“It’s okay to cry cement tears from your eyes, and watch dreams flee like the wind.”. In the mid-1970s, in Barcelona, several kilometers from Olavaria, Juan Manuel Serrat wrote these verses for the song “The little road to work”Where he reflected the misfortunes of his land workers. Dreams in the middle of cement, like the one he built Black Hillin the early 1980s, with a team that was a sensation. Then came ostracism. The disappearance of large marquees, as impressive as their appearance. The city that was the hub of big matches, with titles for the luminaries, was left empty-handed. Crying cement tears and watching dreams flee like the wind.
Loma Negra is back. A smile appears on the faces of all of us, football fans, who joyfully remember those times, when the… Amleta VortabatHe sat at the table of great people. She’s no longer there, nor is her fortune, nor the company behind her. It was members and fans who stepped up to the plate until the club was back on its feet and officially playing.
“Loma Negra is back, and that’s the most important thing,” he tells us. Gaspar Vernathe person in charge of professional football, with logic and undisguised joy. “To talk about this now is to say that the team was important, that it was disruptive at one point, and that it is coming back is news. We are again in a position to compete and we will do so in the FRF, where we are more austere and humble, because there is no longer a connection to the cement company and everything is done at our own pace. With a lot of resource management and with the idea of being able to create an attractive project so that Loma Negra becomes an attractive corporate club, allowing us to continue,” he explains. “We want to come back.” “Let’s be as big as we were in the 1980s.”
Those national championships that united our football. Initially, with huge differences in favor of the teams competing for the Metropolitan, as those coming from the interior were mostly composed of amateur elements. Little by little, the gap narrowed, until it reached a certain level of parity. Talleres de Córdoba, starting in 1974, planted the flag and many were encouraged to play as equals.
The ’81 season was not just another season in Argentine football. It was the pass that caused the uproar: Maradona to Boca. There was also an arrival Kemps to the river. Loma Negra started the year with the idea of being able to reach the National, which started in September, and put together a very good team. He was one of them Mario HusillosHe remembers it this way: “I made my debut for Boca’s first team at a very young age and scored many goals. I went to Spanish football, where I played in Real Madrid’s second team, and upon my return, I was in the team again. ZenizBut without further continuity. Going to Loma Negra in 1981 was a risky bet, because although there was very good money, in principle it was to compete at the regional level with the aim of reaching the national level. I’m encouraged by the fact that guys like Carlos Scoillo, who was a teammate of mine at Boca, Luis Barbieri and Jorge Galician Vazquez of Atlanta and Ricardo Lazabal of San Lorenzo, among others.
The classification was a reality. presence Amalia Lacruz from Fortabat In various media, he talked about the team, putting it in the spotlight. It had a very important impact and this anecdote told by Huselos goes in that direction: “We had to play our first match against Ferro di Gregol, who had just been runner-up and were a great team. I was the captain of the team and before the match Amalita came to ask me about the prize we had arranged. When I told him the number, he said no, impossible. If we win, we will have a hat-trick and a Mexican gold each. I was lucky to score the goal and we won 1-0 black Lemmy, who had arrived from Tigre and was a jovial character, asked me: “Is Mario really paying for this?” (He laughs). Of course we got our paychecks the next day without any problems. In this aspect, the respect and order were incredible. And motivation, of course.”
Loma Negra was a sensation at Nacional 81. They reached the final day of the group stage, having beaten River by one point and had a great chance of qualifying, something that eluded them in unbelievable fashion. “We just missed the decisive point,” Huselos recalls. “On the deadline we had to beat Talleres at home to qualify for the quarter-finals and eliminate River. We drew 0-0, they won in Junin and then they became champions, beating Ferro in the final, the other team from our region who also advanced, which shows how tough this group is.”
Gaspar Verna did not live a golden age. He is only 27 years old, but since he was a child he has been aware of these exploits. Technology now allows him to get closer to legendary moments: “Thanks to the networks, we remember many of the things that Loma Negra did, the teams he faced and who he beat. Because it is not normal to defeat Nacional de Montevideo, who only recently had become champion of the Intercontinental Cup, or the historic victory over the Soviet Union.”
The Olavarría team did not qualify for the 82nd National Championship. There was an expensive team, which, in that season, only faced the regional challenge, achieving a place in the 83rd National Championship. So it played many friendly matches. Undoubtedly, the most important event occurred on Saturday, April 17, at noon, a few days after the start of the Malvinas War. The Soviet Union, was in full preparation for the World Cup and visited the city. They were unbeaten for a long time, having not lost since 1979. In that period they managed to draw with Argentina in Mar del Plata at the end of 1980, and beat France in Moscow and Brazil in the Maracanã. The cache they got was $30,000. It was an unforgettable day, as it remains in the memory of Husillos, who scored the only goal: “They arrived with a lot of hype, after a 1-1 draw with Argentina at the River Stadium, a match we went to see. Olavarría was crazy in those hours, and even more so when the match ended in a 1-0 victory for us, a fact that is remembered to this day as something historic and considered a crowning moment for sport in the city.”
The return to big-time football came in March 1983, with the start of Nacional. To the very good base that already existed, excellent elements were added e.g Luis Galvan, Bibuna Rinaldi, and Pedro Magellan. The latter was the hero of a transcendent moment in the institution’s history and a great story, as he put it. information“I was on Carlos Bilardo’s first call-up list, perhaps to fulfill one of his basic principles: he was a multi-tasking footballer. A special situation arose with the training sessions being from Monday to Thursday at the property of the Insurance Federation of Ezeiza and I was living in Olavarria. When Ms. Vartapat learned that one of her club players was in the national team, she gave me her helicopter so I could travel every week. The boys told me okayafter the character Higitus in the series, who was a millionaire father (laughs). I landed in Palomar and from there they took me to training in a limousine. I had bad luck because shortly afterwards I tore myself while practicing and it took three months to heal, to the point where they had to do surgery. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to play any matches.”
He was appointed coach Roberto Marcos Saporettiwho already had extensive experience. For him, his time at Olavaria was an enjoyable experience: “I found a wonderful organization that Don Valentin Suarez had left behind. He was contacted by Colonel Louis Primoliwho was Amalita’s right-hand woman, whom I met immediately, because she wanted to know how I was on a personal level. An amazing woman, very cultured, and so much of the world. Another level. I used to go watch the training and arrive with the helicopter that was landing in the middle of the field where we were training. Something unusual and I didn’t like it very much. They told me that Primoli once told him: “Look, Saporetti doesn’t like it.” The lady replied: “Then that’s perfect, let’s do what he says, because I love him, and most importantly, he speaks French” (laughs). With Amalita we spoke only this language. The problem is that the next time, the ship sank, but in the next field. She stood watching from behind the fence. I did what was appropriate. She stopped and told the men to go say hello to her. She followed us wherever she went. “If he were in Europe, he would have looked for a way to get the radio broadcast to him so he could listen to it.”
The team had a good tournament, until they were unexpectedly eliminated by Racing in the round of 16, where they lost with a crushing score of 4-0, after winning the first leg in Olavaria 2-1. This is where the magic ends. Amalita was tired of the world of football and decided to direct this part of her investments to other businesses. As in the tango dance, the name Loma Negra remained floating in farewell, opening the doors of myths and legends.
Until 2025, with the desire and will of its people, it once again entered the radar of official football, as Gaspar Verna explains: “The club’s situation is very good, with an important daily dynamic. Every sport has a subcommittee that works. As far as football is concerned, I am part of a group that has the responsibility to face the investment required for the next competition and the reality of supporting a team of 35 players. There is no sponsor. We are a club that works day by day. The big goal is to be able to reach the Federal First Division, but with our feet on the ground, and in terms of Principle: We aspire to be able to compete.”
Those cement tears that Serat wrote in Barcelona became a reality in Olavaria. But they are now a memory. Or maybe they changed. Now be normal and happy, because Loma Negra is back