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

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

"I asked Miguel if he was going to consider me, and he said no. I didn't expect it. What he told me was harsh. He said I didn't have the age, that I couldn't play at that level. I told him 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 got to Argentina, I wanted to settle things and leave because I felt good, in good shape, I had finished the tournament well, and I wanted to keep playing," Rojo expressed in a conversation with ESPN.

In this way, the defender confirmed that the decision for his departure was motivated by the coach and not for any other reason, something that even the coach himself hinted at when explaining that his exclusion from the Club World Cup was his decision. The curiosity, however, lies in that age didn't seem to be a factor for the coach in cases like Edinson Cavani (38, three more than Rojo).

In parallel to that, Rojo also decided to clarify the versions regarding a confrontation with the coaching staff during the Club World Cup, after supposedly 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 I was fine, that I had come to play and that if they wanted to put me in, they could count on me. That day I trained with the starters. The next day, in the talk, I realized I was out."

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

It was after that discussion that Rojo made the firm decision to seek his exit from the club: "I went to talk to the guys from the Council, I communicated 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 wasn't immediate, Marcos Rojo managed to leave Boca, after terminating his contract and arranging his move to Racing, although he won't be able to play in the local tournament due to the delay in his registration. Nevertheless, for the defender, the Xeneize seems to be in the past, and he is now fully focused on Racing, the team with which he will face the quarter-finals of the Copa Libertadores, against Vélez.

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

"It all started in the match with Independiente, I felt bad, and terrible things were said. The next day I showed up and trained. (Mariano) Herrón took me out, and that's when all the chaos started. From one day to the next, I was blamed for us being eliminated, they said I went to Pipa's (Benedetto) birthday in Paraguay... Thousands of things that hurt because I have daughters, and the oldest is a Boca fan, she reads, and it hurts that they say those things. On that side, it bothered me, they blamed me 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.