Those who decided to demolish historic buildings such as the Ramón Unamuno Stadium and the Municipal Pool were not aware – and if they were, they were not very interested – that since 1972, UNESCO has defined tangible cultural assets as “priceless and irreplaceable”. In 2018, the Colombian architect María Camila Chaparro, with a master’s degree in Cultural Management from the University of Barcelona, thus complemented the aforementioned concept: “they represent a historical-cultural testimony and symbology for the inhabitants of a certain community”.
The former suffered for decades from the negligence of the Guayas Sports Federation – the entity that governed it -. It was devastated in 2016, without noticing that Barcelona SC and Emelec met for the first time on that ground, in 1943. Later, not even a plaque was erected to perpetuate the memory that the game baptized as Clásico del Astillero had on Ramón Unamuno the initial chapter of the passion for football that is driving the country crazy today. The history of Guayaquil was massacred with impunity
Another facility also suffered from chronic neglect. There was the pool where the immortal Cuatro Mosqueteros del Guayas swam, responsible for the first international title won by Ecuador in 1938. That pool was permanently forgotten by the City Council. In half a century, the only works carried out there began in February 2018, and related to the destruction and subsequent physical disappearance of the traditional pool built in 1929.
Both buildings in Buenos Aires are included in what UNESCO calls “elements of exceptional value from a historical point of view”. There was no “conservation and rehabilitation” for the extinct Ramón Unamuno and Piscina Municipal. Nor were these recommendations applied: “to tell the story, to value and affirm and enrich the memories of it by cultural identities and common heritage, giving each place its characteristic features”.
Against the feat of La Plata
The shredding of two tangible historical legacies, both related to the sporting activity of Guayaquil and the traditions derived from that area, is today directed against the intangible heritage of national sports: the feat of Barcelona in La Plata – it is not known whether the ‘snipers’ act out of antipathy, ignorance or a systematic refusal to measure it-. And although in Ecuador they work hard to obscure it, paradoxically from the outside this fact still causes wonder and admiration.
From the domestic sports journalism sector, some fugitives from the pages of the book Upside down: the school of the world turned upside downs, Eduardo Galeano, claim the right to put an expiration date on the feats that Ecuadorian sport once produced. The reasons given border on the absurd. For example, there is a claim that is repeated hysterically: “I don’t want them to talk about the feat of La Plata anymore!”, “No, no, no, Basurko not again!”.
Unfortunately, there are other bizarre arguments that impoverish the debate. “Since Liga de Quito won the Copa Libertadores in 2008, La Plata’s feat has lost value.” I mean, nothing else works. No national football institution can be proud of its history.
Example of Argentina
And while in Ecuador there is an intention to destroy the history of our sport, in other parts of the world there is no such distortion. In Argentina, every May 14, the specialized press remembers with pleasure and joy the anniversary of Ernesto Grillo’s goal against England in a friendly match played in Buenos Aires in 1953.
Clarion He stood out in 2003: “Grillo is a man with an eternal goal. A goal that is in the collective memory of Argentine fans. A goal that is among the milestones of the selection. The goal for Argentina’s first victory over England (3-1). Grillo’s goal against England is part of the history of Argentine football. Nation , on May 14, 2020, it was announced: “The iconic performance remained in the fans’ retinas and because of the resonance of the moment, May 14 remains the date to remember that feat.” In the previous June, the newspaper Chronicle He called that victory “an emotional and unforgettable anniversary”.
The result did not bring the albiceleste football the title of world champion, nor did it secure points in the standings and did not qualify it for any of the next rounds. It was a friendly meeting. However, Clarion alludes to “collective memory”, to “turning points” and Nation use the word “feat”. Among the Argentine journalists – at least that is known – no one criticized Ernesto Grillo’s great goal or the echo of that victory for his team.
the first overflowing joy
Those who attack one of the most sensational chapters of Ecuadorian sports without a solid argumentative basis would do well to think twice. The significance is indisputable because Juan Manuel Basurko and company are responsible for an unforgettable, priceless and happy performance; equal or more valuable than the points achieved. Barcelona and its incredible dream team they provided the first great mass joy that football gave to Ecuador. With football as the origin of the first popular celebration in the national territory, it is the feat of La Plata that is responsible for this.
EL UNIVERSO captured it as it is, on April 30, 1971: “Collective delirium in Ecuador”, “Guayaquil experienced moments of sublime and indescribable emotion and joy”, “Moments of joy experienced by Quito fans”, “Despite the bitter cold (in the capital) numerous fans took to the streets to cheer on the idol team of Ecuador for its sensu national victory”.
How would the planet react today if a Catholic priest scored a goal in an epic match at an international competition? Here, those who cry for Málaga FC, or those who do not sleep if Inter lose the Champions League final, will not stop praising the event. Basurkov is unique, picturesque, anecdotal, unexpected. It is unrepeatable.
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A few stationary landmarks
It would be advisable to give up trying to be Creole gravediggers of the history of national sports and become, out of conviction, its guardians and guardians. That not only the foreign press speaks with admiration about the incredible feat of La Plata, as it was in 2021. The world of sportsfrom Spain, entitled ‘The night Father Basurko touched the sky’.
Sports milestones of authentic value have not been replaced. They are motionless. They happen one after the other. They know this in countries with a long history of triumphs where they are enjoyed rather than discussed. Addition, instead of division or subtraction. In the case of Barcelona in La Plata, for example, that match against Estudiantes, then the current three-time champion of the Americas, will always represent the first official victory of an Ecuadorian club over one of the Argentine powerhouses, and at the same time the first away game in an instance that had not been achieved before: the semi-final of the Copa Libertadores.
One even gets the impression that Javier Marcos Arévalo, professor of ethnological heritage at the University of Extremadura, explained to the enemies of Barcelona’s history, those who frown when they remember the feat of La Plata, what that episode means in terms of orders that go beyond the boundaries of sport: “The idea of tradition refers to the past, but also to the living present. What remains from the past in the present is tradition. Tradition would then be the permanence of the past that lives in the present.
In 1971, EL UNIVERSO was categorical: “It is true that tomorrow will come, new triumphs, new laurels will be reaped, but many years, decades and decades will pass before the memory of the feat achieved by Barcelona is erased. April 29, 1971 will be an unforgettable date that will forever be written in the book of great events.
“Barcelona won only one game”, is replicated on social networks, as if it is a crime, or insignificance, to devalue the feat of La Plata. And you, what did you win?, would be a suitable answer. (OR)
Source: Eluniverso
Tristin is an accomplished author and journalist, known for his in-depth and engaging writing on sports. He currently works as a writer at 247 News Agency, where he has established himself as a respected voice in the sports industry.
