The one who said "better lucky than talent", knew the essence of life. People are afraid to admit that much of life depends on luck, scared to think how many things are beyond our control. In a match there are times when the ball hits the edge of the net, and for a fraction of a second it can go forward or back. With a bit of luck he keeps going and you win, or he doesn't and you lose." With this phrase the famous Woody Allen film 'Match Point' began. And it is applicable to all facets of life. It's scary to really think about how many things are out of our control. There is the fear of not being able to control things that do not depend on us. That's where chance comes in, but it's also mixed in with that element of superstition.
It was the 80s and Bilardo directed Estudiantes de la Plata. In a world where Bilardo come together and winning any loophole is justifiable in order to extol the figure of a personality that was always different from the rest. However, the story that will be given here would be inexplicable if it were not for the fact that it was real and that, above all, has ended up enduring in the football book from then until today. The voices of that time are still heard talking about the legend of Kiricocho through the Argentine neighborhoods. Everybody knows him. Everyone talks about him. He is more famous than Pelé and Maradona and more international than Roberto Carlos. His name is heard in stadiums around the world. The forwards hate him, while the goalkeepers turn to him at a key moment. The most beautiful thing of all is that Kiricocho is not a footballer, much less a technician. It does not appear in the history of any club and has not even played a single minute as a professional. But it is that despite all this, he gave Estudiantes the 1982 Metropolitan Tournament and for that reason Bilardo rewarded him with making football history.
In the years in which the mythical Argentine coach directed Estudiantes, a series of unforeseen events began to occur in the form of misfortunes within the campus. This happened above all in the training of the 'pincha'. No one could come up with a logical explanation for why players were suddenly being injured so frequently. Any person in their right mind would have thought that it is the most unfortunate chance or the result of a bad form of the members of the establishment. However, someone noticed the existence of a fervent Estudiantes fan who attended each and every one of the training sessions. His name was Juan Carlos, with an unknown surname and a secret origin. We would all think that as soon as such a matter crossed Bilardo's ears, he would decide to throw him out immediately. However, it was not. Surprisingly, Bilardo decided to take advantage and make the jinx an art, a strategy. He decided to give a seemingly irrelevant man a fundamental role in the team.
Juan Carlos, a faithful fan of the group from the La Plata neighborhood and under the nickname 'Kiricocho' became the team's amulet in a very 'biilardesque' way or in other words: peculiar. Neither short nor lazy, the great Carlos Bilardo decided that it was a good idea for this noble fan to have the task of receiving the rival teams that came to play against visiting Estudiantes. For things about Bilardo, soccer, or those things that are beyond our control; The legend of Kiricocho came out on Estudiantes. He won the 1982 Metropolitan Title, losing a single home game. It was against Boca Juniors. In that game Juan Carlos could not receive the Xeneize. Factor that, after seeing the result, further fed the legacy of Kiricocoho in the figure of Bilardo. In this way he became a fundamental element of the "jinx" and malfario in football. No one knew more about that good man used as a bad luck charm. What's more, not even Bilardo himself heard from him from then on.
Bilardo changed benches. He left Argentina and landed in Spain to lead Sevilla. New life at the helm of an ambitious club. No sign of Kiricocho. Nothing foreshadowed that such a figure could reappear in the Andalusian city. But once again, due to things that are beyond our control, chance or football, someone from the Sevilla bench bellowed a notorious 'Kiricocho' when Sevilla's rival was about to take a penalty. Bilardo did not finish believing it. Simeone and Maradona came to answer his questions. They had been using it in the usual way and the rest took it as a superstition. This is how this word spread. Meanwhile, no sign of Kiricocho. It only appears from time to time in the mouth of a goalkeeper or player before the opponent decides from eleven meters. For some it works and fails, in the same way that many others do not. Luckily for Italy, their last Euro Cup, achieved in a penalty shootout, had Kiricocho as the protagonist.
'It's really scary to think how many things are beyond our control', to tell Bilardo that he turned a person like you and me into a fetishist legend because at one point he determined it to be the cause of chance of the things that were thrown at him They are out of your control.