During the days when the soccer team was in Argentina, Gaston Edul he was abducted. He confesses that his life was suspended. He tells it happily, comfortably seated in his gaming chair. On the wall, there are two photos of Messi: one with his back turned and with his arms open in a goal celebration, and the other with the World Cup while he was interviewing him immediately after that historic final on December 18. That room is where he streams from on Twitch, his new passion.
News: He looks very Kun Aguero, there is a certain resemblance between you, right?
Gaston Edul: Yes, I asked him for a hand for some things and he helped me with the marks to put this together. Because everything is expensive for Twitch: the computer is very expensive, the monitors, the microphone, much more than I thought and with the brands I was able to do well.
For some, Edul is a talisman. For many others, “the” information powerhouse. Guys as famous as Bizarrap write to him, while they stop him on the street looking for information or for him to be an intermediary. Like in Santiago del Estero, for example, when someone from stadium security hugged him and gave him a letter of love and thanks for Messi. He tried to excuse himself, but the man insisted. “Sometimes I try to make them understand that I can’t, but it’s being a bridge and it makes me feel good, the vibes are good, it’s love,” he says.
News: How did you grow professionally from Qatar?
edul: My way of working was always the same. What did happen to me is something very strong, which is a shock of exposure that a journalist rarely has. Quite simply, what has changed in me is that more people know me.
News: It’s not just exposure, it’s recognition.
edul: Yes of course, It is not popularity without content, it is recognition; They are coverages that give you prestige. For me the most important thing is that I gained credibility. I had built it in a very similar way but in a much smaller place, in the coverage of Independiente. And it is difficult to build it, the fact that when you say something, people believe you and that if there is an error in the information, they know that there is no malicious intent or anything behind it.
News: The day he announced that Argentina will host the U20 World Cup and his networks exploded. How does it affect you?
edul: If you always check the information, now I do it 300% more, because being in everyone’s eye also makes the error have more repercussions. Confusion is generated among people: seeing me so close to the players and the leaders, it’s like they take what I say as something official, when in reality it’s not, I’m just another journalist. But it’s mime because it’s the feeling that they believe you.
News: How much did your networks grow after the World Cup?
edul: 300% I would tell you. On IG, much more, I was at 100 thousand and now I’m at 747 thousand; I didn’t have a Tik Tok account, now I do.
News: How do you handle that exponentiality?
edul: Quite naturally because I am lucky to have a person in whom I saw myself reflected, as is my brother Esteban, who is 12 years older and who is a journalist, so everything that feels a bit augured for me. But at the same time there are things that continue to move me and move me. Like when I went to Santiago del Estero, a lot of people waited for me at the hotel. I think that by being linked to a cover that is a happy memory, I bring back good memories, because they thank me and there is nothing to be thankful for. A company sent me, which paid me a salary, I had nothing to do with the result (laughs), but I am not going to deny that it makes me happy and makes my heart happy.
News: The scene of “What are you looking at, fool?” it was another great hinge. Although you thought it was not on the air, you were lucky to be part of that unique moment. How much did your level of exposure change from that?
edul: Yes, that was a shock of exposure, because it went viral. Yesterday I read that it was the most viewed video of the year worldwide. In Turin, two tacheros recognized me from that video, they said “il giornalista argentino”; and in England, too. That is the face, it is not merit or anything… in the street many do not call me by name, they tell me “Go over there”, one even said to me “Look at the fool”, which made me even more amused (laughs). It was an iconic phrase and over time it grew stronger.
News: So much so that he even did an advertisement.
edul: Yes, with Netflix! It was fun. Well, I never would have imagined that in my life. He made a lot of people know me.
News: Do you have the feeling that with Qatar you touched the sky with your hands or that it is just taking off?
edul: On the one hand, I know that it is unrepeatable. But not out of nostalgia or pessimism, but because it is a beautiful memory that will surely remain at the peak of my life. Having said that, if I go professional, I feel that it is the push I needed for my work to have more visibility and, from now on, to do much bigger things.
News: Things like what?
edul: I reached audiences that I hadn’t before. Boys and girls of 10, 13 greet me, and I say “I want to be their sports journalist!” What motivates me is to be the journalist of all those who come, that is my goal.
News: Would you like to drive?
edul: Yes, I like driving and I think I’m going to do it at some point. I found a place that I love, Twitch. Now I follow the Kings League a lot, which is a streamers championship in Spain in which Ibai, Piqué, Kun Agüero participate, he is a beast in communication, the other day in a live they had 1 million people. What moves me the most today is not having barriers depending on the platform and trying to adapt to everything.
News: How do you manage the line between being very in touch with huge characters like Messi and taking care of objectivity?
edul: It is a constant internal negotiation between getting as close as possible to the truth, which is what journalists have to do, and still not doing harm. I think there is an installed myth that nothing that the media says reaches players and I can attest that it is totally false. They come and look at everything, and meet the journalists and communicators. I discovered this: if you report or give your opinion with respect, they don’t get angry.
News: How condescending is he allowed to be?
Edul: I try to be as less condescending as possible, not only to preserve journalism but because that way they respect you more. I also avoid being opportunistic, when you want to stand out on the air, it’s like they measure it, they see it and it doesn’t look good. I try not to let it happen to me.
News: What did you see in the kitchen of these last festivities in Argentina?
edul: To them reaping what they had sown in Qatar. They enjoyed it a lot, although it was obviously very busy and in the end there were like 6 or 7 tributes in 10 days.
News: Why did you choose the phrase “Whoever wants, can” for your WhatsApp profile?
edul: I think that if someone wants to do something, they can work for it, I verified it. Now, I am also aware that there are many people who want to and cannot because the opportunity does not appear.
News: How do you remember the moment when they gave it to you and told you that you were going to cover the team in the Copa América?
edul: I was in the patio of my mother’s house when they called me. I got excited because it’s almost a call. With what I had dreamed of, I wanted to go forward like a bull and see what would happen, but it was an ant job very little by little because for the sources, the players, to begin to trust one…
News: When did you feel that they did?
edul: Twice, in the final of the Copa América and in the Finalíssima. There I felt that I had earned respect, that the players wrote to me, to see if it was true or not some things that may not be their responsibility or to provide a look at information; that the coaching staff respected me for the offs they gave me. He had gained some entity. Many people discovered me with the World Cup but if I was able to do that coverage, it is because I arrived consolidated.
News: Is it very difficult to be honest in sports journalism?
Edul: It’s not difficult, it’s stressful. People get angry all the time and they are people who have an impact on football. In Independiente, to tell the truth, some very high political leaders at the national level sent me a document letter. Obviously nothing was going to happen because there were no elements, but I went days without sleep, you come to think what if I lower the accelerator foot? And no, I never took my foot off the accelerator at Independiente. That’s what makes me feel better than what I’ve done so far, because it was difficult.
