“Will there be more nonsense? Transfer Peiro to Torino!”

Just as our football is today like the coconut, a fierce predator of the greatest figures that appear out there, in the sixties that role corresponded to calcium. In a short time we were taken to Luis Suárez, Luis del Sol and Joaquín Peiró. The most traumatic was the departure of this.

Luis Suárez left for Inter at the end of the 60-61. His last game with Barça was the very unfortunate final of the Bern European Cup, the four-goal final. Barça was in financial difficulties, it was run by a manager, Helenio Herrera had gone to Inter, from where he cast his network and a sector of Barcelona never became completely attached to Luis Suárez, who they saw as a competitor to Kubala. In addition, that transfer, 250 million liras, 25 million pesetas, established an absolute record in the history of football, so the operation was not frowned upon.

Luis del Sol left Madrid, also for financial reasons, at the end of 61-62, after the World Cup in Chile. It was sold to Torino, but there it was found the curled swollen. They blamed the president, Filippone, for spending 220 million lire on a transfer when the families of the deceased of the Grande Torino (the team that crashed in a plane crash at Superga in 1949, with no survivors) were struggling. The operation was saved because Juventus took over the agreement with Madrid and with the player and he stayed in Italy, in Turin … but at Juve. The Madrid player loved Del Sol, but he had only been there for two and a half years. And after all, Di Stéfano, Puskas and Gento followed. And a certain Amancio came from La Coruña, of whom they spoke of wonders. It hurt, but it was endured.

In Turin the tables turned. The operation had ended up reinforcing Juve, the hated rival. Around these two clubs there is a curious case: Juve is the great club in Italy, but in Turin it hardly has fans, and then even less than today.

So Filippone was free to sign and was shot by Joaquín Peiró, interior of Atlético, science player, stride and goal. The Greyhound of Four Roads. Half of the infernal wing, Peiró-Collar, which drove the athletes crazy. Signed from the Railway, completed on a loan to Murcia, along with Collar. Much loved by the fans. By then I was 26 years old. He was in the prime of his career.

Atlético started 62-63 as a motorcycle. A postponed commitment had been left from the previous year: the tiebreaker of the Recopa final against Fiorentina. They had tied 1-1 in the first stake, before the World Cup. The proximity of this one made that the new party was left for the return of the holidays. It was on September 5, in Stuttgart, and Atlético won, 3-0. It was the club's first European title. Peiró scored the third, as he had scored Atlético's only goal in the tied final.

The start of the League, on September 16, was tremendous, because Atlético received Valencia, champion of the Fair Cup after having beaten Barça 6-2. Atlético-Valencia, two European champions face to face! Atlético wins 5-1, with two from Peiró. That same morning the Club Assembly was chaired by the Recopa trophy. Everything is euphoria among the partners, who do not pay attention to the economic, dramatic situation. Nor do they know that Torino is coming for El Galgo.

There was nothing strange about it. Peiró had attracted attention in Italy from his three goals in a Spain-Italy squad B, in 58. He had shone in the two Cup finals 60 and 61, won against Madrid at the Bernabéu, as in the double final against the Fiorentina. And it had been a World Cup in Chile. The Mantova also loved him.

But the partner was oblivious to that interest. The second league game was going to make things more complicated. Atlético moved to Seville, where they won 2-4, the four of Peiró! The euphoria rises to the beat that Torino's offer rises, of which there are already rumors. It is heard, it is said, it is commented … That if they offer so much more what. The club has bought the Manzanares land but there is no money for the works, stuck. Players are said not to charge. It is recalled that in the assembly the treasurer had ruled out transferring to any player, “except for an overwhelming situation and to save the team, because the team is worth more than a single player …” It is said, it is said, it is said …

On Sunday the 30th there is a new exit, to La Coruña. Atlético ties 1-1. Peiró does not score, but he plays just as well and is Pichichi with his previous six goals. The team returns in a sleeper car. Upon alighting on the platform, a manager awaits Peiró:

—Joaquín, this afternoon stop by the club. We have to talk about Torino.

On Tuesday October 1, a note from the club appears in the press denying that there were negotiations, but there is no one to stop the agitation of the members. On the 2nd the transfer is about to be completed, so much so that Peiró gets to have the plane tickets for Wednesday the 3rd, but a group of notables from the club press for him to stay. They claim to have a bridge loan to save the economic crisis. On the same day 3, the board meets at the club's headquarters, in Barquillo, 22. Hundreds of fans cut the street. In number 5 of the same, the president lives, Barroso, who maintains a conversation that day with Peiró, who asks him to accept. You will earn five times more. And the 25 million they offer to the club will alleviate the economic situation. Peiró knows that his own colleagues see the solution to arrears on his departure.

The board extends the decision until late at night, perhaps waiting for fans to dissolve. At last the inexorable note appears: Peiró leaves.

The commotion among the athletes is enormous. The thunder of Peiró's still recent four goals in Seville makes his departure even more painful, which cuts off the euphoria at the root and dismantles a beautiful front that is still recited: Jones, Adelardo, Mendonça, Peiró and Collar. On Sunday, Atleti receives Zaragoza at the Metropolitano. The atmosphere is one of pain. A large banner reads: “Will there be more nonsense? Transfer Peiró to Torino! ”. Atlético win 2-1, but there is no consolation. The nostalgia for the absence of number ten, the beloved interior of the dropped stockings, is too strong. The one with the four in Seville.

Peiró did well in Italy. After two courses in Torino, he went to Inter with Luis Suárez and Helenio Herrera, with whom he won two European Cups and two Intercontinental Cups consecutively. So he was part of the two best years of that club, where they nicknamed him Il Rapinatore, for a famous goal against Liverpool, stealing the ball from the goalkeeper when he threw it away … Then he spent four courses at Rome, where he retired, with the Cup from Italy in 1970. He was 34 years old. For his part, Luis Del Sol, had a long and happy eight-year stay at Juve, where he was nicknamed Seven Lungs. In 70 he went to Roma, after the loss of Peiró, where he spent two years. And he still hurried his career back to Spain, in his Betis, where he had started, before going to Madrid. There he retired, at 38 years old. Luis Suárez, after nine years at Inter, also went to Sampdoria in 1970, where he retired after three seasons, as a scientific libero. He was also 38 when he left.

Here, every Sunday night, the radios told us about their adventures, which we followed with interest and emotion. Especially the athletes, for whom Peiró was so special.

* This article was published in El País on January 24, 2016