I spent the week with the youth teams again. No fear, that’s the first thing I notice every time. My staff have embraced my ideas, my structure, my game model. And the kids? They play it with joy, with instinct. I sat there on the touchline, Mate in hand, quietly watching. Who understands the rotations? Who presses with conviction? Who plays without hesitation?

By the end I had four names typed into my phone. Four boys who weren’t just following instructions, they were living them.

Back in my office, I was still thinking about one of them when my assistant walked in.

“What’s on your mind, boss?”

“Babino,” I said.

He raised an eyebrow. “Boss… he’s not ready to start.”

“I know,” I replied. “But he has no fear.”

And fearlessness… you can’t teach that.

I told him I wanted those four boys training with the first team tomorrow. He nodded. No arguments — he trusts my instinct.

Matchday

Next up: Unión de Santa Fe, away. Fifth in the table. Two wins, two draws, one loss. A difficult place to go, and a team that likes to suffocate you early. This would be a test, especially after our recent stumble.

When I named the travelling squad, eyebrows lifted everywhere.

Thiago Cáceres, 18, in. Nervo out.
Valentín Gradin, 17, in. Ojeda out.
Alan Díaz, 17, in. Urzi out.
Milton Ríos, 20, in. Ramírez out.

The press conference was chaos.

Who are these kids?
Are they starting?
Have I lost my mind?
Is Batistuta staging a youth revolution?

I told them the truth: we start with the same XI as the first three games. My warriors. The ones who earned that right. But I warned them privately — I am not afraid to use the kids. Not afraid to shake things up.

At the stadium, I could feel the buzz in our away end. The supporters whispering the names of these prodigies as though they were urban legends. I felt protective. Hope can crush a young player as quickly as it lifts him. They aren’t here to be mascots, but I won’t throw them into the fire blindly.

The Match

Unión kicked off. We stumbled immediately , not from pressure, but from doubt. Early-season nerves, the shadow of our first defeat… it sticks to a team like humidity. Seven minutes in, they broke us at the back post. A simple cross. A free header. 1–0.

That shock woke us up.

We grew into the game, then took control. And when we take control, I can always tell by the fouls. Opponents get desperate. They kick, they pull, they drag. It’s the only way they can slow our rhythm and even then, only for a heartbeat.

We dominated the rest of the half but couldn’t break the wall. At the interval I told them: stay calm — it will come.

Second half. We kicked off with belief, but decisions had to be made.

Waller struggling.
Sequeira limping.
54 minutes gone.

I moved Cabral up top, my top scorer , and brought on Alanís.
Then Miljevic on for Waller. Yes, the kids were available. Yes, they’re talented. But timing matters.

At 67 minutes, Cabral was spent. Wanchope on.
De la Fuente exhausted — Alanís switched sides and on came young Alan Díaz.
Moments later, Ríos replaced Bisanz.

Faith in youth. Earned, not gifted.

The fouls kept coming. Unión chopping us down every time a move began to breathe.

Then 75th minute.

A sequence carved from the heart of our football:

Pérez → Gil → Ríos → Díaz → Ibáñez
Cross.
WANCHOPE.
1–1.

A goal built by the old and the young together.

We pushed for the winner but Unión shut the doors with foul after foul, breaking rhythm, breaking momentum. They saw out the draw.

A point. Not perfect, but better than defeat.
And more importantly: the heart to fight back.

Post Match Thoughts

As I sat alone in the dressing room afterward, listening to the distant hum of the stadium emptying, I thought about the kids. Gradin, Ríos, Díaz, Cáceres. Two stepped onto that pitch with no hesitation, no fear of the moment, no weight from our recent doubts. They brought energy, courage, clarity, the very essence of what I want this Huracán to become.

But I must be careful. Talent is fragile at their age. Confidence is glass. Ask too much too soon and you can break something that might never be repaired. Still… I cannot ignore what I saw tonight. They changed the rhythm of the game. They believed when others hesitated. They reminded me why we build a system in the first place, to give the brave a place to express themselves.

The future is coming faster than I expected.
But I will not rush it.
Step by step, moment by moment, match by match.

I now know who is ready to fight, who is still learning, and who I can trust when the game demands courage.

The youth have arrived.
Now it is my job to guide them, protect them… and when the time is right, unleash them.