The experienced ex-Colo Colo was announced in the U after 7 years in Macul, where he was not renewed, his last wish.
Matias Zaldivia to leave Colo Colo and three weeks later he signed with the University of Chile, a transfer highly questioned by fans on one side and the other, mainly due to the high degree of identification of the nationalized defender with the popular club, where he won 8 trophies, 2 leagues and even retired as captain in that 5- 0 win against him Real Betis, a fresh memory that served the ‘4’ to successfully close a triumphant path, but also stones that contributed to condemning his departure. Although it is clear that this should not have happened through the back door when his intention was clear: to continue in what he considered his home.
“We understand the game of social networks better, but those who consume it the most are families. We need to reduce the attacks a little: we are professionals, we play football, the family consumes and gets sick. I am sure where I am,” he explained in his presentation. “If anyone (from Colo Colo) felt offended, I apologize: I was always a very respectful player. Things can come out, I apologize again.” “I’m going to give everything to help the team win, to get back on their feet.” “We came here to be champions.” “People’s reaction is a normal thing. People will accept me if I give up. And if I don’t give up, no.”
Zaldivia, the former Chacarita, is a professional and chose the U for logical reasons. The first is that he wanted to maintain the status of playing at a big club, a status he only achieved when he crossed the mountain range, after he started his career started at lesser known clubs. In addition, he feels able to rise to the challenge, because the numbers of his 2022 speak for themselves: he won the local tournament debate between the XI and the substitution of the team that played the best football in the country, leaving behind statistics that were higher than acceptable. In the Colo, despite the good memories, of the leaders of the leaders, they did not forgive him the trial – which the athlete lost for taxes on image rights that he asked the institution to pay instead of him – and they considered his trial as a defeated one, contrary to what the coaching staff of Gustavo Quinteros thought, who bet on him again without finding the same tune in Black & White.
The best news for Zaldivia is the welcome from his teammates. Nery Domínguez pointed out that her job is to make her compatriot feel in the best way so that he can settle in the comfort of the Blue Sports Center. Worst of all is the first impression his signing generated, which brings out the worst in many without understanding before that the Romantic Traveler was pitied at a central and national level, that defense was the weakest part of his fourth year battling online to survive in Primera and that the market opportunity was attractive enough for him, as a listed stock does not appear every day with the freedom letter in hand and the autonomous ability to make a decision for the future.
Apart from holding Chilean nationality, he is a family man with plans to extend his days in Santiago where he has settled as part of society after 7 years. The next step is to demonstrate that the talent and ability to play is intact. The classic will now see him wearing blue, a color he finished undefeated against and which he now defends. The ode to freedom is a reality check when passion is no more important than a footballer’s times in the sport he chose to live.
Source: Goal