Juan Quintero: profile of the midfielder of the Selection Colombia – Sports – Sports

Juan Quintero is ready to give another rhythm to the Colombia national team, to which he returns after almost three years of absence.Dueño of a different and cheerful sound on and off the court, life did not treat him well, but the player, 28, is willing to work because everything it sounds so much prettier.

Back in his league, China, with Shenzen, Quintero returned to work to bring to the national team and enjoy his passion, football, but also took time for a another of his loves, music.

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“I don’t have to prove anything to anyone. I’m coming to represent my country, either for a minute or ninety, the most important thing is for the team to win,” Quintero told ESPN before traveling to Bogota and starting work with the eight. players of the local medium that called the technician Reinaldo Rueda.

Life has struck Quintero on several occasions and on so many other occasions it has managed to rise. The hardest of all, the disappearance of his father, Jaime Quintero, who has not been heard from since March 1, 1995, when he served in the military. Jaime was transferred from the IV Brigade, to Medellín, to the XVII Brigade, to Carepa (Antioch), that was in charge of the present commander of the Army, the then captain and today general Eduardo Zapateiro.

The case ended in a lawsuit in which Zapateiro was acquitted in March 2001 and the Council of State denied the appeal to Quintero’s family.
When Zapateiro came to command the Army, Juanfer showed up on his social media.

“I have the right as a child to know what happened to my father and that is what I want to know, because I have suffered and I have seen my family suffer mental problems and the absence of my father always. There is a gap and I’m sorry every day … I just want to know what happened, “Quintero wrote on his Twitter account. The case remains unresolved, although Zapateiro and the player had a conversation about it.

Of his father, of whom he has no memory (except for a photo that became popular on social media, in which he is seen, very small, with a banner asking for his luck), Quintero inherited the talent for football. Jaime was a creative flyer and managed to prove himself in various clubs. And Juan Fernando followed in his footsteps, first at Ponyfútbol (where he curiously managed to play as an archer) and then at Envigado, where he made his professional debut on March 5, 2009, at the age of 16.

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In 2010 he began to exploit his talent, in a team that, however, had to play the promotion against Esportiva Pastura to avoid relegation. A goal of his in the first leg at the Libertad stadium, in the last minute, was the first stone for salvation. On the way back, he received another hard, literal blow.

Germán Mera, the now Junior player who was also starting his career in those days, fractured his tibia. He was off the tracks for eight months. “I have no grudge against anyone, nothing happens. I’m not going to judge anyone,” he said then.

This injury also took away the possibility of fighting for a place in the Colombia National Team that was going to be local in the 2011 U-20 World Cup, although Quintero is not that out of the taste of DT Eduardo Lara, who was always looking for tall players. Joan Ferran barely measures 1.68.

“The truth is, I was very disappointed to see him despised by coach Lara. I came to think that he was not the one who left me out, but the country,” Quintero told journalist Jaume Herrera in 2010. Correa, from Colombia. “Not only did he come back to me and deprive me of an Under-17 World Cup, but he said some very Malucasian words to me, which I don’t want to repeat, and which made me feel bad and even disappointed in myself,” he added.

De Envigado moved to Atlético Nacional in 2012, where he only played one semester, but with a lot of noise, and from there he went to Europe, to play for Pescara, Italy, which this year was in Serie A. Also this year he made his debut with the National Team, named by José Pekerman for a friendly against Cameroon in Barranquilla.

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The U-20 World Cup that could not play with Lara did have it with Carlos ‘Pisces’ Restrepo in 2013, in Turkey, which was classified after being crowned South American champions in Argentina, with a great contribution his: 5 goals in 9 matches. In the World Cup they were eliminated by South Korea in throws from the penalty spot, an instance which they reached thanks to a goal of theirs in spare time.

His career continued to rise. In 2013, Porto paid 4.5 million euros for 50 percent of their sports rights, to try to prolong a good experience with Colombian players: Radamel Falcao García, Fredy Guarín and James Rodríguez had already passed through and when arrived in Portugal, Quintero met Jackson Martinez. He spent two years at this club. And there he played when Pekerman started shooting for the National Team, to the point that he scored a goal in the World Cup in Brazil, in Côte d’Ivoire, which ensured the classification in the round of 16.

His music, on the other hand

Ever since he played Envigado, Quintero began to show his taste for reggaeton. And in 2015 he began to translate it into recordings. This year, he did a remix with Element Black, of the song netizen. And the following year he released a song called Don’t Fall in Love, alongside Puerto Rican Luigi 21 Plus.

This entry into music, however, coincided with a drop in his playing. De Porto was transferred to Rennes, France, in 2015 and then decided to return to his roots: he returned to Colombia to play for Medellin in mid-2016, although he was unable to act for six months.

Music is still a part of his life and in fact, while waiting for the current call-up, he reunited with Element Black to relaunch El Guille.

“I don’t want to be a singer, in my free time I try to do it. I like music, in my free time I write, I make songs, that makes me happy. It’s my hobby, I don’t hurt anyone; my career is football, in personal life no one can get in, “Quintero told ESPN.

In Medellín it shone, with 13 goals in 25 parties of League, and in addition it made goal to him to River in the Glass Liberating. The Argentine club took it at the beginning of 2018 and there he got into the hearts of the fans by scoring, perhaps, the most important goal in the history of the club, the second of the final of the Libertadores against Boca Juniors in the rugged and unusual finale in Madrid.

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And the passage through Argentina opened the doors of the Selection to him again, in great, with a goal in France in Paris. Pekerman took him to the World Cup and there he scored again, in Japan.

But River, who bought him a place in Porto after the Cup final, had another very strong blow, which once again slowed down his career. In March 2019 he suffered a anterior cruciate ligament injury to his left knee, just when Carlos Queiroz had included him in his first call-up to the National Team.

It took six months to come back and a little more to regain the pace of competition. And then, in October last year, he signed for Shenzen in China, a destination that the Selection technicians paid little attention to.

Roda wanted to count on him for the America’s Cup and restrictions on covid-19 in that country prevented him. Now, at the age of 28 and in the new absence of James Rodríguez and Edwin Cardona, Quintero has a new opportunity to show his talent.

José Orlando Ascencio
Sports Sub-Editor
@josasc