If someone decided to start telling stories of Ecuadorian characters on the big screen, one of them would definitely be the soccer player Alberto Spencer (1937-2006), whose legacy survives above all in Uruguay, where he is remembered as one of the iconic figures of Peñarol. That was initially the intent of the filmmakers. Juan Pablo de la Roche and Geovanny Pozowho initially planned to produce several biographies of national personalities, but, as they described it during an interview with this newspaper, “Spencer’s magic” made the project get out of hand. For good!
Thus, last month they presented, in a private screening, the final cut of magic head, the emotional documentary of 83 minutes that reflects the athlete’s career and has the endorsement of the Spencer familywho about the final of the Copa Libertadores traveled from Montevideo to Guayaquil and were able to attend the exhibition.
Like Albert, Juan Pablo also grew up in Ancón (Santa Elena) and that closeness and affection for the coastal town definitely marked the interest of the producers in Spencer’s life.. And the final push came when Walter Spencer, the soccer player’s youngest son and who had heard about his feature film, invited them to the 2011 Copa Libertadores final in Montevideo. On that first trip they stayed for a week and advanced with the first interviews of the project. and two years later, they would return to collect new material.
All the interviews in the documentary are original by the filmmakers, except for the moments with Alberto Spencer and the interview that Pelé had with the Ecuadorian. In addition, the story is energized with a drama in which guests participated, not actors, but who did have skills with the ball to simulate the historic goalscorer.
And how were they received in Uruguay?
It was very easy, because by saying that we were Ecuadorians they already associated us with Alberto Spencer, then we mentioned the documentary and they even opened the doors for us to the Congress of Uruguay, with this we tell you everything, we just went through the metal detector.
What other anecdotes did the name of Spencer give you in that country?
We got free entry to the Paul McCartney concert (laughs) in Montevideo just for saying we were Ecuadorians. We partnered with Alberto Spencer and they let us in without asking, because we had gone to listen to him from outside.
They started in 2011 and have managed to project it in 2022, why was its premiere extended?
We also stopped the project a lot because since it did not leave us financial returns and we had to support ourselves, we took breaks to take advantage of jobs that arrived and when we did that, it was postponed and postponed until the pandemic reached us.
Were you surprised by the affection that Uruguay has for our player?
We had heard that they said that he was a figure there, but it is one thing to listen to him and another thing to go there and experience it yourself, with the people there, because he is quite a figure, especially for the people at that time, but the young people remember it too.
And does that contrast, for example, with the memory of your hometown, Ancón?
I think there is no trace of Alberto Spencer left, he is very different. In Uruguay, young people know who Alberto Spencer is, here in Ecuador they don’t, and in Ancón, the people of that old guard are no longer around. They see Spencer because when you pass by the Andes club there are some photographs of him, but he doesn’t feel the memory of him, he’s not floating in the air and it’s something that should happen.
What expectations do you have with the premiere of the documentary?
We always imagine that the new generations talk to their grandparents or their father, or that they go and tell them about this premiere and talk together about Alberto Spencer. But also, he was an example of self-improvement and that is also the main message of what we tell. If someone, after seeing the film, decides to reach new goals and achievements, personally or professionally, I think that we will have reached a good port.
What was the reaction of the relatives?
It was summed up in tears and I think we touched that fiber to them, also because the ending is very emotional, so that makes people quite emotional when they finish watching the movie and even with the final song that nostalgia is finished off.
How did Héctor Napolitano join the project?
Geovanny went to interview him as part of a new documentary he’s working on, but he forgot his light play and, while we waited for him to come back, we started talking to ‘Napo’s’ son about Alberto Spencer’s project, which he still likes. a song was missing (…) And then he promised him to compose it, although we warned him that we had no budget. But Hector said that he saw him play and that we talk about it. And so the theme that appears in the credits was given.
Opinion: Sir Alberto Spencer (By Jorge Barraza)
He had a British phlegm that did not come from London or Liverpool or Manchester. She was from Ancón and came with him from the factory. Perhaps that composure, that chivalrous air had its origin in the Spencer surname and has traveled genetically from the ancestors to him. He was close to 69 when his heart told him “we have come this far”, but no one would have dared to call him old. He kept the stamp of the veteran intact. He kept the weight of the golden years from him. Always in an impeccable double-breasted suit, slender, dignified. He was the counterpart of most footballers who, after retirement, gain weight, deteriorate, and turn gray quickly.
Upon his retirement, he served as the general and permanent consul of Ecuador in Uruguay. And he wasn’t just a diplomat, he looked like one. Diplomacy did not study it, he brought it incorporated. Serious, measured, austere, he aroused unanimous admiration in the meetings and cocktails in which football summons the former glories. Alberto Spencer was what Americans call a self made man, a self-made man. He possessed the greatness of those who rowed from below and, without losing track of his origin, progressed in life, knowing how to adjust to the different situations that his fame imposed on him.
He didn’t get old, but he managed to see Ecuador grow soccer. “Their fear passed,” he said. Before he suffered the defeats of the Tricolor. “They play well, but at some point they remember that they are Ecuadorians and wham! everything collapses ”, he lamented. “They don’t trust each other.”
Just what he had in excess: personality, drive. You had to have great mental attributes to succeed in Uruguayan football at the beginning of the 60s. A rapid entrance to the area could cost an iron in the waist, going to look for a cross to the pot perhaps represented an elbow in the face. The defenses played to shrink the rival striker. Arbitration allowed it.
It didn’t work out with Spencer. He spilled tons of goals from the first day he set foot on the Centenario stadium. He entered like a gust, without fear, and stretching the tip of the booty or with his fearsome headbutt, he would shake the net.
We shared many moments with Alberto, especially at the Centenario stadium, and he received respectful greetings every time, full of affection. Many of mature men, fans of Peñarol. Others even from Nacional, the usual rival.
— We see that the relationship with the people of Nacional is good, even appreciation—we slide him.
— Oh yes, it’s just that I was never a heavy player. Even when I scored a goal, more than celebrating I felt sorry for the defeated goalkeeper.
“He looked like a puma crouched and expectant in the forest of defenders of the opposing defenses,” wrote an old Uruguayan chronicler. Suddenly, as if propelled by a magical springboard, he would emerge like a sharp knife from his scabbard, seeking the immensity of the sky. And, when he was at the top, when he had already surpassed all his rivals in the jump, he applied the ferocious blow… ”. Beautiful and literary description.
“I had a natural quality that helped me throughout my career: I rose a lot from the place where I was, on the other hand, the defenders had to gain momentum to do the same,” he confessed in the last interview we did with him, in May of 2004.
He was an idol with two flags and scored all the goals that a team, a fan, or a coach can ask of their bomber. Goals to win games, cups and championships: there were 510 official scores.
The record of 54 goals in the Libertadores cannot be broken any more. He took it with him. Ecuador does not grant noble titles. Otherwise, like Bobby Charlton, like Bobby Moore or Alex Ferguson, we should call him Sir Alberto Spencer. It is the only title that was missing. And it would have been justice.
Source: Eluniverso
Paul is a talented author and journalist with a passion for entertainment and general news. He currently works as a writer at the 247 News Agency, where he has established herself as a respected voice in the industry.
