In May 2005, news that should have remained private broke Argentine football. Eduardo Tuzzio and Horacio Amelifriends until then and colleagues in Riverthey broke up their relationship forever for a infidelity.
“When it was known, we all froze,” says Federico Domínguez, a member of that team, from a distance. Tuzzio gathered the squad before training and revealed everything: “I want to tell you what this son of a bitch did… The bastard has been sleeping with my wife for two months.”.
Read also: The Tuzzio-Ameli scandal: a former player told how they found out on the team and what role Gallardo played
Witnesses of that moment reconstruct those words as if no time had passed. They had to separate them because they were about to hit each other. Training was suspended. Ameli and Tuzzio, a solid central duo in both River and San Lorenzo, suffered an irreparable break. The end.
The phrase that uncovered the scandal between Ameli and Tuzzio in River (Source: TNPics)
The story is known and is part of one of the biggest scandals of the history of Argentine football. The River team decided at that moment to support Tuzzio and leave aside Ameli, who began training separately and then had to go to Colón. where he retired prematurely.
Ameli, away from football, inaugurated a new project last year
While Tuzzio continued with a good career, where he was even champion of the Copa Sudamericana with Independiente, Coco Ameli left the football radar. He somehow got kicked out of the system for what he did. Now, at 49 years old, his projects are very far from the fields.
![Tuzzio and Ameli, during training with River before the scandal broke out (Photo: NA)](https://149987065.v2.pressablecdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/4OJYCJSGUJHPGRSNF5YVLTB6EY.jpg)
Tuzzio and Ameli, during training with River before the scandal broke out (Photo: NA)
Since he retired, Ameli disappeared from the media. There are no – there were no – photos of him since 2006. He has no publications on his social networks and a great mystery surrounds him. But TN managed to access a series of images of the former defender in his new role as owner of an adult home.
![El Coco Ameli, on the right, on the opening day of the adult residence (Photo: IG @santacroceroly).](https://149987065.v2.pressablecdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/77CEMUCKRJHPTHEKJ72UI6JSMM.jfif.webp)
El Coco Ameli, on the right, on the opening day of the adult residence (Photo: IG @santacroceroly).
“We design and develop a unique service for our older adults who want to enjoy their time with people their age, share activities while feeling accompanied and cared for,” is the motto of New Walkthe exclusive residence that he inaugurated in Funes, Santa Fe, on Route 9, a few meters from the neighborhood where Messi lives. Ameli is one of the owners. Those who know him assure that he pays attention to all the details.
![Ameli, in a white shirt, in a meeting with Roly Santacroce, mayor of Funes (Photo: IG @santacroceroly).](https://149987065.v2.pressablecdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/DAODWFPOENGUNBKOUKSVBEG6EM.jfif.webp)
Ameli, in a white shirt, in a meeting with Roly Santacroce, mayor of Funes (Photo: IG @santacroceroly).
After leaving football, Ameli landed in the real estate market, where he registered the firm Cash Construcciones SRL, with domicile in Rosario, where he was born and lives with his family. But his projects lead him to travel constantly, often to Villa Pehueniaa town in Neuquén, where he owns Amarrasa hotel and cabin complex on the shores of Lake Aluminé.
In a note published in 2021, Carlos Koopmann, the mayor of Zapala, a passing town on the way to La Villa, recognized that Ameli is loved in the area: “Horacio is very friendlyI have shared different events with him. It has given work to many peoplehe built the best inn in Villa Pehuenia and for that he hired a company from here, Pehuenia Construcciones, which greatly mobilized the area.”
![Ameli, along with her partners and the mayor of Funes (Photo: IG @santacroceroly).](https://149987065.v2.pressablecdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/HDEJ5WAVBVF4HDZ4XH6R4PCLLE.jfif.webp)
Ameli, along with her partners and the mayor of Funes (Photo: IG @santacroceroly).
Ameli’s silence
There is something that Ameli never talks about: the conflict with Tuzzio. It is a closed topic for him, at least outside. He never addressed that issue publicly and never will, they affirm from their close circle. There are even few members of that River team who want to talk about the subject. The indication, at that time, was this: not a word to anyone.
Gastón “La Gata” Fernández recognized it this way: “They told us that we couldn’t say anything about what happened that morning at the club. I got home and had a headache for three hours because I knew what had happened and I didn’t want to broadcast it at home. Until it started appearing on the news, everywhere.”.
![Nuevo Andar, the home that Ameli opened last year (Photo: IG @santacroceroly).](https://149987065.v2.pressablecdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/SOHIHOZN6BBUZETH233UE7UBII.jfif.webp)
Nuevo Andar, the home that Ameli opened last year (Photo: IG @santacroceroly).
Tuzzio’s word: “I never spoke to Ameli again”
In April 2010, and after several years of silence on the subject, Tuzzio was encouraged to speak and referred to the infidelity between his wife and his former partner..
“There I went to Mallorca, which was very important for me. At that moment I felt like I had to leave the country no matter what, it was very bad, I needed to get out., change of air. Look, I left my children and everything, eh, because I left alone, but it was a decision I had to make, I had no alternatives,” he detailed in an interview with the legendary magazine The graphic. “Everyone was watching, it was a difficult moment”he continued.
![Tuzzio and Ameli were also teammates in San Lorenzo (Photo: DYN).](https://149987065.v2.pressablecdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/NZTNJHI7URGKZHVEJNWU4HKX6Y.jfif.webp)
Tuzzio and Ameli were also teammates in San Lorenzo (Photo: DYN).
Then he acknowledged: “Leaving the country was a very hard decision, but it did me very good, it made me grow as a person. I went alone, then I had my children for about 20 days. My wife went, but we had already separated. It was very good for me to be there. Obviously a lot of my teammates helped me, especially the Argentinians. There were Guille Pereyra, Maciel, Kily Peralta, Jonás Gutiérrez, who is a very fun, funny character, everyone’s families offered me their homes so I could stay.»
Tuzzio never cared about anything about Ameli’s career again, which it went out quickly after the case of infidelity. The damage it caused will never be erased. And football seemed to have made the decision to separate him. «It’s his issue, it’s not my issue.»”. The words are from Tuzzio, someone who managed to overcome such a situation and build a new family.