Head to head! This is Pablo Peirano and Rafael Dudamel, the coaches of the Santa Fe vs. final. Bucaramanga

Rafael Dudamel He is used to great challenges. He was part of the growth of football in his native country, Venezuela, which went from being the traditional Cinderella of the continent to fighting, with him on the bench as coach, for a U-20 world title. In Colombia He was a champion as a player and, although he also achieved a League title as a coach, with Deportivo Cali in 2021-II, Now it could go down in the history of a city that went out of its way to support it.

Dudamel embraced the flag Atlético Bucaramanga and doesn’t let go. He grabs her tightly and defends her with everything. Starting this Saturday he will look for the team’s first star in 75 years of history.

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Qualification for the final was secured on Sunday, with a 3-1 victory against Deportivo Pereira, and was achieved thanks to the regulations, after a four-way tie at 8 points, with Millos and Junior involved. That was the prize for the great free-for-all campaign. Bucaramanga had never been first.

“It was a great demonstration that we are an extraordinary team. When I refer to the team, I am talking about players, coaching staff, leaders and most importantly, player number 12 who did not abandon us at any time. When we lost in Barranquilla, any other fan would have given up. Here they filled the stadium and trusted their team. I can’t get enough of saying thank youDudamel said on Sunday.

Dudamel He has been linked to Colombian soccer for 30 years. He paved the way in 1994, at only 22 years old, to a Atlético Huila who had just been promoted and who was just beginning to write his story. From there he went to what is now his rival in the final, Santa Fe, with which he had a predominant participation to take him to his first international final, the 1996 Conmebol Cup: in the semi-final against Vasco da Gama He saved two charges in the tiebreaker from the penalty spot, one of them against the historic Edmundo, the ‘Animal’.

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International finals became customary with Colombian clubs: in 1999 they reached the last instance of the Libertadores Cup with the Deportivo Cali, who lost the title against Palmeirasalso from the white point, and, two years later, he had revenge and won the Merconorte Cup with Millionaires, stopping two charges in the final against Emelec in Guayaquil. And he also passed through Cortuluá and America.

His career as a coach was successful from the beginning. After a first step through Students from Merida, He took over the leadership of the Venezuelan under-17 team and qualified it for the first time in a World Cup in 2013.

Then he was in Sports Lara and from there he jumped to the U-20 of his country, wit
h which in 2017 he was one step away from glory, in the World Cup that was played in South Korea: he reached the final, which he lost 1-0 against England. Today, that team is the basis of the senior team, with players like Yeferson Soteldo, Wuilker Faríñez, Nahuel Ferraresi, Yangel Herrera, Sergio Córdova and Samuel Sosa.

After leading the senior team and reaching the quarterfinals of the Copa América twice, in 2016 and 2019, Dudamel He left the position at the beginning of 2020, due to differences with the Federation’s directors.

He had not very fortunate steps Atlético Mineiro and University of Chile. But in Colombia it always takes on a new air. In 2021 he arrived at Deportivo Cali, replacing the Uruguayan Alfredo Arias, and became champion. His performance in Libertadore Cups was not good and at the end of the first half of 2022 he left office.

His ease of expression led him to be a commentator on Snail gol, and then, he had a step through Necaxa from Mexico. In December of last year Bucaramanga hired him, with the idea of ​​getting into the finals. Very few believed that he could go as far as he did. He did believe it.

“Now as a coach I have the privilege and blessing of God to represent Bucaramanga in a new final. They with the obligation, we with the hope,” said Dudamel, feeling a new opportunity to celebrate.

When you are a technical assistant you have to settle for being in the shadows. When Pablo Peirano was the assistant Gerardo Pelusso, People were talking about Pelusso’s team. But Peirano was always there at his side, silent, attentive, contributing what he knew and learning what he didn’t know. One day, he knew that, his turn was going to come, not only to be a coach, but to be the coach of Santa Fe, so that the fans now talk about Peirano’s team, the one that is close to being champion of the League.

But he started as an assistant, although his history with football goes back further, from when he was a footballer. PeiranoUruguayan, raised by a father who was a soccer teacher and coach – and his first mentor –, is remembered as a fiery midfielder who played for teams like Racing de Montevideo.

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He was a player of great strength, a cult of sweat, of not losing a ball and not letting an opponent pass with it. He was something like a lion’s apprentice, without imagining that a large pride would wait for him. At that time he began his friendship with Pelusso, they became good friends, two people capable of analyzing the game. One as a footballer and the other as a coach.

there must have been something Peirano in his speech, because at the first opportunity, some time later, Pelusso called him by phone and proposed that he be his assistant at Nacional in Uruguay. For Peirano, who at that time was already the second coach of the Uruguayan under-20 team, it was not an easy decision; he was part of the school of Óscar Washington Tabárez, another of his teachers, and in his role as assistant he had achieved the subtitle in the 2013 Youth World Cup, together with coach Juan Verzeri. Everything was going smoothly, Peirano learned quickly, but how to resist Pelusso’s proposal. “Yes, I’m going,” he told her. So he left and another story began.

They both came to Santa Fe in 2015. On the day of the coaching staff presentation, the cameras and microphones were pointed at Pelusso, as expected, but next to him, or behind him, was Pablo Peirano, perhaps imagining that one day he would be in that same position, with attention on him. It’s not something that would put him off, he has been patient, but how could he not think about it.

That year they achieved a milestone, they made Santa Fe champion of the Copa Sudamericana – Pelusso’s remembered team. Peirano was a vital piece in that achievement, then they went together to Al-Arabi in Qatar, but the time had come for them to Peirano He separated from Pelusso and went his own way, so in 2016 he began his career as a coach.

He directed in his country racingto the Danube, to the Peruvians Carlos Mannucci and Cusco, There he was second division champion, his only title so far as coach, but then he left due to poor results. However, his name had been around for some time in Santa Fe, there was a bond created, so in October 2023, his arrival to the pack was confirmed. And Pelusso spoke about his student: “He is a great coach, he is a scholar, intelligent and passionate,” he said.

Peirano took advantage of the rest of the year to plan his idea and start 2024 with a winning plan. Throughout the League he put together a team that was solid in defense, strong in attack. He made him fight and took him to the final.

Today Peirano is 49 years old and, as he imagined, he is now the main coach of Santa Fe, the one that the press is looking for, the one that the fans chant, the one that has the team dreaming of the title: it is the team that is looking for the tenth star , is Pablo Peirano’s team.

Jose Orlando Ascencio
@josasc
SPORTS Deputy Editor