Jean Deza and one more indiscipline: the summer of 2013 when he made Peru dream of a World Cup

Correction: This note was originally published in April 2021, when Jean Deza was embroiled in an extra sports scandal.

Gambetta saw him born. His chalacas tracks witnessed his first demonic dribbles. That same avenue of approximately 9 kilometers in length that connects the districts of Ventanilla and Callao now sees how one of his prodigal sons succumbs to bad life, bad influences. Last September, Jean Deza it was temporarily separated from Carlos Stein, from League 2, after being ‘protected’ by celebrating his girlfriend’s birthday at a private party with an orchestra included, something that is prohibited by the COVID-19 pandemic. Today, the attacker announced on his social networks that he was leaving football.

Today’s Deza, 28 years old, with more scandals than goals to his credit, unfortunately still retains the immaturity of his 19 calendars with which he appeared in football. “”, said the then MSK Zilina player from Slovakia to the journalist Elkin Sotelo in that funny interview from the concentration of the Peruvian Under 20 National Team in Argentina, where he would contest the South American of the category in 2013. “I am Jean Deza”He told him months ago, when he was intervened by the police drinking liquor and smoking a cigarette with a group of friends in the neighborhood who saw him grow up. That time his club Carlos Stein He also suspended it, but returned to play. Will the same thing happen now?

“The environment and the environment is as important as the athlete himself. That will influence the person’s actions. There are many beliefs that are not healthy. For instance, that rule that says that footballers in their formative stage cannot go to parties. This inflexible belief generates in young people stress, anxiety, because it cuts off the natural social development of the human being “, explains Marco Moschella, a psychologist with experience in sports.

“In League 1 clubs, the only ones that have a sports psychologist in minors, as I understand it, are Lima Alliance, Sporting Crystal, San Martin. That is a great disadvantage because the training part is very important in the growth of the players “, reveals Dr. Luis Gómez Correa, president of the Peruvian Association of Sports and Exercise Psychology, and director of the Consultant “LGC Sport 360”

Son of the rough sea of ​​Callao, Jean acquired the complete package of the footballer who was born in the first port: skilled like few others, but with an instability typical of his growth on the street. To that is added the compulsory maturity abroad (at the age of 18 he was already 11 thousand kilometers from home trying to be what he once dreamed of) and the comforts – and what that implies – that football gave him all at once.

Those wonderful years

Jean Deza He is not a saint or an example to follow. Surely not even looking to be. As explained by the journalist of this publishing house Miguel Villegas: “The theme will always be the consequence, that is, where only his talent will allow him to go, in an ultra-professional world that watches over diets, exercises, hours of sleep, no longer in the locker room but in a laboratory”. However, there was a time when the ‘Ratón’ was the great promise of a Peruvian football that desperately sought – still does – the next Paolo Guerrero and Jefferson Farfan.

Summer 2013. The U20 of Daniel Ahmed showed signs of hope at a time of decline in Peruvian football: the senior team, led by the Uruguayan Sergio Markarián, barely added eight points in nine qualifying rounds heading to Brazil 2014. But the ‘Turco’ boys not only participated in the South American from Argentina, competed. And, more importantly, they left names to consider in the near future: Miguel Araujo, Diego Chávez, Wilder Cartagena, Renato Tapia, Alexi Gómez, Edison Flores, Cristian Benavente and above all, Jean Deza. The latter was easily differentiated from the rest. Fast, facetious, demonic and powerful dribbling. Perfect mix to generate the applause of the tribune and the concern of the rival.

Nobody doubted the quality of that rough diamond that shone with its own light. . He was one of the figures of that team that was two points away from qualifying for the U20 World Cup that was played a few months later in Turkey. But fate is capricious sometimes. And that shameless extreme that delighted the Peruvian fan followed the wrong path of so many talents who are no more than ‘promises’.

The news of that ‘Bicolor’

Daniel Ahmed brought 22 players to Argentina, his native country, with the aim of qualifying for a U20 World Cup for the first time in history. That group can be divided into four subgroups: those who play abroad (Miguel Araujo at Emmen FC from the Netherlands, Cristian Benavente in the Pyramids of Egypt, Wilder Cartagena en Al-Ittihad Kalba de Arabia, Edison Flores and Yordy reyna at DC United in the United States, Renato Tapia in Celta from Spain and Andy Polo in Portland Timbers in the USA), those who are active in Peruvian soccer (Patrick Alvarez and Claudio Torrejon and Sport Boys, Angelo Campos in Alianza Lima, Andy Vidal in Ayacucho FC, Diego Chavez and Rafael Guarderas placeholder image in University, Marcos Ortiz in Deportivo Coopsol, Victor Cedron in César Vallejo, Raziel Garcia in Cienciano, Alexi Gómez and UTC, Jean Deza that still belongs to Carlos Stein and Hernan Hinostroza in Sport Chavelines), those without a team (Carlos Patron) and the one who unfortunately withdrew due to physical problems (Ivan Bulos).

In case of Juan Carlos Espinoza, better known as Max Barrios, it is apart. The Ecuadorian who supplanted his identity to play in Peruvian soccer now serves as a central defender in the Loja League. He is 33 years old and played the 2015 South American Cup.

From the other group of players,. In fact, of the five only Araujo was not present on the triple date of the Qatar 2022 Qualifiers in September. For his part, Deza had six friendlies between 2014 and 2015. He was unable to score any goals.

Ignore advice

As is often the case with ‘promises’ that never stop being so, the advice doesn’t stop. They come from the technicians and the players themselves. Everyone knows of his qualities and that is why they try to “save” him. Few manage to straighten out their path.

André Carrillo, now a benchmark for the Peruvian national team, spoke about Jean Deza when the winger signed for Alianza Lima in early 2020. “I have told you not to miss this opportunity. It has plenty of conditions, that it focuses because if it wanted, it could be breaking it in Alianza, trying to get out “, pointed out the ‘Culebra’. He has to get on his feet and stop doing wrong things, he knows it, and he’s going to be a great player, “he added.

Miguel Araujo, who shared a dressing room with him in the national team and Alianza Lima, was a little tougher with his former teammate. With the experience of someone who knows what it is to earn a name abroad, the central advised him in his own way. “You can be wrong once, twice or three times, but I think you should have someone by your side to make things clear to you, what reality is like and what you want. ”He declared in September of last year, when the ‘Mouse’ was a Binational player and was being criticized for constant indiscipline.

Fabio Torres, a Colombian coach who directed Deza, also spoke. “We see that he has important conditions with the ball, but he lacks the other. And that does not help him so that he can train as a good footballer. You will not feel that now, but it will be later, when you regret the time you lost “, he reflected a day after leaving Binacional. “In terms of football, he is one of the best in League 1, but his behavior does not help him”he added.

French Eagle, Jean Deza’s former technician at Slovakia’s MSK Zilina, recalled the forward in an interview with Pulso Sports. “He was a very young right winger. Creative, a very friendly and funny boy. It was not easy for him to live in Slovakia. Jean was very young and lived abroad without a family. He was a player who took many risks when he dominated or dribbled the ball “Adelaar explained.

But he also spoke of the indiscipline of his former manager. “So he didn’t change at all. . Jean was replaced most of the time at Zilina due to physical problems. The owner of the club, Mr. Antosik, also spoke with him to improve in that regard. He has to make a decision, if he really wants to be a professional player or not. If the answer is yes, then you have to act like an adult and take responsibility and show discipline. “, he sentenced.

Sports psychologist Marco Moschella has a broader idea of ​​the player’s indiscipline: “I think it is the fault of all of us who work in the formative stage. . The problem is in that talent development process that is not taken very seriously “.