A player can become legendary in soccer, or infamous as well, but sometimes infamy can still lead to good things. In the case of Chile’s former defender Gonzalo Jara, a play in the 2015 Copa America is now being used for a good cause.
In the 2015 Copa America in a match between Chile, the host, and Uruguay, Jara provoked Edinson Cavani by sticking his finger near the striker’s “bum”. An infuriated Cavani reacted and played that match in the midst of personal issues that involved his father being a driver in a fatal car accident.
Jara would eventually be suspended for three games for the play, but Chile would win the 2015 Copa America and later the 2016 Copa America Centenario. Now Jara is using that infamous play to cause awareness for prostate cancer testing in Chile.
Gonzalo Jara on his prostate cancer testing campaign
Jara is the face of “Get your prostate checked, champion” campaign which wants men to get tested for prostate cancer on September 3rd before the Chilean classico between Universidad de Chile and Colo Colo.
“I’ve been dodging the finger issue for eight years, but now that the Superclasico is coming up, the time has come”, Jara states in the promotional video.
The campaign is for men 45 years or older as prostate cancer diagnosis is a cause of 2,000 deaths a year in Chile.
At 37 Jara is still playing for Coquimbo Unido, after stops at Colo Colo, West Bromwich Albion, Nottingham Forest, among others.
