A year after experiencing one of the most difficult moments of his career, Dávinson Sánchez is hours away from playing the most important match of his life, the Copa América final against Argentina. Sometimes a stop along the way is the starting point to return to an exceptional level.
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Dávinson left Tottenham in mid-2023, where he had been for six seasons. He had begun to lose space in the starting line-up and even, in a match against Bournemouth, Interim coach Cristian Stellini brought him on 10 minutes before the end of the first half and took him off shortly after the start of the second. The Colombian was booed by his own fans.
“I thought it was too early in the game to use a striker when Lenglet came on. Dávinson needs to understand that it was a tactical decision. He needs to be strong. He is a professional player,” Stellini said.
Sánchez went to Galatasaray and there he relaunched his career. But for coach Néstor Lorenzo, his presence in the national team was never in doubt. Only a muscle injury kept him out of the team in March of this year for the friendlies against Spain and Romania. As soon as the Cup began, Lorenzo put him in the starting line-up.
Dávinson Sánchez: perfect attendance at the 2024 Copa América
Sánchez has been on the pitch for all 450 minutes of the tricolor team’s game and scored a goal in the 3-0 victory against Costa Rica. He has also been one of the reasons why Colombia has only conceded two goals in five games, as in the most challenging moments he has managed to stop players like Vinicius Junior or Darwin Núñez.
After the 1-0 victory against Uruguay, which meant the passage to the final on Sunday against Argentina, Sánchez said something that reflects his good form. You have to “know how to compete when we are in adversity”, and he did so against the Celeste, a match in which he completed five clearances and won nine matches.
At 28, Dávinson is back at the level that led him to become a Copa Libertadores champion with Nacional in 2016. “This kid has the skills to play. I told him I was interested in taking him to Nacional, but not as a midfielder, but as a defender. We took him and from the beginning we had him train with the professional team,” said the coach who brought him to the club, Juan Carlos Osorio, in an interview with Blu Radio. Later, with Reinaldo Rueda, he grew in strength and from there he jumped to Ajax.
Davinson Sánchez (third from left to right), during his time at Nacional.
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His multi-million-dollar move to Tottenham came at a time when he was already making a name for himself in the national team. Since then, the 28-year-old has played 64 games in yellow and has been key for the coaches who have managed him: José Néstor Pekerman, Carlos Queiroz, Reinaldo Rueda and Néstor Lorenzo.
Now, the new air he is breathing in Turkey and the good moment he is having with the Colombian national team have given his career another lease of life. His good form is helping the Colombian team, which dreams of lifting its second Copa América title on Sunday.
Davinson Sánchez with James.
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“It’s a team that has a very even level, not only in terms of defense, we’ve seen that everyone up front has earned their place and has been up to par,” said Dávinson after the victory against Costa Rica, in which he scored a goal.
The game against Uruguay was one of the best of his career. “We suffered a lot, we knew how to adapt to the game (…) The team understood the game plan very well. We also practiced that, knowing how to compete when we are in adversity,” he stressed.
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