WEBVTT

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"Tonalá, Chiapas."

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Y quiero dedicar este poema
especialmente a mi amigo Alexis,

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con quien jugué fútbol en
Tapachula durante muchos años.

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Para vos y, bueno,
para todos también.

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Especialmente para vos, Alexis.

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"Tonalá, Chiapas."

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"Tengo 11 años ahora
y para siempre.

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Nací en el barrio
FendeSal de Soyapango,

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cerca de San Salvador.

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Pero a mí nadie nunca me salvó.

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Mi padre fue asesinado
por pandilleros de la Mara

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Salvatrucha.

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Le quitaron una soda y una cora.

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No tenía más.

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Ganaba 3 dolares al
día en el vertedero.

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Yo le ayudaba jalando el carro,
y a veces encontrábamos comida

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en las bolsas de desechos
que llegaban de Metrocentro

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y regresábamos
contentos a la casa.

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Hui de Soyapango con Pablo de
15 años, mi amigo de la calle.

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Quería ser futbolista como
yo y jugar en la Selecta.

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Iríamos a la MLS
a probar suerte.

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Por eso intentamos
llegar a Estados Unidos,

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donde hay más dólares
que pandillas.

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En un local de tortas mexicanas
en Coatepeque, Guatemala,

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mire en la tele un bárbaro
documental sobre el Mágico

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González.

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Jugando para el mejor
Cádiz de la historia,

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le metió dos goles al Barcelona
el año en que nació mi padre,

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1984.

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Lloré de la emoción.

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Dos días hasta llegar a
la frontera con México,

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atravesamos el río y
subimos al tren la bestia,

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adelante de Tecún,
en ciudad Hidalgo.

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Antes de Arriaga, me quedé
dormido y todavía sigo cayendo.

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Llevaré para siempre,
como el Mágico,

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un 11 tatuado en la espalda,
quizá por el número de bolsas en

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que guardaron todo
partido mi cuerpo.

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Tal vez porque traía puesta
la camisa de la Selecta con

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la misma cifra o porque la
muerte lleva el 11 infinito de

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las vías del tren
grabado en el vientre.

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Antes de caer, Pablo
me contó este sueño.

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Veía yo a Roque Dalton
levantarse de entre los vivos

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y venir de nuevo al
mundo de los muertos.

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A su diestra, el Mágico
González driblaba a la muerte,

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le hacía la
culebrita macheteada,

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pateando cabezas decapitadas
de pandilleros cuscatlecos,

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haciéndole tremendo
caño entre las piernas.

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El Estadio Flor
Blanca estaba lleno.

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Había un velorio inmenso donde
la muchedumbre velaba a todos

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los migrantes muertos.

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Sé que Dios juega
fútbol allá en el cielo,

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pero aún no quiero
estar en su equipo.

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Me quedaré esperando en la banca
hasta que me llamen sonriendo mi

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amigo Pablo y el Mágico
González para jugar con ellos."

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[APLAUSOS]

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"Tonalá, Chiapas."

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"I'm 11 years old,
now and forever.

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I was born in Barrio
FendeSal en Soyapango,

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not far from San Salvador.

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But for me, nobody
ever was my savior.

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My father got killed by
pandilleros from MS13.

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They stole a soda
and a quarter dollar.

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That was all he had.

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He made $3 a day at
the garbage dump.

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I helped him out
pulling the cart,

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and sometimes we found food in
the trashbags that came from

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Metrocentro and went home happy.

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I ran away from Soyapango
with Pablo, who was 15,

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my friend from the street.

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He wanted to be a futbolista
like me and play for the

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Selecta.

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We'd go to the MLS
and try our luck.

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That's why we were aiming
to get to the United States,

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where they have more
dollars than gangs.

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At a Mexican sandwich stand
in Coatepeque, Guatemala,

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I saw an awesome show on TV
about el Mágico González playing

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for the best Cádiz
club in history.

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He scored two goals off
Barcelona the year my father was

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born, 1984.

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I was so happy, I cried.

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Two days to reach
the Mexican border,

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we crossed the river and hopped
onto the beast just passed Tecún

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Umán in Ciudad Hidalgo.

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Before we reached
Arriaga, I fell asleep,

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and I'm still falling.

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Forever, just like El Mágico,
I'll wear an 11 tattooed on my

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back, maybe for how many bags
they put my torn-up body in.

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Maybe because I was wearing the
Selecta shirt with that very

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number.

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Or maybe because death's got
that endless 11 of train tracks

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carved on its gut.

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Before I fell, Pablo
told me this dream.

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I saw Roque Dalton rising up
among the living to come back to

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the land of the dead.

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At his right-hand side, El
Mágico was dribbling up on

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death, kicking the heads of
Salvadorean pandilleros and

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doing that snake move,
the culebrita macheteada,

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knocking a tremendous
nutmeg between death's legs.

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Flor Blanca Stadium was packed.

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The crowd was holding a gigantic
wake for all the migrants who

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were dead.

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I know that God plays
football up in heaven.

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But I don't want to be
on his team just yet.

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I'll stay right
here on the bench,

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waiting for my friend Pablo and
El Mágico González to call me

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with a smile to play a match."

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[APLAUSOS]

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