“Pedro Gallese’s resilient capacity has allowed him to perform in the face of adversity”

It was Monday, 3:26 pm in Lima and the video of the conflict between the players of the Peruvian team was already circulating on all social networks and in various countries around the world. Yoshimar Yotún and Pedro Gallese engaged in a duel with the Spanish police in the concentration hotel during the flag rally of the Peruvian fans.

“We want to greet people and they start to punch us,” Pedro Gallese expressed very annoyed to América TV minutes after the unfortunate events. Aggressions against Peruvian soccer players and even against some fans. Alex Valera was also involved for defending one of them.

Pedro Gallese had to go to the Chamartín Police Center to testify about what happened after he was accused of beating a law enforcement officer. There he remained until 5 am Fifteen hours later he was standing under the three sticks being a star against Morocco.

“What happened on Monday with the Peruvian team and the altercation he had with the police leaves us many lessons. First, the work of mental health or sports psychology not only focuses on the issue of performance, but also to ensure the integrity of our athletes, be it the project or life plan. This will help them make the right decisions and have emotional control in these events that may arise”, explains the sports psychologist and UPC researcher Mario Reyes Bossio.

The situation got out of hand for both the police and the national players, who reacted to the current evil of Spanish security. This is how the specialist understands it. “In that exchange they had, there was a process of lack of emotional control. The decisions they made were not the most accurate, because it is true, before an action there is a reaction, but the reaction is in us. In this case, athletes must make the best decision regarding the reaction, ”he assures.

What happened next was a moment that few could imagine. Pedro Gallese was up until the wee hours of Tuesday – he left at 5:00 am, Spanish time on the same day of the game – at the Chamartín police station.

However, in the match against Morocco Pedro Gallese seemed to have had a bad night, where he slept little. The goalkeeper was giant in his goal, taking dangerous goal balls. Because of this, Peru tied without goals against the quarterfinals in the last World Cup and thus closed its two friendlies scheduled for this month of March.

Pedro Gallese himself accepted that there were excesses in the reaction of those summoned. This was stated to América TV in Madrid itself after the match against Morocco. “It was a strange situation. As a team we did not have to respond, but beyond responding or not, what those gentlemen did was shameful. We only have to talk about football, ”he said of the 33-year-old Peruvian goalkeeper.

Juan Reynoso himself gave his impressions of what he experienced at the hotel, noting that Pedro Gallese was able to forget the moment to focus on the game. “Life is that, life is full of details and unforeseen events, and what happened yesterday was an unforeseen event that no one expected. Pedro had the category of showing his face, giving his version and not sleeping well. That speaks well of us as Peruvian citizens. Pedro gave us a class that problems are left out. On the field, if you are aware of what you have to do, today you solved it as if you had slept for 12 hours, ”he declared after Peru drew 0-0 in a friendly against Morocco.

For the renowned sports psychologist, the players should have handled the situation of the altercation with the Spanish police better. “They could have had other ways of dealing with the situation. This made them assume a commitment to their actions. So much so that they had to give their demonstration to a police station and stay, as is the case with Gallese, until the wee hours of the morning, declaring and following the regulations and laws of other countries. That, too, is a responsibility and assuming that responsibility, I believe that within this process they assumed and were well, ”he stressed.

“If we analyze Pedro Gallese’s performance today (yesterday), many variables may have played there. As a professional, regardless of any difficulty that may arise, he is prepared to perform as he should on the field of play. You work on that, you train on that and I think he has been working on it. I speak of him because of that resilient capacity that he has had, because of that autonomy and process to perform despite the adversity that he had. He put that aside and controlled his emotions, putting it into practice in the match against Morocco. The professional athlete has to have the ability to control and manage problems and when it is time for the game, to be able to capture the best of them”, said the sports psychologist and researcher.

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