Rojo: Russo dropped me from Boca over age, denies misconduct | OneFootball

While his present is with Racing, after qualifying for the quarterfinals of the Copa Libertadores and his unusual expulsion from the substitutes' bench against Peñarol, the truth is that for defender Marcos Rojo it is still difficult not to refer to his time at Boca. This time, the center-back took advantage of an interview to clarify details of his departure and emphasized that it was triggered after a comment from Miguel Russo, who told him that he "was not old enough to play at that level".

"I asked Miguel if he was going to consider me and he told me no. I didn't expect it. What he told me was hard. He told me that I was not old enough, that I couldn't play at that level. I told him that I perfectly understood, that if he was going to count on Ayrton (Costa) or whoever, I accepted it. But I told him that, when I arrived in Argentina I wanted to settle and leave, because I felt good, in good shape, I had finished the tournament well and I wanted to keep playing," Rojo said, in conversation with ESPN.

In this way, the defender confirmed that the decision of his departure was motivated by the coach and not for another reason, something that even the coach himself suggested when explaining that his marginalization in the Club World Cup was his decision. The curiosity, however, lies in the fact that age does not seem to have been a factor for the coach in cases like Edinson Cavani's (38, three more than Rojo).

Parallel to this, Rojo also decided to clarify the versions regarding a confrontation with the coaching staff during the Club World Cup, after allegedly refusing to train before the match against Auckland. "Ayrton played in the World Cup debut, but in the second match he was touched and they asked me how I was. I told them that I was fine, that I had gone to play and that, if he wanted to put me in, he could count on me. That day I trained with the starters. The next day, in the talk, I realized that I was out".

It was after that decision to leave him out of the match with Bayern Munich when the short circuit with the coach occurred: "Against Auckland I had a loaded quadriceps, because we had done a strong job those who had not played. I asked not to train the doctors, I didn't feel 100%, I understood that (Marco) Pellegrino came from a tear and I didn't want to risk in case I played against Auckland. But then Miguel got angry, we had a discussion and I realized that I was not going to play".

It was after that discussion when Rojo made the firm decision to seek his departure from the club: "I went to talk to the guys from the Council, I told them what had happened with Miguel and I told them that, as soon as we arrived in Argentina, I wanted to arrange my departure".

Thus, although it was not immediate, Marcos Rojo managed to leave Boca, after terminating his contract and arranging his arrival at Racing, although he will not be able to dispute the local tournament due to the delay in his registration. However, for the defender, the Xeneize seems to have been left in the past and he is now fully focused on Racing, the team with which he will face the quarterfinals of the Copa Libertadores, against Vélez.

However, his departure was not the only thing Rojo remembered from his immediate past with Boca. The defender also took a few minutes to confess that the criticisms received recently hurt him a lot, especially how they impacted his family. Thus, he categorically denied acts of indiscipline and recalled some accusations that, according to him, were

"Everything started in the match with Independiente, I felt bad and they said barbarities. The next day I showed up and trained. (Mariano) Herrón took me out and that's when all the mess started. From one day to the next, I was to blame for us being eliminated, they said I had gone to Pipa (Benedetto)'s birthday in Paraguay... Thousands of things that hurt, because I have daughters and the oldest is a fan of Boca, she reads and it hurts to hear those things. On that side it bothered me, they made me responsible for something I hadn't done," he concluded.

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