Behind every match of the Argentine national team, there is a group of collaborators who know like few others what happens in the intimacy of the squad. Two of them are Mario “Marito” Di Stéfano, the historic kit man of the national team, and Marcelo “Daddy” D’Andrea, the team’s masseur for over two decades. Far from conspiracy theories and the alleged bad atmosphere among some players, both took part in a fun ping-pong in which they revealed some locker room secrets: who are the most joking players, who is the most organized, who asks for five more minutes to get up, and which footballer can request a massage even when he doesn’t need it.
Asked about the most «joking» player in the squad, Di Stéfano and D’Andrea did not agree on a single name. For one of them, the spot belongs to Rodrigo De Paul; for the other, to Emiliano Dibu Martínez. When identifying the quietest, two different answers also appeared: Lionel Messi and Nicolás Otamendi. In contrast, there was unanimity when they had to choose the most organized footballer in the locker room. “Lautaro Martínez,” they replied. After the choice, they clarified with laughter that this did not mean the rest were messy. “The other guys are all tidy, but he is the extreme,” they explained about the forward.
The question about the messiest generated a different reaction. Neither wanted to reveal identities, although they admitted there were several candidates. “You have a lot. If we name names, we’ll go to jail, but there are quite a few,” they joked. One of the funniest moments came when they were asked who was the player always behind them asking for something. There they had no doubts and immediately pointed to De Paul. “Unbearable. A pain in the neck,” they replied with laughter. Then they expanded the description of the midfielder: “He’s the joker, the pain, the screamer. Unbearable.” Dibu Martínez, meanwhile, was chosen as the most dance-loving of the group. The collaborators defined him as the footballer who usually embodies that festive spirit within the squad.
Otamendi appeared in several categories. Besides being considered one of the quietest, he was pointed out as the one who usually chooses the music played in the locker room. “He mixes because he likes everything. It’s not that he’s a cumbia fan. He likes another type of music and it’s good. What he puts on is very good,” they highlighted. However, the defender was also chosen as the player who asks for the most massages. “Even if he doesn’t need them, he asks. Otamendi, he’s terrible,” they revealed.
The members of the support staff also recalled a situation that forced them to act urgently. One of the players arrived at the airport without his passport and they had to go look for it when the team was about to board the plane. Although they admitted what happened, they refused to identify the protagonist. “Can we say it? It’s that for knowing you get two years, so we prefer not to say it,” they joked. The situation occurred while the delegation was preparing to board. “They forgot a passport and we had to rush out because we were boarding the plane,” they said, without giving further clues about the footballer involved.
The tone of the conversation changed when they were asked what was the most difficult locker room they had to go through. Marito chose the 2002 Korea-Japan World Cup, where Argentina was eliminated in the first round, while Daddy opted for the final lost to Chile in the 2016 Copa América Centenario. “The one in the United States was a blow because you lost the final in Brazil, you lost the 2015 Copa América final in Chile. Those were two consecutive finals. The third was a blow,” D’Andrea explained. The masseur also recalled the impact that the defeat in the 2014 World Cup final had caused. “Look, the one in Brazil hurt. Mascherano told me: ‘Explain to me why we lost,’” he recounted.
Towards the end of the ping-pong, Otamendi was again the protagonist. This time, for being the hardest player to wake up. “He doesn’t give you five minutes. He says: ‘Give me five more minutes.’ You give him five minutes and he asks for five more minutes,” they revealed about one of the daily secrets of the Argentine locker room.
Para mí esto huele a cuento del establishment. Lautaro ordenado? Mientras los pibes se preocupan por la imagen, el pueblo labura 14 horas. Daddy sabe todo porque los vio de cerca, pero la disciplina individual no tapa la falta de proyecto colectivo. No me vengan con el verso del orden cuando el sistema es un desorden. Vamos Argentina carajo.
Para mí Lautaro es un crack de la puta madre, justo lo que necesitamos para que no nos llenen de progres. Los zurdos resentidos lloran porque no entienden de jerarquía, como siempre. Vamos Toro, a callar y laburar, que esto huele a orden y no a caos.