Héctor Cárdenas leaves the U-23 National Team, but would remain in the Football Federation

The Colombia Under-23 National Team had the worst performance of a national representation in Conmebol tournaments. The team led by Héctor Cárdenas finished last in its group in the Pre-Olympic, with zero points and zero goals scored.

To add more salt to the wound, The two teams that qualified in that area, Venezuela and Brazil, failed in their attempt to reach Paris 2024: They were eliminated in the final round, in which Paraguay, champion of the tournament, and Argentina took the two spots.

Eleven days after the National Team finished its poor performance in the Pre-Olympic, the executive committee of the Colombian Football Federation met to study the report presented by Cárdenas.

The decision about Héctor Cárdenas

The decision was forceful: Cárdenas was “removed by mutual agreement” from the position of U-23 coach, as confirmed to EL TIEMPO by sources from the Colombian Football Federation.

The coach also had a resounding failure with the U-17 National Team in the 2019 South American: last and without points. But in the U-20 that was played in Colombia in 2023 he qualified for the World Cup in Argentina, in which he was left out in the quarterfinals.

Despite the terrible performance in the Pre-Olympic, Cárdenas would remain linked to the FCF. “He will surely support the Federation's technical training program,” the same entity source revealed to this newspaper.

Colombia must appoint a new coach for the U-20, which will have competition in the South American of the category at the beginning of 2025. Juan Carlos Ramírez continues in the U-17 and Jorge 'Chamo' Serna in the U-15.

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