Brian Olivera: the keeper behind Estudiantes de Río Cuarto’s rise | OneFootball

The goalkeeper had to undergo surgery and a cycle of chemotherapy sessions in a treatment that could have prevented him from playing again. Three years later, he achieved a historic promotion with the “León del Imperio” and will now have his experience in the First Division.

Life’s twists are sometimes so incredible. Brian Olivera, the goalkeeper for Estudiantes de Río Cuarto, three years ago had to undergo surgery and a cycle of chemotherapy sessions due to testicular cancer… That situation changed his life and could have stopped him from developing his professional career, but at the end of 2025, he finds himself celebrating the promotion of the ‘León del Imperio’ as one of its key players.

After winning the final series of the Torneo Reducido against Deportivo Madryn, and with celebrations that began in the locker room and later moved to an empty Abel Sastre Stadium after a pitch invasion, the 31-year-old goalkeeper from Córdoba recalled that tough moment and the strength his son Tiziano gave him at that time.

Having come up through the youth ranks at Instituto (2012-2017), the club he supports, Olivera went on to play for Defensores de Villa Ramallo (2017-2019), had a first spell at Estudiantes de Río Cuarto (2019-2022), then Gimnasia y Esgrima de Mendoza (2023), Monagas in Venezuela (2024), and, from this season, returned to the ‘León del Imperio’ to write a great chapter in the history of this team from Córdoba.

“My life changed a lot. I became a father. It made me think differently. Now I play for my son Tiziano. You have to work so your child doesn’t go hungry,” he said in March 2017 in an interview with La Voz de Córdoba.

Precisely in the final stretch of 2022, Tizi once again became a protagonist in the toughest stage of his father’s life.

“They found a testicular tumor. They did tests in Río Cuarto and from there I went to Córdoba. I had surgery and the tests all came out fine. I did chemotherapy and honestly, emotionally, I was struggling. It was a very hard blow and so was the process of moving forward. The word cancer scares you. Thank God I’ve managed to move forward. Now I have check-ups every three months for five years,” he later told the newspaper Los Andes.

At that time, they told him he wouldn’t be able to play anymore because of the chemotherapy, and it was a tough test of his physical and mental strength. Before starting the process and going into surgery, Tizi gave him his stuffed animal named ‘Pochi’ for good luck… and ever since, at every important health or sporting moment, his son’s memory is there.

Another tough moment for Brian was in November 2023, when during a Torneo Reducido match with Gimnasia y Esgrima de Mendoza against Quilmes, a firecracker exploded behind his goal and he couldn’t continue playing at the Estadio Centenario.

On that occasion, the goalkeeper was taken to the Finochietto Sanatorium with a diagnosis of “mild acoustic trauma,” and following the suspension of the match, he later told FMQ radio: “Health-wise, I’m fine, but they weren’t easy days. When the bomb exploded, it was chaos in my head because I received many threats and messages. When it goes beyond sports, they go after your family, what you’ve been through, and wish you harm, for something… that I didn’t do, I don’t know why they’re taking it out on me and not on the one who threw the bomb.”

But life always gives second chances, and now Brian Olivera is preparing, soon to turn 32 on December 13, to plan a season in the First Division with Estudiantes de Río Cuarto, where his son Tiziano and the stuffed animal ‘Pochi’ will surely be protagonists.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇪🇸 here.