It was a dream come true, but not a path of roses. The story of Reinaldo Rueda and his return to the Colombia national team is being happy, yes, but full of complex issues, difficulties almost always outside their own management, solutions that are, more than anything, in the realm of uncertainty .
To the already atypical situation of not being able to see them, visit them in their clubs, talk to them and their coaches to know how to use them better and what tools to give them in their national team, are added problems that hinder planning for the duel against Brazil (March 26) and Paraguay (30), in the resumption of the qualifiers in Qatar 2022.
On Roda’s agenda, several issues in the red for the five weeks to come in the face of a tournament that is uphill:
1. Injuries
– Yerry Mina
He is the first patient in nursing. “Mina had a problem in the calf … I don’t think she will be available for Saturday’s game,” said Ancelotti, Everton’s DT none other than the classic against Liverpool. He came from two games without playing (Tottenham 5-4 and Fulham 0-2) and it was strange not to see him as a starter, which had ended this Wednesday against Manchester City, a duel in which he was only 20 minutes. There is talk of a problem in the sole, it is feared to be the adductor. If it were the last one it would be safe low in Qualifiers. We’ll have to wait until this Thursday to find out.
– Juan Guillermo Quadrat
Juventus have confirmed that they are suffering from “a minor injury to the right thigh suffrage tendon” and will be re-evaluated within 10 days. The Italian press fears that the loss will be up to three weeks, as has happened before with other players with similar problems. At first it didn’t seem serious, but he couldn’t be in the match against Porto, in which the Italians surprisingly fell 2-1 and it will be a safe loss against Crotone and Hellas Verona for Supplement If all goes well, he will have three weeks of competition, but they will be less than two and that, in a player who has been indisputable in Colombia, is a big headache.
– David Ospina
In the warm-up of the duel that Napoli won against Juventus, Ospina suffered an annoyance and was forced to stay out even though he was going to be a starter. The club confirmed he suffers from “a first-degree distension in the adductor of his right thigh”. It is known that he will not be able to be in the Europa League match against Granada, this Thursday (3_00 pm). The problem is that his substitute in Colombia, Camilo Vargas, comes from 9 goals against (against Uruguay and Ecuador) and the relief in the arc is still a pending task. Today, the worst Ospina is still our best choice …
– Luis Suarez
The Samaritan striker is in doubt but out for the next two months, due to a “fibrillar injury to the right hamstring”, according to Granada. He fulfilled his dream of selection with Queiroz but that of gaining the confidence of Roda will remain pending.
– Falcao
He will be a veteran, he will be in a league that is not one of the strongest in Europe, he will even be a substitute in the Colombia National Team. But he remains the captain, the voice of command, the one who puts order from the authority that discipline, success and attitude give him in a dressing room that, without him, has been broken. That’s why Falcao’s health, who has entered Galatasaray’s first call-up after a month and a half out due to injury (moderate tension in the right upper right muscle group), is a vital issue. He is expected to play as much as he can in these five weeks, but with the proper care of someone who is known to be overly prone to injury. Risk-free competition … seems like a contradiction in football but it is what is required.
2. Logistical problems
There are several drawbacks, especially for Colombians playing in Europe. Those in England, for example, could not travel due to the ban on their clubs, which would tell him, according to The Athletic, to FIFA, that they will not give them up for the complications for their departure to South America and basically for the ten days of mandatory quarantine they should do on their return, when the Cup is defined and the League is at a key moment.
But it’s not the only mess. The European Union only lets in nationals and residents and as after Brexit the UK is out, so is she. This would complicate itineraries and it is worth noting that those in breach of quarantine are exposed to fines of up to £ 10,000 and, in critical cases, up to imprisonment.
It is worth noting that Portugal, where Uribe, Díaz and Cristian Borja live, has seen the number of covid cases skyrocket and strong hospital pressure has forced it to have field hospitals and move patients to the islands. Ok, Christian, Juventus and all the stars have just gone, but if the situation gets worse, the measures could be tightened.
For those who are in Spain, it should be mentioned that Colombia requires a negative PCR for entry by air, in a period not exceeding 96 hours before boarding and that, in case of not having it , it would be necessary to make preventive isolation until obtaining a negative result or realizing a quarantine of 14 days.
In South America there is also the complication of the new Brazilian strain that limits those living in that country, the Cantillo case, to name one case. It means that at the time of the call it will not only weigh the level, the continuity, the sport contribution, but the basic subject of the displacement. And that doesn’t even depend on the DT of the national team.
3. Low level
There are several cases, which are not encouraging. Mention was made of Everton but especially James, who has been moving between injuries and intermittent, although in the middle of it can count a goal at 3-3 against Manchester United, 5 goals and 3 assists in the Premier. Against Fulham (0-1) and Manchester City (1-3 defeat), he was clearly not influential, beyond the blows and fouls, which are inherent in football, as Ancelotti himself explained. This Wednesday, for example, he didn’t even headline. And he is the key man of the Colombia National Team, a detail that is no less.
But the case, sadly, repeats itself. Dávinson Sánchez has been the subject of criticism and even ridicule by Carragher, who compared him to a cone; of Lineker, who put up the video of his poor start against Manchester City and so on, all without mercy, starting with his DT at Tottenham, Mourinho, who has used him out of necessity and not out of conviction.
The same goes for the left-backs, as Fabra has played one game all year (against Gimnàstica, 2-2); Cristian Borja has 6 games a year and a goal with Sporting Braga and Mojica has just arrived in Elche, a candidate for relegation in Spain.
4- And the alternatives?
(…)
Except for Edwin Cardona, for many a valuable player but who in the Queiroz era had the door of the Colombia National Team saw how the door was closed to him, the creatives, in case James could not arrive, physically or logistically, they don’t seem so clear.
Juan Quintero went to China, where he has more time for music and social media than for high competition, which is a shame as he has memory of two world championships, selection process, even friendship with the left of Everton. Who else? Giovanni Moreno, another without enough rhythm in the Far East? In the microcycle the steering wheels that were reviewed were more options for creative containment, except Lusi Sánchez and Santiago Moreno, with few options to face the challenge of Brazil or Paraguay and more part of a process than a present urgent.
5- The process, without process
It happens that Reinaldo Rueda will have to manage a payroll that he has followed to the millimeter, which he has reviewed to the point of exhaustion in the videos, which he has detailed in statistical terms but which, in most cases, does not you will see his face more than in a zoom meeting or a video call on WhatsApp. It’s not like who works from home, hopefully it’s that simple. Causing a process, explaining the method, the new work, the tactics, the strategy at a distance can be an impossible task. Ask Carlos Queiroz …
Not to mention the task of smoothing out the roughness in the dressing room, which DT himself acknowledged in his first press conference, of raising morale, of conveying confidence, of raising the troops after two blows of the club like the which were received in November and which are far from being ‘problem overcome’. This does require a contact that will not be there.
For all these reasons is that the microcycle of Barranquilla, for many a make-up to show that it works, was a necessity: 8 games in the heat of the capital of the Atlantic, two in height and all this list of contingencies force us to have the plan A, B and C that Roda was talking about. We need to look at the League no longer as a distant solution but as a repository of emergency solutions. Reality demands it.