Edison Flores: Why is he the player with the important goals in the Gareca era?

In these seven years at the helm of the peruvian national teamwith 93 games on top and 127 goals in favor, one of the many that shouted the most Ricardo Gareca, according to his own confession, did not end in victory. Not even in a draw. It was in October 2016, in one of the most critical moments of a Peru that was beginning to consolidate itself as the competitive team that it is today. That time, the Bicolor lost on a visit to Chile in Santiago in a quite acceptable match with a bitter ending, although for “Tigre” that was one of the best performances of his team as a visitor. The author of that goal was edison flowersthe same one that motivated the fraternal embrace between the coach and Christian Cueva in Barranquilla, the “player of the important goals” who will replace André Carrillo this Tuesday at Peru-Paraguay by the last date of Qatar 2022 Qualifying.

That was the only goal of the ‘Orejas’ that did not serve for Peru to add any point. The other six annotations in Qualifiers were decisive. In fact, if we had to choose a goal to encompass what was the road to Russia 2018 and another for what has been the journey to Qatar, we could choose two goals from Flores: the one from Quito that started a historic victory against Ecuador in 2017 and the one he scored against Colombia in Barranquilla in January of this year.

If the Bicolor today depends on itself to keep the fifth and last spot, it is thanks to the productivity of Christian Cueva, but also to the only two goals that Flores has in these qualifying rounds. The winger was summoned amid criticism for his inactivity at his club -his last game had been in October 2021- for a double date in which we had to add yes or yes to stay alive and ended up scoring in the win against Colombia and the draw against Ecuador.

Two goals that were worth four points. And all entering in the second half. Edison Flores, who until the 2018 Russia World Cup was indisputable in Gareca’s team, learned to live with being a substitute. To know how to wait for his moment. The man from DC United is a selection player, capable of solving a match coming off the bench. Although this Tuesday night, against Paraguay, he must also show that he can be the decisive starter that he was before.

A goal by Flores, a celebration for Peru

After that goal against Chile, edison flowers He scored four more goals. The first was scored in the valuable 4-1 win against Paraguay in Asunción on November 11, 2016. The ‘Orejas’ scored the second goal for the Blanquirroja. Little more than four months later he also contributed to the 2-1, together with Paolo Guerrero, against Uruguay in Lima, on March 29 of the following year.

Which exact science, this detail was fulfilled in the 2-1 against Bolivia in Lima on August 31, 2017 and in the remembered 1-2 against Ecuador in Quito, on the following September 5. In the long run, these results served to win us a place at the Russia World Cup 2018.

It took almost five years for Flores to make Peru happy again: he put the 1-0 in Barranquilla against Colombia that kept us in the fight and incidentally left the coffee team behind. Days later, he made it 1-1 against Ecuador. A point that makes us depend on ourselves to stay in fifth place.

Goal 14, end of a losing streak

Questioning his presence in the calls, the criticism came after his modest performance in the last games with the Bicolor on the way to Qatar 2022. Injuries continued to haunt him and, after being beaten in the last friendly against Panama on January 16 of this year, he missed the next match against Jamaica and was in doubt to travel to Barranquilla.

However, revenge exists and Edison has been able to show that luck, accompanied by hard work, pays off. The former University of Sports scored the 0-1 that would give Peru a victory against Colombia as a visitor after almost 21 years. His 14th goal ended a losing streak.

Almost a historical goleador

With that intelligence to know the exact moment to enter the rival area, Edison Flores has become an important man in the Peruvian team. His key goals in Qualifying are not the only ones. In fact, he has scored 15 goals with the Bicolor and is one away from equaling Franco Navarro and becoming one of the top ten historical scorers for the selected team.

Just like Farfán in the previous Qualifiers, it is good news that an influential player returns in the last few games to define the pass to a World Cup. That is Edison Flores, the man with the important goals who could give us the most shouted goal this Tuesday.