[Sport] "I was about to die": the incredible story of the former U that shines today in Coquimbo Unido

[FNX Magokiler]

John Salas (24) went from being a revelation to establishing himself as one of the great figures of Coquimbo Unido's historic campaign in the Copa Sudamericana. Today he is one of the fixtures in Juan José Ribera's scheme and has played in many positions. His natural position is as a right back, but today he works for both sectors and has even acted as a forward. Against Junior de Barranquilla he started the play of the goal that Lautaro Palacios made in the epic 'pirate' triumph in Colombia.

"We celebrated with euphoria, because we achieved a victory against a very difficult opponent, who is used to playing in these instances. We are happy, but we are measured because there are 90 minutes left against a hierarchical rival. Obviously we are very excited, we are happy with the form in which we reversed the game, because despite losing, we never stopped believing that we could get a good result, "says Salas in conversation with AS Chile after returning to the country after eight hours of travel and a new PCR test. "We are used to taking the test, but it is very annoying," he jokes.

The present from him is fantastic. He consolidated himself in the starting team and earned the respect of the Coquimbano fan. But he does not forget that five years ago, everything could change. When he was a player at the University of Chile, kidney failure affected him severely, to the point that he had to be hospitalized for 20 days. They were the darkest days in the life of the 'pirate' footballer.

 

 

"That illness took almost a year out of football. It was difficult. Not only did I come close to leaving football, but I was on the verge of dying. As a family, they were very hard days. My mother was pregnant and lost her baby, it was a situation very strong. Obviously with this present one remembers many things. We all have our sorrows and moments like these are enjoyed.

-His recovery was very long. Did he think about retirement?
- Never. I had the illusion of playing again, but my fear was that I would have to leave football as a result of what happened to me. I was hospitalized for 20 days. The nephrologist, knowing that he was a player, told me that he could have me at the clinic for three days and send me home, but with dialysis. That's why I endured so long, because if I dialyzed and it went wrong, I had to do it for life and I couldn't keep playing. Recovery was super slow, I started walking again, I lost 10 kilos at the clinic. My first training was walking from the small area to the large area, I had itches all over my body, but I never gave up. I got up to continue what I always wanted to do.

- Do you remember how it happened?
- It was in a preseason with Martín Lasarte at the U. It was very hard, I came back exhausted and caught a cold. My defenses lowered and the biopsy they did to find out the reason for the disease concluded that it was because I took a lot of Ibuprofen when I caught a cold. Perhaps at the club they gave me a lot of medications and that perhaps had an opposite effect on my kidneys. The nephrologist could not find an explanation because I am an athlete, I do not drink or smoke. It took several days to find out why. I never expected it. I thank God for coming back stronger.

"As a group, we are going to live this Cup together"
- Are you aware of what you have achieved in the Copa Sudamericana?
- Yes, we know that what we are doing is historical. The people and the leaders of the club show it to us. For me, it is the first international tournament that I play, I have been in the First Division for two years in a provincial club that has a great history, but not internationally. We are writing history and we are aware that we have the city supporting us and we have the same illusion of the people to continue advancing.

- Was it useful that Unión La Calera recently played against Junior to better analyze the rival?
- If I'm honest, we studied Junior little because we didn't have many days to prepare for the game. We watched videos, analyzed them and drew conclusions to deal with them.

- Against La Calera, Junior came to Chile to take refuge for the victory achieved in the first leg, but now he has the obligation to win ...
- They will come looking with everything. We had analyzed that at home it was a team that put a lot of people in attack, but against us it was not like that. We counter them well. We play our game on every court. They have physically extraordinary players, but with our intelligence we knew how to neutralize them. Defensively we are very well, for no reason we will go out to defend. As a group we say that we are going to live this Cup to concho because it is not known if Coquimbo will play an international tournament again and reach these instances.

- In the South American Cup they are shining, but in the National Tournament they are at the bottom of the table. Is it difficult to change the chip considering the performance in the international field?
- It has not been difficult for us to change the chip and play in the National Tournament. Although we have not been given the results, we are calm. We always want to win and we deal with it that way. This weekend we have the classic and yes or yes we have to win, but in no case are we in a hurry. We are convinced that we do not deserve to be there and that by winning a couple of matches we are already getting into international cups.