Boca is living difficult times: the sad news of the death of Fermín Núñeza youth who ventured through the Xeneize Inferiores. I was 19 years old and, after leaving football, he had returned to his hometown: General La Madrid, in the province of Buenos Aires. He had started in Boca in 2016 and after being released in 2019 he ended up in Huracán, where he played until 2021.
His life suddenly took a different direction: he decided to move away from football and was in the first year of his Medicine degree at the Faculty of Health Sciences of the National University of the Center. After hearing the news of his death, the University posted an emotional statement on its social networks. “The Faculty of Health Sciences of the National University of the Center deeply regrets the death of the first-year medical student Fermín Núñez, and accompanies his family, friends and colleagues in this difficult moment.”
Likewise, Valentín Barco, one of his former teammates in the Lower Divisions and who now plays for Brighton, England, posted a story on Instagram with a photo together and farewell words: “Rest in peace, brother. I love you, forever in my heart.”
Born on September 2, 2004, Fermín had grown up in a middle-class home in the General La Madrid district, 460 kilometers from the Federal Capital. He began his career in Racing in that city and in September 2015 he traveled to Buenos Aires for the first time to test in Boca, the club of which he was a fan.
“I share with you my happiness and excitement and I extend a giant hug of thanks to everyone who has to do with their sports and life training. When we signed the document, not only their conditions stood out but also their human quality and that fills me with pride. Success son, your happiness is ours!!! “We will be accompanying your dream as always!!!” Dardo, his father, former president of the La Madrid Azul y Oro club and Secretary of Sports of that municipality, had written.
Fermín had a privileged physique: at 17 years old he was already 1.83 meters tall and weighed 77 kilos. “The day he tried on he was three heads taller than all his teammates,” they say in Boca. Abel Almada, Xeneize’s historic talent hunter, saw him as a central marker. He was left-handed, tall and strong in the air, characteristics that are not abundant in players of that age. Fermín, however, asked to try as a 5. And then he would play as a winger and as a left midfielder.
His first year in Boca was positive on a sporting level, but difficult on a personal level. Once a month, Fermín had to train for a week in La Candela and then return to his house to continue his studies. He was the greatest promise of football in La Madrid, so the entire city rallied behind his dream. At school they allowed him to miss class in exchange for him presenting a series of practical work that Fermín carried out at the Boca boarding house with the help of a private teacher.
At first, everything seemed to be going smoothly. In July 2016, Fermín was a figure, champion and scorer of the Buenos Aires Cup tournament as part of the famous 2004, a luxury category from which values such as Valentín Barco (today at Brighton in England), Mauricio Benítez, Lautaro Di Lollo would emerge (part of Boca’s professional squad), the brothers Valentino and Tiago Simoni (continue at Xeneize) and Giovanni Ferraina, the youth player who has just been transferred to Messi’s Inter Miami.
In 2018, he even competed with Boca in the Tokyo International Youth Football, a friendly competition in which Boca participated continuously between 2013 and 2019 in the Japanese capital. Fermín, who was part of the Xeneize Ninth Division, performed with the number 9 shirt, although he did not score goals.
Some time later, Fermín lost his position to Colo Barco and began to alternate between team A, which competed in the official AFA tournament, and team B, which played in the Metropolitan League. “Fermín was a great boy, with a huge heart. He played everything and always pushed forward, although sometimes that personality he had worked against him a little,” warns Luis Luquez, his coach in Boca’s Ninth Division. “Maybe he made a mistake and got very sick, shouted or hit the floor. We talked a lot with him and he also received support from the club’s psychologists, but it was very difficult for him to cope with that problem,” he adds. According to LA NACION, prior to his departure from Boca in 2020, Fermín also began psychiatric treatment.
In 2020, after the change of government in Boca (Jorge Amor Ameal took over, with Juan Román Riquelme in charge of the Football area), Luquez was fired by the leadership and ended up in Huracán, where he recommended Fermín and other former Boca players. Núñez joined the ranks of Globo and lived for a time in the boarding house, although he did not make his debut in First Division and decided to embark on new paths.
This Monday, Fermín’s body was found lifeless and all of Boca and La Madrid mourned his death. Another dream that ends in a nightmare.