Fidel Valenzuela
In this case, as they say, the nickname won out over the name. They called him and even today they recognize him more for Agujita.
It is about Alejandro Bassa, a self-sacrificing midfielder who walked his football and his “punctures”, although he categorically denies it, on our fields, and some from abroad in the 80s and 90s.
Today, he is looking for talents for Vallejo and he wants to make them famous, but at the same time he has many things to tell about his more than 15 years playing the ball.
-Where does the nickname Agujita come from?
-He comes out of a funny one from the rostrum. We had already finished a La Joya-San Agustín match and they accuse me that I had “punctured” Donkey Ziani several times. It was 1987.
-And what did the referee of the match say about this alleged incident?
-The judge was Enrique Labó and he said nothing, because there was no evidence or anything to blame me.
-Is everything there?
– What will be left there, if up to now it gives me annoyance, because they made me a complaint, but it was not Donkey Ziani, but the lawyer Mario Chávez Villanueva
-Supportedly you punctured Ziani and the one who complains and denounces you is Chávez.
-Yes, it seems that rather that man felt the prick, ha ha ha …
Make yourself famous and …
-But can’t you deny that the alleged puncture made you very popular?
-You could say yes and they even wanted to take me to Argentina to meet Salvador Bilardo, who was accused of using a needle when he played for Estudiantes de La Plata.
-Even in Europe they talked about you …
-Popularity reached England, a country where I arrived at the invitation of my spiritual friend Nolberto Solano and traveled on a first-rate plane. I remember that Ñol told me that in those parts he was well known and I replied: “You see, I’m more international than you.”
-Are you not going to say that you had the opportunity to play in those places?
-What do you think? … I had a pichanga at Newcastle, but I had the misfortune to collide with Alan Shearer, who hit me on the forehead that brought blood out of my nose.
-You didn’t stay calm. Did you go to give him the change?
-Of course, I already wanted to wrap it up and I even thought to put a needle in it, ha, ha, ha.
-Do you have a great friendship with Ñol?
-Yes, he is a great person and he likes to help people in need. If he told everything he has done for me … Note that there was a team here, Nuevo Castillo, which in English is Newcastle, and they were always there shaking hands.
-Going back to the subject of your nickname, is it true that you hit whoever called you Agujita?
– It’s true, at the beginning it bothered me a lot because there were people who believed the version of the puncture to Ziani, but later I assimilated it and, for my good luck, I began to be hired followed by several teams, which at that time was complicated.
-I once heard it said that if you went through the lie detector they will discover that you lied by not accepting your blame for the puncture.
-I would accept, because if he had been guilty he would receive a sanction and would never be punished. What I can tell you now is that I am “needle” (without money), ha ha ha …
– Are you not going to say that since that incident the rivals looked at you with different eyes?
-Yes, but it was not because of that incident but because of my temper. The brand I made was heavy and it didn’t tire me out.
I had to “scratch”
-What can you tell us about your beginnings?
-I left Alianza as minors, then I was in Cristal, from there I went to Atlético Chalaco, Defensor Lima, Huaral, CNI, Alfonso Ugarte, La Joya, Sport Boys, Pesquero, among others; and abroad, at the Atletico Italiano, from Venezuela.
–Did you make your professional debut with Chalaco?
-Yes, in 1985. During my stay in Chalaco there were players who helped me a lot, such as Augusto Prado, Pozú, Ríos, Matías and Javier Chirinos, and coaches Hugo Montenegro, Roberto Chale and Edson Sánchez.
-Do you remember what you did with your first salary?
-I always wanted to be a professional and I thought about earning money to give my mother a better peace of mind. I helped him build the little house.
-Seeing how you are currently, I think it is easy for you to play a complete soccer game. What is the secret?
-The secret is not to “pump” (drink), not stay up late, not smoke and be involved in sports.
-It has been 15 years that you have played in first class, can you say who is the most charged player that you had to score?
-César Cueto, with whom I have a special anecdote …
-Tell it ….
-In a CNI-Alianza match, he told me: “Come, nephew, you know that I have recently had surgery, be careful.” But in one play he made me a huacha and a hat, and people applauded him wildly. “Cueto, heart”, they shouted.
-What did you do?
-In another play I went to “squeeze” him and he sat down immediately. They took him out injured. I had to die in my law, the gift that God gave me had to be exploited, I was not to dribble but to “scratch”.
-From your time at Pesquero, there was always talk of the intense practice matches between you.
-We faced the whites with the blacks, ha ha ha …
-And what was the prize?
-Beat the whites.
– In the memory of your former colleagues, did you play with pisqueños?
– I was lucky enough to play at Atlético Chalaco with Angel Sabastizaga, who was a forward center for the good guys, and with Isidro Fuentes at Pesquero where we had a great year. As rivals I had brothers Fredy and Jesús Torrealva, Carlos’Serpico ‘Rivas, among others .
TALENT SEEKER
-What do you do now, Agujita?
-I work for César Vallejo in the capture of new values and that they succeed in football. I want them to feel what it means to be in this sport and prepare to perform in a stadium.
-Don’t you teach him to put punctures?
– Well then, don’t overdo it, he gave them his support to fulfill his desired dream.
Source-elpopular.pe