Enner Valencia opens up about his role at Boca and relives his dream night against Racing

Some players arrive at a club and treat it as just another stop in their career. Then there's Enner Valencia, who at 36 years old still finds himself staring at the stands as if it were his first day. That's exactly what the Ecuadorian forward shared in an interview with Desde La Boca, the club's official magazine, where he reflected on what it has meant to wear the Boca jersey and, along the way, recalled one of the most special nights of his time in Argentine soccer.

"Being here, you realize the magnitude of this club. What the fans bring is incredible. It's happened to me at Boca's stadium, whether I'm playing or on the bench, where I've just stood there in awe looking at the stands," the forward admitted, making clear that the Bombonera's atmosphere hit him even harder than he expected.

A veteran who knows what he can offer

Beyond the goals, Valencia also sees himself as a different kind of piece within the squad: the player who's already experienced everything the game has to offer and can pass that on to the younger guys. With his entire career behind him, the Ecuadorian was candid about the role he believes he's meant to play in the locker room.

"I'm 36 years old and I spent many years of my life playing, so I know what I can bring. Here, luckily, there's a group of experienced players, like Lea (Paredes). There's a really good group that knows how to guide the young guys, who have a lot of influence here," he explained, highlighting that balance between experience and youth that, in his view, benefits the team.

The night of the hat trick against Racing

But if there's one chapter burned into the recent memory of Boca fans, it's the comeback against Racing in the Copa Argentina, the match where Valencia carried the team on his back with a hat trick that flipped a story that looked complicated.

"It was a strange game, where they'd scored two goals against us that they didn't really deserve, and we understood we could still have our chance. Luckily things fell our way and we were able to win it. It all turned out like a dream," the forward recalled about that afternoon when Boca trailed on the scoreboard before he changed everything.

Asked which of his three goals he preferred, Valencia didn't hesitate to give credit to his teammates before himself: "All three were really beautiful and I'll remember them for the rest of my life. I thanked my teammates for the crosses, because they were spectacular, powerful, and all I had to do was direct them. Maybe I'd pick the last one, for the jump, the battle with the defender, for the moment when there was nothing left for the game to end."

What's curious is that night also produced an image rarely seen from him: he took off his jersey to celebrate, something he said had never happened to him in his entire career. It was such a big deal that he ended up telling his wife, Sharon Escobar, about it right after the match ended.

"Afterward I talked about it with my wife and told her: 'Did you realize that's the first time in my career I've taken off my jersey to celebrate a goal?' I've never taken it off, but this time I just exploded along with everyone there," Valencia concluded, making clear just how deeply that night against Racing stayed with him.