The story of José Luis Lanao, world youth champion …

In Logroño, it's still a Rioja. The gentilicio comes from the autonomous community of La Rioja, located in the north of Spain. José Luis Lanao spent more than half of his life in this capital of 150,000 inhabitants. He arrived to play football in 1986 but a virus caused paralysis of both legs. When he received a definite diagnosis, he received two new ones. A bad one: I would not want to kick a ball anymore. His career ended at 26 years old. The good news was that I would walk again. His story does not begin or end with this episode. He had emerged from the lower divisions of Velez. He also went through the Universities of Santa Fe and Huracán until business man Josep María Minguella – the same one who drove Diego Maradona to Barcelona – set him up in Salamanca. Before making his mark, while Cesar Luis Menotti had not yet called him to be part of the junior world champion team in 1979, he was a member of the Federation of Communist Youth, La Fede. His father José had joined the central committee of the party. He keeps a picture of him taken to Cuba with Che Guevara when he was Minister of Industries. Between those memories and his life after football – when he was working as a journalist, he had a cafeteria and was involved in the pharmaceutical industry – the 45-minute interview with the Wathsapp video was spent.

-You have published on page / 12 a section called The Hand, where you wrote that you gave it to Videla when the world champions of 79 were taken to Casa Rosada. Is this the most conflicting memory of your early years as a player?

-Yes, even though I have lived other anecdotes with young people. But this moment at Government House touched me for what was to follow. The president's welcome for a sporting event was not significant, but of course, what started to happen later, one could get an idea of ​​who was shaking hands. This should have caused even if it is not a symbolic resistance, show some discomfort. For refusing her hand, shouted, although the mainstream media of that time did not reflect it. But I remember that at that time, media such as the Buenos Aires Herald could have put forward such a gesture. Part of the enthusiasm aroused upon our arrival was instrumented. You do not want to acknowledge that this has been favored by power.

-You cherish a photo of your father with Che Guevara, how is this story going?

– I was a member of the Federation of Communist Youth. But at the time of world youth in Japan, I did not participate anymore. He had contacts, well-known personalities of what was then the Fed, but not in an organic way. As much as under dictatorship, it was very difficult to maintain active activism. My father died of Parkinson's 12 years ago. I do not remember if, in 1979, I was a member of the Central Committee, but I know that he was holding a position. Al Che had visited a party delegation and met him in the 1960s. My father said that there had been a brief meeting of a few minutes in Havana.

– This paternal influence also formed you? When you started in Vélez, were you still in the Communist Youth Federation?

-What happens, we always end up being militant, even if you do not belong to any organization if the policy interests you … I was already disconnected from the Fede . I am going to Unión de Santa Fe and the process that followed was very fast: two and a half years. I'm going to Unión de Huracán, then to Spain. In fact, my transfer to Spain takes place after a tour of which I do not come back because Salamanca decides to buy me and is subject to the fact that the DT at the time of Salamanca, in 1981, wants to take me this year. I refuse because Menotti gave a list of 40 non-transferable people for the 82 World Cup and was on that list. Then I consulted Caesar and told him that I had an offer to go play in Spain and Flaco replied, "I leave you free because I can not cut it." because his chances of going to the World Cup of 82 were not great.

– Did you know the militancy or the proximity of Menotti with the PC and yours?

-No, I did not know, but we listened to Caesar and had ideological coincidences. I totally ignored his activism and knew he was mine.

– In the selection of young people, you were the substitute of Ramón Díaz?

"Yes, he was the new substitute. Calderón and Pichi Escudero played with Ramón. Diego already enjoyed some prestige and Diaz had exploded at that time, as he had not even made his first division debut and his performance in Japan was really spectacular.

– Among the strictly football facts of this young champion of '79, which one do you remember the most?

-The final with the Soviet Union and the celebrations later. But also the group, because I have integrated several, but in this there was a great affection on the part of all. Maybe because of our age and the times we lived. The human group, even in the case of Diego who was already a figure and who had a lot of humility, shared with us that we were strangers. With him, I have an anecdote that we remembered in young people. In 1976, his debut against Workshops in the First was delayed by one week. He was 15 years old and it was for him to play a semifinal fifth division. I was at Argentinos Juniors and me at Vélez. We beat them 3-1 with one of my goals and we left the champions. From that moment, Diego never left the Premier.

-How do you make a living after leaving football so young?

-At the beginning, with a friend who had proposed to me in Logroño, we installed a cafeteria with him here. But as I did not feel identified about it, I left the company and I bought it. And I joined journalism. I had almost 13 years in the Vocento group. I did everything. Sports, political and cultural journalism. The opportunity has been presented to a great friend to enter the pharmaceutical industry. I will have about six or seven years and from there, I started to stop having an employment activity for someone else and we have began to consecrate with my wife what we love without great excesses. Today, I do not have any professional activity.

-What do they do with your partner?

-We cultivate certain pbadions such as Gothic art, Gothic painting, Gothic reading that are not activities that bring us back financially but that we can appreciate. We love to travel and focus on cultural issues such as painting until 1500 and in particular architecture. What is late Gothic and Renaissance, two pbadions that led us to spend money for it and not for the car, the house or the mortgage.

– The political activity you had in your youth at the FEDE, did you take back to Spain in a party?

– Here in Logroño, I approached Podemos, but in La Rioja, there are two quite opposite currents and for the moment I have distanced myself a little. I arrived after the triumph of Felipe González, but as my concerns were always to the left of European social democracy and Spanish socialism, I never identified them. I always felt bound to the left, as in the United Left Stadium when Julio Anguita was there, although 1.8 million voices had never been pbaded. Then we could make a very important raid, the PSOE could become a sorpbado. If I had lived in another city, I would be more engaged, but here in Logroño, the situation is quite chaotic. There are two opposite factions and in the institutions, the presence of Podemos is a testimony.

-What is your perspective on the distance from Argentina?

"It's a subject that I love and love." When it was Macri's triumph, I told my colleagues that they would lead a strong neoliberal policy like the one we had in Europe and under a weak state. Here, conservative parties know that there is a land of conquests impossible to touch. Privatizing pensions, as was done once in Argentina, is unthinkable. Speaking of privatization of education or health care, conservative parties know that they can not do it. But the future of Argentina after the STEP seems promising to me. I identify with the Front of All and the politicians who joined as Mbada. We should remind them that the votes come from Cristina and repeat it. Do not forget who will govern in the country as the votes come from Cristina.

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