary players come with flaws; human errors that have us fans realise they too are human, even if we - secretly - don’t want them to be. Contradictory it is maybe, that we want them to be greater than us yet at the same time it makes us feel good to see they are not perfect.
Palermo will, perhaps sadly, always be the player who missed three penalties in one game. No pundit outside of Argentina speaks his name without mentioning the missed penalties. For Boca supporters, Martín is a hero - however, a great part of his charm is the anti-hero factor.
Just think about it. Those three penalties. The fact that he broke his leg while celebrating a goal when he was at Villarreal in Spain. The guts and sense of humour of posing as a transvestite - make-up and all - for a magazine shoot, because when the magazine proposed the idea, he thought it would be funny and liked the provocative edge of it. Besides Martín, few would get away with a shoot like that - perhaps Guti or even Beckham, but that’s it. Wayne Rooney in a dress, wearing lipstick and earrings? He’d never hear the end of it.
El Loco is close to the end of his professional career and, as many have said, there should be a film about his crazy life and no doubt there will be. The day he says farewell to the Xeneizes at La Bombonera, there will hardly be any dry eyes to be found at the stadium.
Martín Palermo is not only a club icon, he is an example for the supporters because of his mental strength and resilience. And not only for the working men and women the stands, but also for other players, like Sergio Ramos of Real Madrid, who asked a Spanish journalist travelling to Buenos Aires to get him a signed Boca Juniors shirt of Palermo. “No matter how great the set-back,” said Ramos, “Martín Palermo always comes back.”
When Martín faced a tragedy in his personal life after his unborn son had died, he wanted to play the next day and scored two goals against Banfield. Coach Basile substituted him, granting him the applause of the home crowd, who had been touched by their hero’s sorrow and loss. As Palermo broke down and cried, the supporters cried with him. His pain was their pain.
In the words of my dear friend Natalia Gesualdo de Marco: “That´s what Martin is to us. Someone to look up to and admire because he`s had ups and downs but always struggled with so much greatness and pride to rise again. The most professional player you can meet, always at the front of the group keeping up with the younger ones.”
Martín is 37. His movements on the pitch aren’t rapid, but he has never been a player with graceful moves, nor is he a cunning artist like Riquelme. That is not his role. He is supposed to pop up and steal goals, be a threat in the air, put his boot against the ball in a clutch and wreak havoc in a defence. This he has done more than 300 times in his professional career. One time, with an amazing header 35 metres from goal.
Martín Palermo, hero. Anti-hero. Club icon. The Fool. The Titan. Loved, admired, mocked. What a remarkable man.
Layla blogs at How To Deal With Sexy Football. You can follow her on Twitter @LaylaCarlsson.
Tags: Argentina, Boca Juniors, Martin Palermo
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