Alex Valera, the viral photo with Herrera and why the two ‘9’ work for the ‘U’

Then, while the guests take selfies with Nene Cubillas, both Reynoso and Valera have a brief chat in a separate part of the ceremony. The red neon lights do not hide the concentration with which 9 de la U listens. It wasn’t more than 10 minutes. The coach of Peru asked him for patience -the cream starter at that time was Ema Herrera-, a lot of training -his departure from Arabia made him lose several days- and, above all, that he never lose sight of the great objective for a forward of this size: back abroad.

Three months later, Alex Valera is the great scorer of the U, and perhaps the exportable jewel of Peruvian soccer today. Everything, for knowing how to listen.

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Perhaps you can tell now, given the time that has passed. And maybe I should be careful, because these are players who are no longer around: something had already broken on the student campus at the end of last year. Something didn’t connect. The electroshock that meant the departure of 15 players from the squad brought as a consequence a new competition and a more collective dressing room with less ego. On top of that, footballers made in honesty with their teammates and transparency in the face of the coach’s decision arrived. Ema Herrera is a notable case: they signed him as the great 9 of the cream year and two weeks later they brought Valera to him. He never asked for anything extra. He was the first to record the intrigue viral about his arrival. And it was what some technicians call “a good substitute”, when Compagnucci decided that the starter was Valera. He never complained and kept arriving minutes before 8, and practicing free throws with Calca, Cabanillas, Bolívar or Polo. And talking to Valera about some secret of the trade learned in Argentina, Ecuador, or Mexico.

When things changed, and Fossati rotated, he kept arriving at the same time and kicking as many times as his goalscoring memory required. And he continued to train better because in this way, only in this way, the competitiveness for the position increases. And because like this, the old wise men like the coach they have, end up opting to play with two 9s. Why not.

On Friday night, minutes before Alex Valera became the first player to score two hat tricks in a row for the U at the Monumental and scored seven goals in his last 3 games, the Argentine hit a bomb after passing his Peruvian partner and then, a Kodak moment was graphed, precise for a team like the U that is always rebuilding itself.

They looked at each other, drew the rifle and aimed to kill.

The photo is already viral, it will be talked about on Sundays, but above all, it is the wood this team is made of. Because if a team has two 9s in this state of grace, anything can happen at the end of the year, but they will always go out for the kill. This was the U when its center forward was called Lolo.