“In 180 minutes, Peru only had two dangerous shots. Even if FIFA expanded the places to 9, thinking about qualifying is impossible”

Now that the painful post-defeat catharsis has dissipated, it is time to focus on what is important, what defines this wonderful sport. To win it takes much more than emboldened defenders or disciplined Creole catenaccios. The formula, established by a group of English enthusiasts 160 years ago, is much simpler: you have to put the ball into the opponent’s goal. And ours – the cliché is worth it – it costs them a Peru do it. In 180 minutes of qualifying we only had two dangerous shots. The Paraguayan Coronel could have read the almost 500 pages of One Hundred Years of Solitude without suffering a drowsiness. And if Ederson was given one of the old telephone directories, he would consume them backwards and forwards, including the yellow pages.

At that rate, even if FIFA decided to expand the World Cup quotas to 9, thinking about qualifying is impossible. Without a goal there is no paradise.

The team’s problems against the opponent’s goal are not recent. Although our land has given birth to great forwards, scoring has been a major problem for almost forty years. We lost the playoff in ’85 due to the ineffectiveness of our forwards (and the hands of Cóndor Rojas); We didn’t go to France ’98 because while the Chileans had Salas and Zamoranothe Blind Man had to make do with Flavio, Carty and Julinho. The missed goal by Cóndor against Ecuador, on the way to Germany 2006, is still the cause of furious nightmares; the numbers of Pizarro in the playoffs they are as pale as the race of Ruidíaz with the red and white. And although it may sound difficult to believe, search Google memory and you will confirm that, before the qualifiers for Russia, Paolo was nothing more than a fighting striker who sometimes discharged his energies in outrageous petty things.

Before the playoff against Australia, they beat New Zealand due to a horror from their goalkeeper. Afterwards, he has done very little offensively to encourage smiles.

Although Cabezón salivates when his teams have to defend themselves, with four training sessions he cannot change a structural problem for which the clubs and the federation are responsible. The correct debut of Grimaldo It doesn’t raise too many expectations. The serious thing, to make matters worse, is that the team not only lacks a goal, it also does not generate danger.

In the face of the emergency, it is urgent to recover Cave already Flowers. Both have 16 goals and six assists in the last two qualifiers, numbers that a team like ours cannot ignore. With Bryan Reyna lit, our future may perhaps be different. The big job, however, is not Juan’s. They also need to do their homework (How long will that belly last, Christian?). With Lapadula in full physical condition, we can do something else. Will it be enough to qualify? There is still a long and arduous path, but there is not much more.