The fourth highest scorer in the MX League pointed out that injuries were a factor in closing the boots, as he no longer “scores easy goals”.
Former Toluca striker José Cardozo, who scored 249 goals in Mexico and positioned himself as the fourth best striker in the history of the BBVA MX League, He confessed that he retired from football because he no longer “had fun playing”, due to injuries suffered during the active years.
“I retired when I had to. I didn’t have fun playing anymore because I already had injuries and I came here. I’m not sorry at all. That’s why I always try to sit, think and execute. All I have is due to football and I would be ungrateful if I said I miss doing something. He gave me more than I gave him. It was a great pain to make the decision. I had already thought about this for a month because I was not having fun and I did not score easy goals “, said the Paraguayan during the presentation of his book” Cardozo, El Príncipe del Gol “.
The book, which tells of his beginnings in Nueva Italia, Paraguay, until his passage through two World Cups, European football and its sports retreat, consists of two editions, one with more photographic content than the other.
“Pepe”, as he is known, He was surrounded by former footballers such as Francisco Gabriel de Anda, today an ESPN analyst, and Mexican journalists and his country that accompanied him in his career, this is the case of Jesús Humberto López, also an ESPN analyst.
“A more fulfilled dream, I thank God, my family, my parents, Toluca. Thank you, Mr. Valentín Diez Morodo, for enduring an injury “, he said at the beginning.
His official biography was told by the writer Guillermo Garduño, who said that the prologue is told by Valentin Díez, the owner of Tolucaand that each chapter contains a brief introduction to characters such as Enrique Meza, Antonio Naelson “Sinha” and Vicente Sánchez, among others.
“The explanation of his first name comes that he doesn’t like it very much. To a fan who called him “Saturniano,” he said that if Saturnino was already ugly, the other was worse, “Garduño said with a laugh.
“We have a lot of anecdotes. I have a new memory of almost everything and now I have to remember when I was 7 or 8 years old. There are interesting things that will make you laugh and cry. Football makes you more sensitive than any other profession “, concluded Cardozo.
“Cardozo, El Príncipe del Gol” also tells about his arrival in Mexico, one that was traumatic because he had not played for two years due to a leg injury, which he overcame with the support of his wife Raquel.
Toluca’s legend could not bear the tears and silence when he remembered being left out of the 2006 World Cup in Germany and how much he owed to Aníbal ‘Maño’ Ruiz (RIP) for promoting him in his professional career.