The story behind a goal with VAR that lasted almost five minutes and gave Barcos a record in Alianza

Since Jesús Castillo was knocked down in the Atlético Grau area until the fan in the stands tore his vocal chords shouting the historic goal With which Hernan Boats became the top foreign goalscorer in the history of Lima Alliance with 38 points, four minutes and 54 seconds passed. But the time in the Nacional -the alliance house for this game that ended with blue and white victory by 2 to 0 at the start of the Clausura Tournament for the Apertura champion- seemed to stop. And the VAR, on its release date in the League 1 Betssongained prominence.

Bruno Pérez, the main judge of the match, did not hesitate for a single second to blow his whistle. The lack of the Argentine Daniel Franco was, for the one in black, so unobjectionable that he did not even wait for any recommendation from the VAR room where they repeated the play over and over again with the four cameras they use. He charged without hesitation, sure of himself, a virtue that referees have been losing with the advent of technology.

After the foul was blown, Hernán’s journey to glory began. And while he went in search of his treasure -the ball-, he thought -perhaps- of that adjective that only accompanies the hits, those destined: idol., He answered in an interview with Blanquiazul Magazine.

Barcos arrived in February 2021, in one of the worst moments for a club that in those days still did not know if it was going to play in the League 1 Betsson or League 2. He arrived with the poster of having played more than 600 games and scored more than 260 goals in 16 teams from 8 different countries. With the mark -which he still retains- of being the all-time top scorer in the Copa Sudamericana with 19 goals and the memory of a disallowed goal with the Argentine team after a beautiful wall with Lionel Messi. But he also arrived at the age of 36 and time seemed to be his great rival.

he said in one of his first appearances as an alliance player. He did not know that this Friday, at the start of the Betsson League 1 Closing Tournament, he would rise to the Olympus of blue and white history. Not only is he the leader of a double-champion Alianza, he is also the top foreign scorer… he is an idol, and there should be no fear of saying so.

Going back to what was happening on the Nacional pitch: when Hernán took the ball with his hands and was heading towards the penalty spot, his rival on duty appeared. Raul Fernandez he began to speak to him, to tell him that he was going to stop him. And Barcos, in maximum concentration, fought with his brain not to listen to him, not to be distracted by the gestures and movements made by the goalkeeper on the goal line, almost in the style of Dibu Martínez.

Keeping his eyes on the ball and taking a very deep breath, Barcos heard the referee’s whistle and went to kick. But the execution was stopped urgently. edward knight pushed to aldair rodriguez a few meters from Bruno Pérez and he had to stop everything. “No! No! No! Not that way!”, he repeated to the players. The seconds dragged on, the forward put the ball back on the penalty spot and the fan deleted the short recorded video to repeat the exercise with his cell phone.

Everything in order, Pérez gave the order for the execution. Barcos kicked to the left of Fernández and he saved it in a great way. In the stands the lamentation was felt, murmurs were heard. In the field, Barcos looked at the sky while Raúl celebrated his feat with euphoria. The ball had gone to the side after a clearance, when the judge blew his whistle and put his hand to his right ear: they had called him from the VAR, they had noticed that a Grau player invaded the area before the shot.

And again the clock seemed to stop. In the stands there was uncertainty. Unlike the visitors who are playing for the first time with VAR, Alianza Lima has already suffered from technology.

But this time the VAR ruled in his favor. “One had to touch us”‘, said a fan in the western stands, recalling the bad experiences. Bruno Pérez ordered a new execution and by then more than four minutes had passed. Fernández repeated his strategy, but this time he did not intimidate a Boats that changed suit to make the match 1-0 and surpass the Brazilian Rosinaldo Lopes.

“It’s a goal, it’s a goal from Alianza Lima. Number nine shirt. The pirate…”shouts the voice in the stadium so that the public complements: “Booooooooooooooo boats!”.

Barcos and Concha, the two-time championship duo present again

Without the usual starters (all due to injury, except Zambrano, Cueva and Reyna who played for the national team and were substitutes), Alianza Lima presented an eleven very similar to that of previous years: fields; Vilchez, Miguez, Garcia, Lagos; Ballón, Castillo, Concha, Zanelatto, Rodríguez and Barcos. Of the eleven, only García, Castillo and Zanelatto are reinforcements this year. The others have the two-time championship on their backs.

And if Guillermo Salas presented a starting team almost the same as in previous years, the protagonists had to be the same: Hernán Barcos and Jairo Concha. The scorers. And both participated in the goal of the other. Concha generated the play that ended in a penalty against Castillo that Barcos changed for a goal. And the Argentine assisted at the wheel in the 2-0 with which the match ended.

It was not the best match for Alianza. In fact, Grau took possession of the ball and that for the Alliance rostrum is a mortal sin. But the intimates brought out their hierarchy to score two goals in the few serious arrivals they had. .