The keys of Rafael Dudamel, the coach who has Bucaramanga leader and classified

AND Why not? Rafael Dudamel asks. Why can't you win the title with Atlético Bucaramanga? That must be the phrase that runs through your head before every game. The Venezuelan coach has enough experience to know that the path to becoming a Colombian soccer star is arduous, paved, difficult, but his campaign today is so good that Dudamel gives himself the pleasure of dreaming, of thinking that his team is going to win. to be able to give the fight to the maximum. He already qualified for home runs, but that is not his ceiling.

Rafael Dudamel is a name already made in Colombian football. First, because he was a goalkeeper who dedicated a large part of his career in this League, on these fields, in teams like Santa Fe, Cali, Millonarios (with which he was champion of the Merconorte Cup), América, Huila and Cortuluá. And, second, because he already knows what it is to be a champion here, having won the title with Deportivo Cali as a player (1998) and as coach (2021).

As if his connection with the country were not enough, Dudamel is a soccer commentator for Canal Caracol in the Colombian National Team matches, where they take advantage of his extensive experience as he was Venezuela's coach in the under-17, under-20 and senior categories. He was even runner-up in the youth world champion as a coach. At the international level he played for clubs in his country, Argentina and was in South Africa.

In 2024 he decided to return to the League, after a spell at Necaxa in Mexico, where he had no success. He accepted Atlético Bucaramanga's proposal to return to Colombia.

He arrived with his winning speech, he seduced a group of soccer players, he convinced them of his idea, he put them to work, to play, he instilled in them that they wanted to succeed, that they were not inferior, and the result is that today Bucaramanga is the leader of the League and is classified early for the semi-final home runs, he did so five dates in advance. He reached date 15 with 29 points and this Saturday he faces Deportivo Cali at home (6:10 pm).

His merits do not stop there. Bucaramanga has gone 13 games without losing in the League. He only fell on the first date against Junior, and that defeat was an alert. The team immediately woke up and since then became strong in defense (only 5 goals against, being the team with the fewest goals conceded). He gears his game around Fabián Sambueza, who has recovered his optimal level and is the team's guide.

It is still a surprise that Bucaramanga is at the top of the table and with that impressive pace, but with Dudamel it has been possible to show that performance.

Dudamel's goals with Bucaramanga

“We have been meeting the objectives set. Obviously, ahead of schedule, because when we projected the team we knew that we had a talented squad, but that we had to strengthen it a lot physically, give it an identity tactically and of course when you start you do it with great enthusiasm, but it is It's a lie if I tell you that we envisioned this from the beginning and much less in this way,” Dudamel told Caracol Radio's VBar program.

Dudamel is 51 years old. An extensive career in football. He does not take credit for Bucaramanga's achievements, he says that the important thing is the players, that he is just a facilitator. Dudamel likes to give them freedom on the field, but under a game idea that is what is working for him.

And he confronts the so-called 'greats', as if he challenged them. They tied against Millonarios, they beat Santa Fe in Bogotá, they tied against América and Nacional. They have become a tough nut to crack, a team that no one wants to face.

His goal now is to finish first and then enter the home runs to show his true ability. “And we enter the home runs, with all these numbers and performance, I have to take it to more and we are going to go more. “In the home runs we are going to compete to go to the final, enter and go for the star,” says Dudamel, the coach who has Bucaramanga dreaming.

Pablo Romero

Editor of EL TIEMPO

@PabloRomeroET

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