Colombia Selection: and, perhaps, what did they expect? (Meluk tells him…)

The list of 26 players of the Colombia selection for the start of the tie, next week against Venezuela in Barranquillaand Tuesday from above against Chili, in Santiago.

The big surprise of the call is santiago ariasthe right back who just broke his knee facing Venezuela at the beginning of the last tie, on October 10, 2020... Nestor Lawrence, The coach, who knows him from his time as Pékerman’s assistant, brings him back based on the fact that he plays for Cincinnati, the leader of MLS soccer.

(What are the 5 ‘sticks’ of Lorenzo’s Colombian National Team call-up?)
(Nelson Abadía breaks his silence after leaving the National Team: “I did not negotiate discipline”)

And with it, the call of the primiparous Richard Rios (23-year-old midfielder from Palmeiras of Brazil) and john cordoba (30-year-old striker – he’s not a pelao – from Russian Krasnodar) completes the surprise shortlist of summoned. And the only conspicuous absence from the list is the steering wheel Kevin Brown (Mexican Blue Cross) for the sole reason of being Lorenzo’s firm and hard bet during the preparation. For nothing else.

Of the rest, and in general lines, there are those that were expected, including James Rodríguez, Juan Fernando Quintero, Yerry Mina and Santos Borré.

The reality is not the opinion. Not what is desired. Lorenzo’s reality has been his calls, his facts. And Lorenzo has called this team with James and Mina, with Cuadrado and Quintero, with Dávinson and Borré. Even with Falcao.

A few weeks ago we published a statistical analysis on these pages that revealed that the much-vaunted “renewal” of the team, clamored for by broad sectors of critics and fans, amidst the bitterness and pain of eliminating the Qatar World Cup, It was of the order of 35 percent in Lorenzo’s undefeated team that achieved six wins and two draws in the year of preparation it had.

Today, that team is the same one that is going to start the tie, with a renewal of the same order (34.6 percent, nine players), to put a number. And, be careful: a change of players of that magnitude is not minor.

It is hardly obvious that the call-up responds to the friendly preparation matches, to Lorenzo’s well-known taste and to the confidence he has in the players he has known for years and that, let’s be honest, it is what we have in the long run. It is that he could not be otherwise!

Giving howls and shrieks with an astonished face today is to deny the facts that are in plain sight and to believe that reality is opinion.

Look: Colombia comes from winning for the first time against Germany, the second world soccer power, in the last test match, and Vargas, Muñoz, Mina, Uribe, Lerma, Cuadrado, Borré and Díaz were the starters: 8 out of 11!

Asking Lorenzo not to call those he has called to start the tie, since he is pure gadejo, is to create false expectations.

If the Colombian National Team has been quacking like a duck for a year, walking like a duck and swimming like a duck, then you couldn’t expect a goose to appear today.
What did they expect?
Many, a chicken…

Gabriel Meluk
Sports editor of EL TIEMPO
@MelukLeCuenta…