Hugo Barrera had great support in his mother Zoila Segovia to develop his talent in soccer. When he was 16 years old and playing with Deportivo Gloria in El Ascenso, she was in charge of getting him up at 05:30.
He knew that his son had to get up early to wake up the rest of his classmates. The training began at 06:00 in the so-called ‘Correctional’ sector, in the Free Fair.
I would ride my bicycle all along Loja Avenue. I remember knocking on the door of each house. The parents came out very angry, but I was already pedaling to go knock on another door. I was the one who was going to see them and the one who carried the ball. We trained until 8:00 a.m. because everyone worked.
Barrera rightly says “soccer was born with me.” He began to show his talent at the Federico Proaño School despite the fact that no one taught him to master the ball.
As many times as he could, he took the hand of his neighbor Luis Mendieta – ex-glory of soccer and indor Azuayo – to enter the stadium and watch local soccer figures.
They inspired him to start training on his own, to master “rag balls†, make shells and run after the ball around the patio of the house.
He later adapted that habit in his professional stage. During the holidays she liked to go jogging at El Paraíso park where she met Rolando Vera and Hans Ortega, a Cuenca soccer player serving in the Quito League.
“I have never been injured,†he highlights. The only serious injury he had was in a match against Liga de Portoviejo. Striker Ramón Manzaba (+) broke his nose with a kick.
I have the partition made of firewood. I defended with my head and when he fell, there was no longer any ball, he stuck his foot out and kicked me.
Beginnings in professionalism
His history at Deportivo Cuenca begins in 1971. The Argentine Carlos Raffo took the Azuay National Team as his base. At 22 years old he signed his first contract.
It was during the presidency of Alejandro Serrano Aguilar. The only request he made was to speak with Deportivo Gloria so they could negotiate his pass.
I remember that the only thing they gave was a few sets of uniforms. I said: why only that. My great friend Víctor “Araña” Martínez (+) told me: you have to ask for money, you have the right. To play I requested 40,000 sucres. They had an extraordinary meeting, when it ended they told me: we don’t have money now.
As part of the payment, they gave him a Datsun 1200 truck. The rest was pending. Over time they forgot the agreed commitment.
They gave me 1,000 sucres per month as a salary. The rest of the teammates who came from other teams were not starters, they earned 7,000, 8,000. For being called up to the National Team they raised me to 3,000….
The salary he received as an accountant at the Cuenca Hotel helped him balance his finances.
During his time as an active footballer he admired Alberto Spencer. In 1971 he cried with emotion. Coach Raffo confirmed him as a starter against Barcelona SC, in Cuenca, although his mission was not to let ‘Cabeza Mágica†™ breathe.
I played as a midfielder. Raffo tells me: you have to stick to him, don’t let him nod off. If he goes somewhere else, you follow him behind.
His surprise was when “he touched my shoulder, I turned around and he punched me that broke my lip. I didn’t imagine he would act in a way he never did.
After the game he apologized.  «He told me: you are going to be a phenomenon. When he left football, as a coach, he wanted to take me to the Catholic University, to Emelec, to the Técnico Universitario, but Cuenca did not sell me.â€
Barrera’s new position
With the arrival of Rodolfo Zamora to the technical direction of Cuenca, in 1973, Barrera began to play as a forward marker.
Years later he took the position from Alfonso ‘Rey’ Quijano, who arrived at the Club after celebrating four titles with Barcelona SC (1963, 1966, 1970 and 1971).
In the dressing room, the coach gives the lineup and from one game to the next he puts me in Quijano’s place… Before going out to the tunnel, Alfonso grabs me, hugs me and says: Hugo, I congratulate you, you are going to be great, but the ‘King’, professor, can never be in the bank. He said goodbye to his companions and left Cuenca.
In 1978, against Barcelona, he sent Ángel Liciardi to the hospital, with whom he maintains a good friendship to this day. Barrera changed positions with Iván Caicedo when he saw that “Tano” “said some things” to “Clavo”.
I caressed Liciardi all over and he was injured. The truth is, I also punched him for some things. The ambulance took him away and I couldn’t leave the stadium. I had to go out disguised as a police officer because they said I hit Liciardi.
In 1981 he made the decision to retire from Cuenca along with ‘Pipo’ Vélez. Barrera points out that by demanding better treatment for the Cuenca soccer player (salary and minutes on the field) he began to antagonize the leaders.
In 1982 he joined the Cuenca University League, but when he automatically lost the category (from Serie B to the Second Category) for bribing the referee of a match, he made the decision to hang up his boots.
He wanted to take me on October 9, Everest to Guayaquil. I preferred to continue studying and graduated as an Economist.
Other facets of Barrera
As Ramiro Blacutt’s technical assistant, he remembers that the Bolivian asked him to take care of Carlos ‘Ventarrón’ Quiñonez. “Every day, after teaching at the University, he would go to his house and tell him: I’m just coming to have a red wine.â€
Before Blacutt left due to his wife’s illness, he took the reins of the team on an interim basis. Something that stands out in these new facets was the affection that he perceived from the fans every time he entered the stadium.
Between applause they shouted at me: Don Ramón, Don Ramón… (because of his resemblance to the character Chavo del 8) and my daughters Paolita (+) and Andreita shouted at them: chilindrinas, tan, tan, tan; chilindrinas, so, so, so… I never resented that, I understood that they said it to me out of affection, love, respect….
Currently, Barrera, 75 years old, is enjoying his retirement. In addition to being a university professor, he was a professor at the Antonio Ávila School. On Saturdays he takes time to meet with friends.
The day he receives the call from the Almighty, he would like to be remembered as “a calm person who was always willing to collaborate.”
Something more about his sports career
- Hugo Barrera is one of the few Cuenca soccer players who was able to join a national team in three different seasons: 1972, 1975 and 1978.
- The sports narrator Leonardo Muñoz Eljuri (+) baptized him as ‘Vitalac’. He related the name of a company that distributed milk, with the meaning of: ‘have milk†™ = ‘have good luck†™.
- The best moment that soccer gave him was when his teammates, especially foreigners including Liciardi, invited his mother to travel by plane to Guayaquil. It was in gratitude for the attention they received when selling vegetables.
- The question that keeps running through your head is why didn’t they sell me to Barcelona SC in 1971, 1972?
Coach Otto Vieira spoke with me at the Hotel (Cuenca), he spoke with the managers. The Club offered cash and the entire box office for a team match in Cuenca, but they didn’t sell me.
- In 1971, in Cuenca’s first home game, Barrera scored the second goal in a 2-0 victory against North America.
- Barrera was the author of Cuenca’s first goal as a visitor. It was against Italian Youth in Manta.
The goalkeeper was Pincay who later was my teammate in Cuenca. I remember that Messrs. Hermida gave me a ring and the reception in my neighborhood La Gloria was unforgettable. I arrived at dawn, the street was full of friends, fans.
Text: BolÃvar Strong T.
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