NÉstor Lorenzo remains undefeated with the Colombian National Team, now in 17 games under his command. But that, for him, is the least of it: The Argentine wants to consolidate a game idea and fight for the Copa América title in the middle of the year.
The team achieved another historic milestone, beating Spain, a team against which a victory had never been achieved, in three previous matches. He did it thanks to a huge second half.
Lorenzo, however, had a bit of a bad taste because of what was shown in the first stage. “I didn't like the first half, we were late to the pressure and that made us run behind the ball and that is not what we had planned. “We improved in the second half,” the DT said at a press conference.
Nestor Lorenzo
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Lorenzo highlighted the level and dedication of James Rodríguez
The entry of James Rodríguez, a player who had the spotlight of the Spanish press on him due to his past at Real Madrid, changed the face of the team and allowed others to rise and shine, such as Luis Díaz and Daniel Muñoz.
“James is a great player, different, he is looking for his best form and we thought that the best thing was for him to perform for the team in the second half and he did very well. He has shown that he has a lot to give to the National Team. You know what James can give. The National Team feels it in a special way,” said Lorenzo.
Colombia had already achieved very notable triumphs with Lorenzo on the bench, such as the friendly against Germany before the start of the qualifying round and the victory against Brazil in Barranquilla, the first in the history of the qualifiers. The coach wants the team to always think big.
“The team beat him, Colombia beat him, the boys beat him. I think a lot of work has been done on that part of being a protagonist, of playing against any team as equals. Sometimes it costs us, today it cost us in the first half. Spain is a great team and at times they dominated us and I don't like to be dominated,” Lorenzo said.
“I think the team has worked to succeed, to change from tactics and the attitude of being dominated to dominating or having better control of the game. In the second half we pressed better and we were able to make three or four passes after recovering, which was fundamental,” he added.
Lorenzo announced that the roster for the match against Romania in Madrid, on Tuesday, will have variations with respect to this Friday. “Players that we need to see will have minutes for the Copa América,” he assured.
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With AFP and Efe
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