America de Cali had a pale debut this Wednesday in Group H of the Copa Libertadores in the fall 0-2 playing as a local against Turó Porteño, from Paraguay, at the Estadio Alfonso López, in Bucaramanga.
Anecdotally, it is the same result of the first date of the continental tournament last year, when the reds lost to Gremi, from Porto Alegre, to Pascual Guerrero.
For Futbolred, here are the details that framed the defeat of the Colombian champion in his debut in the CONMEBOL contest:
He failed to solve the rival’s strategy: Francisco Arce probably reviewed the videos of the BetPlay I League in which America suffered with Medellin, Millionaires and Equity, because he made a similar approach, blocked Juan Cruz Real and took an important booty for Paraguay.
With two impregnable blocks he did not suffer the match despite the possession of his rival, but in key moments he scored two vital goals to ensure a major victory outside his territory. His short touches and transitions were lethal to overcome a saga that looked fragile.
Time was running out and the Argentine coach could not turn the maple on Arce. Defeat that worries amid a series of mistakes that came from the bench.
Permeable and unreacted defense: Playing with Pablo Ortiz as a left winger is resigning the possibility of opening that arm to attack, but also, by natural position, he tends to throw himself in the middle and gives space to the attacker to profile himself there.
This time was no exception and Robert Morales took the opportunity to score the first goal. Then there was an advantage in a transition from Mateus Gonçalves and Ángel Cardozo punished the slowness and lack of reaction after the rebound of Joel Graterol.
The ‘devils’ were very bad in their returns, their pressure was weak and gave a lot of space to the cast ‘Guarani’, especially in both goals.
He collided and bounced with this double visiting block: Turó Porteño showed greater hierarchy throughout the commitment, stopped well in containment and caused that the scarlet ends were shipwrecked in their few attempts. Mathías Villasanti and Claudio Aquino looked firm and did not allow America to generate play in the middle.
Possession without harm: Having the ball is useless if it is not used in the opponent’s arc. This was what America did, who kept the ball throughout the game without being deep, creating very few opportunities in the portico of Brazilian Jean Fernandes, who was practically not required.
Quite the opposite of what Turó Porteño did, who apart from finishing on 6 occasions without attacking more often, scored two goals in key moments.
Too bad in attack: It was hoped that important and experienced players such as Yesus Cabrera, Rafael Carrascal, Duván Vergara, as well as the young Santiago Moreno, could take advantage of his ability to misalign the iron defense of the Paraguayan team, but the physical play of them prevailed.
In the 80th minute, Moreno did not finish in front of Jean Fernandes’s face and made a mistake in the receiver of the pass, because instead of giving the ball to Gustavo Murillo, coming from behind, he was left in Yesus Cabrera, who had two players on top.
He played in despair: With the score against, Juan Cruz Real did not give a good read to the game and ended up playing the pot, which came out, but Turó Porteño was so well stopped that he was only engaged in the action already referenced of Moreno, who eventually evacuated.
Delayed and unresolved changes: The need for victory was the Colombian champion, who despite being at a disadvantage had no reaction from the bench. He entered the Peruvian Aldair Rodríguez at 57, but the Inca striker is still far from the arc, and the entries of Héctor Quiñones and Guillermo Murillo at 69 did not serve to change a dark picture in the game against Turó .
Marc Antoni Garcés
Futbolred Cali correspondent
On twitter: @marquitosgarces