Rodrigo Aliendro’s in River Plate is a story of perseverance. The kind that is talked about a lot, to minimize the popular effort, to establish a particular type of success, but that happens from time to time. That of a guy who got off the motorcycle on which he was delivering pizzas and, years later, drive Martín Demichelis’ River Plate locomotive that has just become champion of the Argentine Super Cup, in Córdoba.
The one of He went is he road to glory for a neighborhood kid who fought hard, as thousands do every day, and achieved even more than he imagined. He didn’t do it alone, he had the support of many who helped him and trusted him. In his silent and hard-working talent to overcome adversity and fulfill the dream of being a footballer. When Success came to him in a great team like River, only at the age of 32, an age where many players already look askance at retirement, the star took it with the humility of the grateful. And today, at 33, he achieved another coronation in the Millionaire.
The people who filled the Monumental stadium They were about to lose their patience when River, only halfway through the second half against Defensa y Justicia, in 2023, managed to take the lead. The goal was scored by Nicolás De La Cruz but the fans, who understand everything, decided ovation to the figure of the party. Suddenly, the entire field shouted for Aliendro.
“This is something unique and unexpected.. I am happy and super grateful to the people for so much love,” said the midfielder about the first ovation he received with the River shirt. That day, Aliendro began to close one of the most beautiful narrative arcs in the history of recent Argentine football. A fairy tale that began in the promotion, when he was young, and now has him as a mature leading man of the Argentine First Division champion.
He went He always says he didn’t make Inferiors. That his formal path in professional football started big. But in reality, Merlo’s right-hander has been playing ball for money for much longer than most footballers. He started doing it with the “Pinturas El Goyo” or “La Guardia Imperial” t-shirts in the tournament of the Cucullú Cluba zonal championship in San Andrés de Giles.
At that time, says Roberto Parrottino in his newsletter for Zenithal, He went He was a teenager who had no place in the youth teams of Chacarita and who took advantage of his ability to bring money to his house in the popular neighborhood of Parque San Martín. Everything he knew he had learned as a child at the Marcelo Gallardo Foundation, founded in 1999 by another Merlo idol and one of the greatest in River’s history. Quite a wink of destiny. There, like many other boys, Aliendro was able to play and feed. To return the wall now, as a big one.
From nightmare to dream, Aliendro dribbles to destiny
He went He just debuted in the First Division when he was 20 years old.. It was with the shirt Chacarita in a match of the Argentine Cup of 2011. Things did not turn out as he had imagined. The game ended 1-1 but San Lorenzo won 3-1 on penalties. The kid from Merlo was one of those who missed his penalty in the definition.
“I remember that I was sad and crying. From there they gave him a contract and he went to Ituzaingó,” says Daniel Leani, a star trainer in Chacarita, in an interview with Lucas Capano for the newspaper Ole. Fernando Gamboa’s assistant, who had Aliendro on his return to the Funebrero, remembers that, even then, Aliendro showed all of his qualities: “He was a very good player. He had very good dynamics. All the same as now. Equal. It was always the same. In Chaca he played the same as he does now in River. Excellent person, good player, good teammate. A crack, a divine kid.”
After that sad debut in Chacarita, Aliendro had to wait two years until he had the chance to play regularly. Happened in Ituzaingó, where he arrived on loan to play in Primera C, the fourth division of Argentine soccer. At that time, in addition to tournaments for money, he collected money as a delivery boy in a pizzeria.
“Give him more money and let’s get this kid off the motorcycle because he’s our ace,” Damián Troncoso, coach of Verde, asked the president of the club. “We told: ‘Promise us that you will never get on the motorcycle again., because if you fall, you’ll break your leg.’ If he didn’t come to Ituzaingó, he was going to leave football. It’s destiny,” Troncoso told Parrottino.
“He was always a humble person. Very willing. At that time he was a boy who came to look for minutes from Chacarita. He made a difference and had that pasture that continues to be demonstrated today in River“, says Oscar Ibáñez, historic soccer player from Ituzaingó, in dialogue with Ole. Street football was always Aliendro’s style of play. Yesterday like today. “When he faced or when he had the ball and didn’t lose it. The change of pace, too. That was what surprised me the most. It was like I was playing in the neighborhood,” adds Ibáñez.
That Ituzaingó ended up descending. Once again, everything seemed to turn out in the worst way. The team went to D but Aliendro’s career, after a season of great performances, changed forever. “Take him, he scores, plays and scores goals,” Troncoso told anyone who wanted to listen, according to what he tells Cenital. It took them almost two years to pay attention to it.
Just in 201625 years old, Aliendro joined Atlético Tucumán to be part of a historic team who came to play the CONMEBOL Libertadores. Shortly after, He went to Colón de Santa Fe to win the first championship in the club’s history. Something had definitely changed. Now, everything seemed to be going for the best.
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Aliendro, a talent that is not measured in numbers
The circle closed in 2021. Gallardothe one at the Foundation where he ate and played, He called him to join the final season of a glorious River. Rodrigo accepted with excitement but the beginning was as difficult as always. Two strong blows, including fracturesin a classic against Boca and in a key Cup match against Vélez, marked his first year at the club.
Only at the end of 2022, Aliendro was able to start showing with the River shirt everything he had been hinting at for years. That Argentine pasture that when he appears makes us all sigh. The midfielder who steps on the ball with his blocks, dribbles short with ease and assists with panoramic views. The one who orders in silence, always standing well, the one who knows how to put and recover by going to the floor with equal amateur elegance.
In 2023, With Martín Demichelis as River coach, Aliendro assumed a greater role. He happened to other players, after Gallardo left, but to none like 29 del Millo. The new DT chose him to be the emblem of your game style and to, at various moments, replace the eternal Enzo Perez as number 5. “Central midfielder is not my position, it is a bit difficult for me and I am learning. I know I have some shortcomings because I like to play looser,” he admits.
Demichelis subdued Aliendro’s free spirit and built around him the organized chaos that describes this dominant River full of creative flyers. “He asks me not to get disordered, to have a little more balance,” he reveals. By insisting so much, the DT transformed him into a key piece for the current Argentine soccer champion.
Aliendro’s value for River cannot be explained by numbers. If we go to the figures, the figures of his campaign in the champion are not at all striking. In all areas it is correct but in none it stands out. For example, in the League, he barely scored 1 goal and gave 1 assist in 20 games. He touched an average of 64 balls each game and delivered them well 86% of the time. In the Cup, he has similar figures but scored more goals, 2, and more important ones, against Sporting Cristal and The Strongest.
They are interesting figures, of course, but not significant for such an important player in River. What Aliendro brings to this champion team is not in the statistics. He’s in his classic black ankle boots, in the slight hump of his figure when he grabs the ball and drives dodging kicks. In his premonitory movements and his football intelligence. It’s what those who see him play see. In his eternal pasture, his perseverance and his love for football. That’s what champions always have. And those who know how to play ball best.
This Wednesday, in Córdoba, he entered for a few minutes against Estudiantes de La Plata and resolved, with a right-handed bomb, at the end of the match, the Argentine Super Cup. His great goal was, is and will be unforgettable for Aliendro and all of River. He was a lapidary and wrote great history.