André Carrillo: What is known about his recovery and how important is it that he arrives on time for the playoffs?

Andre Carrillo, with the agility and speed that he has delighted so many times on a soccer field, tries to take advantage of the fastest rival he has ever faced in a gallop: time. The finish line, the repechage, is already quite close and the chances of winning that race against their special contender are many. We hope they are enough. In the meantime, Ricardo Gareca and millions of Peruvians wait hopefully for the successful arrival of the ‘Culebra’ at the end of the journey.

On March 24, in Montevideo, Peru fought until the last cartridge was burned to rescue a draw against Uruguay. But at 65 minutes he lost one of his main weapons: Andre Carrillo. The national end fell on the grass, sore and with the unfortunate expression that it was something serious. So it was.

The ‘Culebra’ suffered a left knee sprain, which left him disaffected for the last match against Paraguay in Lima, where the ‘Blanquirroja’ finalized his pass to the playoffs. Days later he underwent tests at his Al-Hilal club, which confirmed his absence for more than two months; that is, for the rest of the season in Saudi Arabia.

Fortunately, the adverse environment did not cause Carrillo to throw in the towel. He wants to play the playoff with the national team and, therefore, all this time he has been working hard on his recovery. Apparently he is already in the final stage of it, or at least Gareca trusts that, who pronounced his name when announcing the list of the 28 summoned.

“We believe that it will come. We have included it in the list because the evolution has been very favorable and we do not want to leave it out of this possibility. In case he can’t be, we have the arguments to trust the boys who can replace him. According to the medical and physical report that we are having, we believe that André has great chances to play “said the ‘Tiger’ with optimism.

As Ricardo said, Carrillo’s evolution is good and that is why he was summoned, but his treatment in Saudi Arabia continues. His presence for the friendly against New Zealand is not at all certain and, obviously, not in the playoff either.

It should be noted that the team officially began training on Monday with five players, to whom 12 more will be added in the coming days. The ‘Culebra’ will be one of the 11 soccer players who will travel directly to Barcelona to meet the group that practices in La Videna.

How important is your presence?

The question has a fairly obvious answer: André Carrillo’s presence in the Peruvian team is extremely necessary. The 30-year-old winger is central to Ricardo Gareca’s scheme. Therefore, one of the main concerns of the ‘Tiger’ all this time has been the recovery of the ‘Culebra’.

In fact, Carrillo is one of the most influential men in the Gareca era. With 10 goals and seven assists, only Edison Flores (15G/4A), Paolo Guerrero (18G/7A) ​​and Christian Cueva (15G/15A) have stood out with better numbers during the ‘Tigre’s’ stay on the Peruvian bench.

Likewise, in these Qualifiers, the ‘Culebra’ has had a lot of prominence on the field, being the fifth player of the team with the most games (14) and minutes played (1,190′). In those matches, he scored three goals and contributed with an assist.

But beyond the numbers, the basis of Carrillo’s contribution to our team lies in his true imbalance in attack. At a time when few dare to face fewer and fewer spaces, he is part of the rule to the exception. His dribbling and daring are non-negotiable in the ‘Blanquirroja’.

In addition, its optimal performance has been a constant. The experience gained all these years has been reflected considerably in the field. Impossible not to mention, too, that he is Christian Cueva’s best partner on offense.

With Carrillo, the productivity of ‘Aladino’ improves, as well as that of Gianluca Lapadula. In fact, the three complement each other very well on the attacking front. But not only that. The ‘Culebra’ also makes a great sacrifice on the right wing to help Luis Advíncula to score.

It is for all these reasons that his absence could be very hard for the Peruvian team in the playoffs. Unfortunately, Gareca has not been able to find an ideal replacement every time the winger has been absent. There are options in the bank, yes. But none completely covers the void that Carrillo can leave. Be that as it may, you will have to manage -as has been done before- in case you do not arrive on time.