River Says Goodbye to Diego Simeone

By: Christian | November 10th, 2008

Diego Simeone

Diego Simeone officially bid farewell to River Plate yesterday in his final game as head coach in an emotional 3-3 draw with Huracan at the Monumental.

Despite a season of disappointments, el Cholo was nonetheless applauded by the fans throughout the game, many of whom waved banners and sang songs, thanking him for his service to the club and asking him to stay. It was a gesture of gratitude towards the man who ended River’s 4-year title drought, and a bittersweet closing of an era that will be remembered more for its unfulfilled promise and what-ifs.

The game taking place on the pitch neatly summarized the River that Simeone will be leaving. It was a team of two personalities, one that was down 3 goals by the 35th minute, another that fought back valiantly in the second half to even the score. One that looked lost and without a leader, yet also showed the ability to come together one last time for the man who would soon be leaving them.

Seeing Simeone on the sideline, dressed in his usual all-black attire, one could tell he still had his heart with the team. Despite lying dead last at the bottom of the table, one could see in his face the disappointment each time a Huracan goal went into net, or the wild exuberance he showed when River came back to tie the game in the second half, jumping up and down and rallying the team to the end.

Regardless of what we thought of him, you could never deny that Simeone approached every game with the same seriousness and determination as any other coach in the league. He was constantly a force on the sideline, arguing calls, pushing his players forward, celebrating every victory, and suffering every defeat. The white bandage on his arm was the perfect accessory, a reminder that he could easily pump his fist in the air in joy as he could smash it against the wall in frustration.

Seeing the players pull together to give Simeone something memorable for his last game in charge (see Tuzzio dedicating his goal to him in the video below), and hearing the fans shout chants of thanks was an emotional sight. Yes, no one expected that only months after celebrating a league title in the very same stadium, Simeone would be coaching his final game with River suffering the worst campaign in its history. But the emotional exchange on hand at the Monumental, between fans who despite being heartbroken still came to graciously say goodbye, and from Simeone himself, whose somber tone seemed to envision a dream of better times, of championships never to be won, of a history that will never be written, was one of the proudest moments I’ve seen from the club all year.

The season has been hard, but I want to thank Diego for his work with the club, and I wish him the best of luck in his coaching career. I never thought he was as bad as this season’s record shows, and I suspect a long and successful path lies ahead of him. As for River, they remain an embarrassment, an eyesore that needs to quickly go away so we can all recover and and move on. But those discussions will be for another time. Instead, I dedicate this chant to el Cholo, one heard from the terraces over the weekend:

“Olé, olé, olé, olé, Cholo, Cholo!”