'I was really afraid...that's why I made the decision' - A chat with a player who left Nicaragua

Sebastián Barquero loved his time with Diriangén but not enough to play through the COVID crisis.

Barquero in action for Diriangén against Walter Ferretti

When Sebastian Barquero answers my call, I can hear the children playing in the background.

The 19-year-old has been able limited time with his four brothers since returning to Costa Rica from Nicaragua, where he’d played in eight matches this season for historic club Diriangén.

But at least he’s home. As the Nicaraguan league plays on in the face of the global pandemic, Barquero decided he’d had enough. On loan from Saprissa, he spoke with the sporting director at his parent club, Victor Cordero, and his manager at Diriangén. When it was clear no one would hold the decision against him, he headed back to Costa Rica.

For now, he lives a life of routine at his family home in Heredia, shuffling between his room and the patio where he has work out equipment and is trying to stay in something resembling game shape.

Once he’s done with the exercise machine, it’s - well, it’s back to what everyone else is doing. “I go in my room again and watch a show on Netflix or watch YouTube or listen to music,” he told me Friday, a week into the mandatory 14-day quarantine period. He won’t be able to go out to do much else Friday when the quarantine lifts but he’s looking forward to being able to hang out with his brothers, to hug his dad.

“I told the sporting director that, really, I want to be with my family because of everything happening,” Barquero said. “I was worried about that and made the decision that seriously, seriously, I would rather be with my family. God forbid something happen, but at least if it does I’d be with my family. They could take care of me if something happened to me, and I wanted to be with them.”

The loan situation for Barquero worked in his favor, with the forward able to arrange to go home. Other foreign players in Nicaragua have said they’d rather not play but have to see out their contracts. It also worked out well for Barquero that he plays for the one club in Nicaragua without significant government support.

He and several teammates hoped the tournament would stop after Nicaragua’s first confirmed case of coronavirus and even thought they had a chance to be declared champion after being in first place when almost every other league in the world shut down.

Instead, the ball kept rolling, games kept happening and eventually the authorities said games would still be played - only now behind close doors. That led to the now-famous protest with Diriangén players lining up wearing masks and gloves.

“A few days later, there were several teammates who didn’t want to train or anything because of that. In fact, we canceled training, we kept talking,” he said. “Some of my teammates didn’t want to put their families at risk and the directors understood but if we didn’t play, we’d lose points so we played and had the masks and gloves before the game and also had a lot of gel there.

“We made that decision to play like that, but it was tough because we all were afraid of getting the virus and it was really tough.”

It’s not even that Barquero didn’t like life in Nicaragua before the pandemic. In fact, he loved playing for the Diriamba-based club.

“Honestly, for me, it was great. It was really beautiful. After training, I’d go home, clean up and then go out, go for a walk, check out the park, it was beautiful,” he said. “After this happened, when there had been several cases confirmed in Nicaragua, I didn’t leave my home. I just stayed at home in my room, like I’m doing now. But I really liked Nicaragua.”

The feeling was mutual. When the club announced Barquero’s departure, it wished him luck, and Barquero responded with a thoughtful note explaining his decision and expressing love for the club.

Maybe it would’ve been easy for fans to turn against him, but instead he said he’s received mostly positive messages.

“For me, it was difficult as well because I have a lot of love for the fans, for the team. They’ve supported me since I got there. It was tough too because of that,” he said. “Thankfully, the Diriangén fans have been writing me to say hopefully we see each other soon, that they’re waiting for me and that they want to see me there again. I feel really happy about that, knowing the fans like me. I always try to make the best of my situation and if I can be with Diriangén again, I’m going to give it my very best.”

The thing is, he will be with Diriangén again if the COVID pandemic is eradicated. Barquero’s loan deal was for a year, so at the moment he’s expected back with the club for the Apertura.

I closed the interview as I close all interviews, asking if I had missed anything or if there was anything else Barquero would like to add.

Yes. I want people know that I’m not leaving my house because of the fear of what’s happening. I’d send them the message that they should stay home.

Let’s avoid more coronavirus contagion. It’s a big topic. Some people aren’t paying attention to the warnings, they’re walking around like nothing is happening and I want to send them the message to pay attention so we don’t have more people getting sick and, Lord willing, this passes quickly and everything gets back to normal.

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