Peruvian team: how it went for Catriel, Aron Sánchez, Aguirre and Pineau, the Sub 20s who arrived as stars

One goal, zero points in three games, two coaches in the last 8 months. Those responsible for the elimination of the Peruvian Under 20 team that competed in the South American (defeats to Brazil, Colombia and Paraguay) are not the footballers, nor in first, second or third order. The answer to this new beaten process is on the desk, where there are clues that could be summarized in the controversial organization of the FPF: the last of Conmebol to reintegrate post-pandemic youth soccer, a regional reserve tournament that lasted 4 months, the presence of soccer schools -with all their weaknesses- as representatives of some provincial clubs.

You can’t grow like that.

However, the footballers remain. The good ones will reach First Division (recently). The best ones will tempt a place in the adult selection. On this, a brief analysis of those elements that came as figures to the team led by Jaime Serna today and who need follow-up: Catriel Cabellos, Arón Sánchez, Gonzalo Aguirre and Sebastien Pineau.

Catriel Cabellos

He was, in the previous one, the footballer to follow. His contract in the Primera de Racing Club -Paolo’s new team-, at only 18 years old, was great news for a medium that normally exports a young man every 2 years and returns after a few months. With Roverano he played more than 6 than 8, and now with Serna he is more of a hitch with freedoms, which clearly exposes him due to his physique and his loneliness: this Peru Sub 20 has not been forceful in attack. Against Brazil he shot once and against Colombia twice. I wonder what his real position is in the field, or where he could influence more and I suspect that as a mixed midfielder. Let’s say, the Yotun effect. “The best of Peru is Catriel Cabellos -says Víctor Zaferson, journalist and scouting. He is playing further forward, behind the striker. But he needs more company because sometimes he wants to solve it alone and doesn’t decide well”. I agree. However, and thinking about the immediate future, Peru has gained a footballer.

aron sanchez

His individual wealth is, at the same time, our collective poverty: he has 67 matches in the First Division – he plays in Cantolao -, by far, the player with the most professional experience in the national team. Carhuallanqui, for example, has not yet debuted with the ‘U’. Pineau, the 9 of Alianza, played 3 minutes in 2022. Anointed as captain, he has the gift of command and leadership over his teammates, but still some innocent typical of a boy without the pressures of a big club. The penalty against Brazil, for example. He is doing very well in the offensive and defensive passing game and is, if we look at the home backs -Guzmán from the ‘U’ or Chávez from SC- a key man to join the competition for the position in future teams. Christian Ramos went to the 2005 World Cup with the band and thirteen years later he qualified for Russia 2028 as a starter. In between, they criticized him mercilessly. Let’s not make the same mistake.

Gonzalo Aguirre

A discovery. He is 19 years old, he is Argentine of Peruvian parents and plays for Nueva Chicago of Nacional B, where he is a left-handed midfielder with ambition for the long pass and game panorama. More Yotun than Tapia, Aguirre has been a starter in all the matches of the Under 20 team after sacrificing a midfield that is the best of Peru in the South American. Of the 7 games that he played with the Blanquirroja, between friendlies and officials, four he was the absolute starter. “Aguirre -explains Zaferson- trained in Huracán with Antonio Barijho. Neither he nor Catriel is weighed down by the responsibility. Argentine football is far better than Peruvian football”. His size is another advantage, he is 1.79cm tall. He needs to correct the aggressiveness -so that it doesn’t turn into violence- but he is there. Another “Lapadula” for the team in this process that, according to information handled by Deporte Total, will be directly promoted by Chemo del Solar and supported by coach Juan Reynoso.

sebastien pineau

Victim of the drought. Victim of the absence of goal chances. Pineau, the 9 that Alianza has just renewed until 2024, has not kicked once on goal, among other reasons, due to the lack of real options to execute. Because if something is seen in the YouTube compilations where they call him, with emotion, the Peruvian Cavani, it is his ability to define, by air and land. Throwing the ball at him to collide with two buildings for more than 40 minutes is not, unless someone proves otherwise, helping him show what he knows best. Pineau’s growth will not depend only on what he plays in this uphill South American, but what he can do at his Lima club, Alianza, where he is the third striker today.

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