The sadness is noticeable. The players of Deportivo Cali still cannot comprehend the surprising death of their former teammate Andrés Balanta, who collapsed a few days ago while training for Argentine side Atlético Tucumán and lost his life.
Fans, relatives and teammates gathered in a colosseum in the city of Cali to escort the chest to the player’s first home and bid him his final farewell in this world. A tribute that was marked by the heartbreaking farewell message from Kevin Velasco, a close friend and current Deportivo Cali player.
The skilled winger made no secret of his restlessness and tried to say the words he had written earlier, but ended up crying and screaming for the death of one of his closest colleagues.
Words from Kevin Velasco to his brother Andrés Balanta today at the tribute in memory of Andrés.
An exemplary friendship. May Andrew rest in peace. Greetings to all your family and to those of Deportivo Cali
: Social networks @nelsandinonews pic.twitter.com/wjwwGHWxoi
– Colombian Soccer (@Futbolfpc) December 4, 2022
“Thank you Balanta for always bringing joy to all your relatives, calling your goals with a desire to move forward and always helping those close to you. ‘Balantica’ thank you for being part of the tenth star of Deportivo Cali. Each of your friends will remember you for the rest of your life”, were the first words Kevin could spin.
However, when he was half way through his speech, he couldn’t hold back the tears and couldn’t continue with his message of thanks: “Thank you Andrés for all the love you gave us, thank you Sifuentes for flying high, your smile will always be on our hearts, we love you very much.
Teófilo Gutiérrez and Germany’s Mera were the first players on the team to step forward, hug Kevin Velasco and help him walk over to the rest of the sugar squad footballers.
Andrés Balanta died on November 29 after collapsing during full training and on arrival at the hospital after CPR maneuvers and defibrillator work failed for more than 40 minutes.
The world of Colombian and world football mourned the death of the Colombian footballer, who had already passed out when he was a youth squad member for Deportivo Cali.
Source: El heraldo
I’m George Gonzalez, a professional journalist and author at The Nation View. With more than 5 years of experience in the field, I specialize in covering sports news for various print media outlets. My passion for writing has enabled me to craft stories that capture the attention of readers all over the world.
