Ask me about German "El Mono" Burgos

The beauty of football is in the men who live it, whether it is a player, a fan or a coach. Some more than others embody the primordial push that leads each of us to kick the ball when we see one, the passion.
German "El Mono" Burgos is unequivocally one of these.
I do not think a real person like Burgos exists in the football world, his intemperance on the bench, his quarrells with referees and other coaches - Mourinho knows something about it, he explicitly told him that he was going to take his head off, textual - they prove how much live football in a visceral way, perhaps too much but it's his best that like it or not.

The story of German Burgos begins in the province of Buenos Aires where he was born, grows up and decides that in life he would have been a goalkeeper. His massive size leaves him no escape and his coach at the Ferro Carril Oeste Club, Carlos Griguol, gave him the nickname that will characterize him throughout his life "El Mono", the monkey. The consecration in the great football comes when he is chosen to defend the River Plate's goal in 1994 until 1999 winning the Apertura tournament 4 times (1994, 1996, 1997 and 1999), 1 time the Clausura (1997) and  the Copa Libertadores in 1996 against the América de Cali warding off a penalty in the final that will then be decisive for the victory. In 1999 he moved to Spain, to Mallorca where he remained until 2001 and then went, in the true sense of the word, to Atletico Madrid. Arrived when the club was in Segunda División, we will remain until the withdrawal in 2004 after having contributed to the ascent in the highest division of Spain. During his stay at Atletico, "El Mono" faced a tough opponent to fight, cancer. During March 2013 he underwent an operation to remove malignant cancer from the right kidney and the Atletico president, Gil, renewed his contract. Thanks to his nature as a fighter he managed to beat even this opponent.

In the three years of Atletico he established a strong friendship with Diego Pablo Simeone, "El Cholo". The two are more similar than you think: tenacity, strength, aggression and involvement are hallmarks of both that starting in January 2011 begin a business partnership that will make the fortunes of both.
It starts in Catania, when Simeone is called to substitute Giampaolo and as his deputy chooses "El Mono" who will follow him first to Racing Avellaneda and then, in the 2011/2012 season, on the bench of Atletico Madrid.
Behind the vaunted and often criticized Cholismo, or that extremely physical approach to matches, that malice that distinguishes Atletico, there is also Burgos, his role goes far beyond being the assistant coach of the team. Thanks to his sincerity, his being a real person holds the reins of the dressing room in his huge hands and then he is a real magician in the tactical preparation of the kicks from a standstill, not so secret weapon of Atletico in recent years.

Then, in 2014, comes what in Spain did not expect anyone. A ugly, dirty and bad team beats Real Madrid and Barcelona and after 17 years since the last success, Liga wins but especially arrives in the Champions League final against "the others", Real Madrid. The final is agonic, it seems to reflect the nature of Simeone and Burgos but the dream will collapse two minutes from the end when Sergio Ramos scores the draw by psychologically destroying all Atletico players who will eventually lose 4-1.

In an interview with Papel he declared: "The thing I miss most of when I was a footballer is the insults of the opposing fans, I always answered, until once they threw me an envelope full of urine ..."

While at the Mundo Deportivo he spoke about his relationship with "El Cholo": "Diego and I are like Robert De Niro and Joe Pesci, Bud Spencer and Terence Hill, when one part, the other stops, we both have a strong character, but my job is to balance it, free it from anxiety and I do not doubt, Never, when you know you are telling the truth, you do not have to doubt, and my role is to tell him the truth."

But what most probably very few know is that German sings. Yes, he started when he was still at Ferro Carril and he never stopped, he recorded four records between 1999 and 2005. His group changed many names, the first was Burgos Simpatia, in homage to his great love, the Rolling Stones, to be finally called The Garb, acronym of its full name Germán Adrian Ramón Burgos. 

Tonight we will find him on the bench for the first round of the Champions League lastsixteen against Juventus near Simeone, in his usual place, for yet another adventure to be faced next to each other just like Bud Spencer and Terence Hill did.