“In twenty years you will be more disappointed in the things you have done than in the things you have done. So untie the anchors and sail away from the known ports. Take advantage of the trade winds from your sails. Explore “Dream. Discover”: said the American writer and comedian, Mark Twain in his 1881 book The Prince and the Poor.
This phrase applies to the young goalkeeper, who was born into a humble and hardworking family in a small town in Sulaco, Yoro. As a student, he was diligent and grew up with the dream of one day becoming a professional footballer and he achieved it when he made his debut in National League in December 2019 with Marathon.
Life in football for the young man Luis Enrique Ortiz has already been scored and he sat on the bench for the last time until Wednesday night Marathon as a substitute goalkeeper in the game against the Portland Timbers Oregon, United States, the country that receives him today after he decided to stay in search of a better life for himself and his family, a situation he failed in the club of his loves.
Read. THIS IS HOW THE WASTE OF MARATHON FOOTBALL WAS REVEALED
The dream Luis Enrique Over the years, football has become a nightmare that is now present in many professional players. The economic conditions offered by many clubs are weak, insofar as they force talent to stop that dream and look for it in another way: in the United States, the land of opportunities to move forward.
Luis Enrique Ortiz was one of the two footballers who decided to give up concentration Marathon in the United States. The goalkeeper felt that his dream was no longer with the greens, the economic conditions offered by sampedranos were for a colleague, a practitioner and not a professional footballer.
Together with Perdomo, they had a single-entry visa, and this trip to the United States was a unique opportunity to stay and fulfill their American dream.
HIS BEGINNING IN FOOTBALL
Seven years ago, Luis Ortiz arrived at the Marathon recommended by a friend. The first team struggled with relegation Manuel Keosseian. The media said a historian could be in second place. The economic conditions were similar to the current ones, but his desire to play did not matter to him and he managed to play with reserves.
Read. THE DISCIPLINE COMMISSION REMOVES THE POINTS FROM PLATENSE
With a height of 1.91 meters, long and pronounced hands, clumsy and with good reflexes, he caught the attention of viewers who signed him to play with reserves without receiving a salary. His parents lived in Villanueva, CortésThey had to pay Luisito’s ticket every day so he could go to school in the morning and train with the Greens in the afternoon. The only thing they gave him was the uniform to practice with.
In the special reserves, the parents are the ones who help their children, it is a very heavy burden that the management of the first team cannot do in Honduras. The years went by, Luis was growing, shaping that opportunity and that came, but he had to go through many tournaments without receiving a single lempira until they decided to give him a contract with the first team. His salary did not exceed eight thousand lempiras.
“You can’t live in Honduras with that, it’s impossible,” they told TEN in their closest circle. When they arrive Hector VargasThe Argentine coach saw that Ortiz has to go first, he was a young man with good skills and Victor Coello, the goalkeeper’s coach gave a good reference. He signed his first contract and what he wanted was to be a professional player, the salary thing was something that was not an obstacle at that time. But as time went on, that payment would turn into a nightmare that now led him to make that decision.
DIFFICULT SITUATION WITH SALARIES
Under the shade Denovan Torres, a goalkeeper who had to go through an almost similar path, Luis Ortiz began to appear as the third goalkeeper of the lieutenant. There were games that were on the list and, depending on the situation, it was a salary, which is not well seen in many clubs, sometimes the third goalkeeper is treated as a reservist and has no professional salary.
In December 2019, the opportunity I wanted so much arrived. The suspension of goalkeeper Denovan Torres was also given against Honduras Progreso, he arrived the night he waited: he made his professional debut in Marathon, but with such a bad fortune that four months later, coronavirus he came to change the world and football was hit. Marathón had to reduce salaries like many other institutions and had difficulty catching up with the workforce.
Ortiz waited, but Denovan never gave up on goal, he continued to hold on as his partner, Carlos “Bird” López Perdomo, who made the decision to break the club’s discipline because they realized that the American dream was close to them the day they stepped on that field when they came to play the CONCACAF Champions League. Many have criticized them, but there are sacrifices behind that decision.
LAST PAYMENT YOU RECEIVED
In recent months, both players have received between five and six thousand lempiras in payment, a situation that led them to make that decision. “It is impossible to live with such a misfortune, he felt that the situation was unbearable,” they say from their close circle.
Now he dreams of being the starting goalkeeper Marathon they fell apart and Luis will fight from another ditch, as many Honduran footballers have done in the past. He is not the first to do it. Players of Olimpia, Real España, Vida, Victoria and Marathon.
Marathon sent a statement to explain the situation in which both players were released because he had to clear his image. He explained that he would send a note to the US embassy in Tegucigalpa for revoking visas that both players were granted only for entry into the United States.