“The little bed is part of soccer: the Peruvian tournament and the stories that confirm it”

One of the images that usually reappears from time to time on social networks shows Sergio Markarián shaking hands with Jorge Amado Nunes. They both look at the camera, the ‘Wizard’ with a somewhat canchera half-smile, and the Paraguayan with obvious coldness. Those who were at the Lolo Fernández that morning, in 1995, assure that the atmosphere was one of extreme tension. In the club they hoped that the photo would put an end to the versions that the two were facing each other. He would testify that the story of their disputes was a fabrication of the press.

A short time later, Jorge Amado Nunes would stop being a Universitario player. His compatriots Celso Guerrero, Jacinto Yrala and Edgar Denis would follow.

The memory comes bareback after the image that was seen at the end of the match between Sporting Cristal and The Strongest, in which Yoshimar Yotún and Tiago Nunes were seen fused into a long hug. After the encounter that they staged a few days before at the Alberto Gallardo, the waters calmed down again [el sábado golearon 6-1 a Unión Comercio en Tarapoto y el último miércoles vencieron a Binacional en Juliaca]. The ‘little bed’ never existed.

Players often deny the use of that maneuver. The Cristal technician said that he had never heard that word (perhaps because his native language is Portuguese). In “Pressure”, Gonzalo Núñez recalled that Wilmar Valencia told him that he was once a victim of these attempts. In that same program, Waldir Sáenz flatly denied that the players are going less.

The ‘little bed’ is not an invention of these lands. Raymund Domenech, the former French coach, suffered the rebellion of his players in two World Cups: Germany 2006, with Zinedine Zidane at the helm, and South Africa 2010, when the squad went on strike after their decision to expel Nicolás Anelka. The French federation held out as long as it could until they got rid of him.

Curiously, in the history of the ‘little beds’ Sergio Markarián and Jorge Amado Nunes have a prominent place. After taking Sporting Cristal to the final of the Copa Libertadores, press versions of the time indicate that the Uruguayan met with a group of young players -Butrón, Rebosio, Torres, Mendoza, Zegarra- to tell them that they were going to be the base of the 1998 project because it was not going to have Pedro Garay, Julinho, Marcelo Asteggiano and Julio Balerio. He did not calculate that the boys would report the talk to those mentioned and the group broke up. The leadership did not give him the support that was expected and the coach had to leave.

In 2007, when he directed Universitario, Jorge Amado Nunes threw out Luis Guadalupe, Piero Alva, Álex Magallanes, Gregorio Bernales, Marco Ruiz and the Paraguayan Aldo Jara. Rumors of a ‘king side’ bed were multiplying in Ate. Years after what happened, “Cenizo” said that he took them out because “they were jealous of him.” ‘Cuto’ described it as an injustice and confessed that he wanted to “get the head off” the Paraguayan.

There are other cases (Autuori in Cristal in 2002 or Sampaoli, in the same club, five years later, accused of “making the team work a lot”). The ‘little bed’ exists, although those involved deny it. It’s part of football, whether we like it or not.

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