care of its food and stands out for resolving conflicts, reveals his old friend.
Lautaro Martínez had called Cecilia Contarino, the sports psychologist of the Racing players, just a few hours before she remembered this story with Mundo Deportivo: “Over time we got to know Lautaro and a much closer relationship became. We talked a lot. Actually, I spoke a while ago. I love him. He’s a brilliant boy. He’s neat, intelligent, professional.”
Contarino recalls that Lautaro Martínez also accumulated very good grades at school: “He excelled in all subjects”. However, not everything was so easy: “It took him a little at first to get out of family life and adapt to the life of the academy residence. I told him to be patient. And he told me that he could continue playing at Liniers, his club in Bahía Blanca. So I would send him to his room asking him to think if he wanted to be a lion’s tail or a mouse head… He was thinking hahaha.”
When they signed their first contract, the Racing youth left that residence ‘CasaTita Mattiusi’: “I accompanied Lautaro to find an apartment and buy everything he needed. He was still very young,” recalls Cecilia Contarino.
“Since we got along so well, sometimes Lautaro arranged meals in his apartment with other club mates and invited me. I was the cook. The first time I opened the fridge and saw that it only had water and all light food. No coke, no chocolate. It was always the same. He always had the ability to say ‘this yes, this not’. He’s very smart, besides, to ask for help when he needs it. He doesn’t lock himself up. He knows how to resolve conflicts, and if he can’t, he seeks help.”
200 shirts signed before going to Italy
And he explains another anecdote: “When he was about to go to Italy, the club had decided to take out shirts signed by Lautaro. It was like 200. Since there were so many, they dared not ask. Lautaro didn’t hesitate. ‘Bring shirts. How are you gonna ask me if I can sign them? And he signed the 200, one by one”