Thank you, Nicolás Tagliafico
He just closed his eyes and took a shot. Simple as that, Nicolás Tagliafico said to his fellow Argentinian teammate Lisandro Martínez. ‘Qué golazo, no?’ It’s a bit after 10pm on a wednesday night, Johan Cruyff Arena in Amsterdam, and Ajax just crowned themselves Dutch champions. Tagliafico opened the score against Heerenveen, and walked away as if scoring is like having breakfast for him. We’ve seen the left back finding the net before. We’ve seen him pulling faces of pure joy and excitement. Of not having any idea what to do. But tonight he kept his cool. ‘I celebrated like a striker, calmly.’
It took me five seconds to fall in love with Nicolás Tagliafico. We were a team of youngsters, that Ajax team of 2018. Talented guys, free spirits. Nonconformists on a football field. But phlegmatic from time to time. We needed someone to walk through fire when it gets tough. So when the 26 years old Argentinian entered the pitch with his shirt tucked in his pants, like he was used to do from when he was a little kid running around on the pitches of his neighbourhood team Banfield, ready for the fires that were laying ahead, five seconds into his debut game against eternal rivals Feyenoord were enough.
89 minutes later he left the pitch as man of the match. We knew we found our guy. Time passed by, wins became a normality, attackers getting played out by our favourite left back piled up. The guy put a smile on my face every time he stormed around the pitch, destroying all that was in his way. He gave us a Champions League adventure to always remember. Made me burst with joy against AEK Athens, twice. Got beheaded by Thomas Müller, stood up, and hit the net. But most of all, he gave Ajax the spirit to never give up.
Tagliafico didn’t always get the appreciation he deserved, and didn’t get the transfer he deserved. Not FC Barcelona, but Olympique Lyonnais is the lucky one. He was the first war soldier in a red and white jersey, and it will take some time to appoint his successor. What’s left for now is a thank you note. A rather long one, I know. So thank you, Nicolás Tagliafico, for those five seconds, and for being with us for so many years. We will not forget you.
