This was Freddy Rincón's last public appearance before his tragic accident

Colombia is in mourning after the death of Freddy Rincón, one of the top players in national football, was confirmed on Wednesday night. The legend of the Colombian national team lost his life after suffering a serious traffic accident in the early hours of Monday, in Cali (Valle del Cauca).

“Despite all the efforts of our work teams, Freddy Eusebio Rincón Valencia has passed away. We want to express our sincere feelings of condolences to his family, friends and relatives,” said Laureano Quintero, medical director of the Imbanaco clinic, where the 'Colossus of Bonaventura' was hospitalized.

After being technical assistant to Jorge Luis Pinto at Millonarios, in 2019, Rincón began to appear recurrently as a panelist in several media outlets. And, precisely, his last public appearance occurred on the program 'The best of the date' of Win Sports, last Friday, April 8.

On that occasion, the members of the television space analyzed the preview of the classic between Atlético Nacional and América de Cali for the 15th date of the 2022-I BetPlay League. When Freddy was asked about a special anectode in one of those matches, remembering that he played in the 'Scarlet' team between 1990 and 1993, he made his other teammates laugh.

“National Vs. America has been quite difficult classics and I have been privileged to be in them. I remember the time Edison Umaña left me on the bench because I was expelled in a previous game. Imagine how I was...”, asserted the 'Colossus'.

In another intervention, the former footballer, characterized by his firm opinions and concepts, criticized those who said that at the time the players did not have a great physical display: “Many of the footballers of our time could play quietly today. I was timed the time that I was running at that time. I was running 10-11 kilometers. There are some that run a little longer, but there was a lot of running at that time. The thing is that the technique was much more rushed.”

Precisely, one of the aspects that Rincón stood out most for was his physical condition and versatility, which allowed him to work in different sectors of the court. This was stated, for example, by Colombian coach Jorge Luis Pinto, who directed it at Independiente Santa Fe between 1986 and 1987.

“In the only position he lacked to play was goalkeeper... One day I put him as a point marker, another in central”, commented a few days ago the risaraldense coach in an interview with the program 'Sports Blog' on Blu Radio.

Similarly, the Colombian strategist related about a talk he had with Gabriel Ochoa Uribe, then coach of America de Cali: “He called me one day to ask me about some players and I said 'doctor, do you know who can score Freddy Rincón? ' . And the doctor answered me, 'yes of course, no one marks him. '”

Another of the personalities he had the opportunity to share with the 'Colossus' was Leonel Álvarez. The former footballer of the 'Tricolor', who is now the coach of Golden Eagles, had spoken about the state of health of his friend: “It's hard because I had him for many years as a roommate. There are many anecdotes, it is an immense pain and I don't accept what happened to him. (...) We are very sad, in our hearts there is a lot of sadness, and I am crying inside.”

“Reaching Real Madrid is not easy, he had a great race, he was a leader on and off the court, a supportive partner and he showed a lot of quality. We didn't see each other a long time ago, but we talked often on the phone, I was happy to see myself directing again,” concluded Leonel.

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