In life there are decisions that mark you for the rest of your days and precisely the fine former Cruz Azul forward Adrián Camacho had to take one of them when he received a “low blow”, as he himself defined it, from the Compañía Celeste, which left him without a contract after ten years of adding successes with the Noria team and which took him to “betray” his celestial heart to become a player for América, the main antagonist of the cement workers.
A story for Ripley’s, especially because Adrián Camachoin a telephone conversation with The opinion , He stated that his heart remains a Cruzazulino until the end of his days, despite the fact that in the 1986-87 season, the board of the “Celestial Machine” headed by “Billy” Álvarez and The coaching staff for Héctor Pulido informed him that he was not included in the plans regardless of the fact that his son was sick and urgently needed the income for his recovery.
“I had had very good tournaments, I was a two-time champion with Cruz Azul in the 1978-79 and 1979-80 seasons, then I had great seasons, with excellent numbers, but the 1986-87 campaign came and Héctor Pulido took over the team and told me he was joining the team. in plans, but later he told me that ‘Billy’ Álvarez wanted to talk to me and that was when they thanked me without caring that at that time my family was having problems with my son in the hospital,” he said.
What did you feel at that moment, didn’t you tell ‘Billy’, the problem you had with your son’s greeting?
Yes, of course, but they had already made the decision and it had no place in the team. Then Tampico Madero made me an offer where they offered me 80 million pesos at that time, an amount much less than what Cruz Azul paid me, but I told Carlos Reinoso, who was the coach, that I would play with them.
So why did you end up playing for América?
The thing is that suddenly I received a call from Panchito Hernández and Gonzalo Carvajal who were the managers of América and they told me that the Argentine coach Miguel Ángel “Zurdo” López was interested in my way of playing. Then they summoned me to the Coapa facilities where they made me an offer of 40 million to sign. It was a very low amount, half of what Tampico Madero offered me and much more than what I received in Cruz Azul. I asked them for the 80 million pesos that Tampico offered me, but they told me, look, go for a walk around the fields and in half an hour you come back and tell us if you accept. In the end I ended up playing with América.
What was the reason why you agreed to play with America if the amount was lower?
I analyzed things well, I was going to continue to pay attention to the health of my son who continued to recover, I was not going to leave Mexico City as I would have done by going to Tampico. Furthermore, playing for América is something else, another level, that’s when I realized that you either love this team or hate it.
In the end the decision was the correct one, because with América I won the 1987-88 titles over Pumas and in 1988-89 against Cruz Azul. I think that there I took revenge for what they did to me in the Machine.
How did you make Cruz Azul’s decision not to support you at that time?
I felt bad, I interpreted it as a low blow, especially because I have always loved those colors, I made my debut there, I won two titles, I was a starter, I played many games. I think that when they didn’t support me at that moment when I needed it, I considered it a betrayal. But in the end, one understands that they are decisions that happen and later in America I felt very comfortable, there they respected my career in Mexican soccer.
At the end of the day, having won a two-time championship with each of the two teams, having scored goals in the finals that I won, it was something extraordinary.
More than ten thousand dollars in prize money for winning America
Adrián Camacho in the telephone conversation also revealed that: “It has been a great honor to be the only two-time champion on both teams. In Cruz Azul there is no comparison, in my time it was a team that never spared anything with the players, to the point that for beating América the board offered us ten thousand dollars as a prize (around 170 thousand pesos). I also remember that when I signed my first contract they gave me 20 million pesos, which was enough for me to buy a house near Chiluca, State of Mexico.
Was America also splendid with awards?
At Cruz Azul it is something else, I remember that when we played the final against Tigres in the 19879-80 season, there was a meal before the game and suddenly a cement distributor stopped and offered a car to win the final. Then two more joined this person’s proposal and there were three Ford Fairmont cars of the year that were raffled off. I even think they were won by Professor Enrique Meza, Rubén Maturano and Horacio López Salgado.
Who is bigger, Cruz Azul or America?
Many people love Cruz Azul, you can’t imagine how many people, but really nothing like América. With them it is something else, there is no comparison of what it means to play on that team.
Who will win this Saturday?
Cruz Azul is doing very well, but I think América will be the winner, they are a team that knows how to play this type of games and has dominated Cruz Azul.
Keep reading:
– Cruz Azul will seek to add the first victory against América after four former coaches have failed to do so
– Adrián Camacho is the only or two-time champion in the history of Cruz Azul and América
– Cruz Azul would pay contract termination clause for former American player Jorge Sánchez