The Sub 23 strikes the first blow: with Romero, Burlamaqui and Flores, a young Peru takes the Pacific Classic against Chile | CHRONICLE

And Peru wins it because it knew how to follow the script in a match where the Bicolor took the field with limitations from the previous one – without eight of its figures who were not loaned by the clubs – but with a defined job. That is why they were the first team to arrive in Valencia, Venezuela, last Tuesday. They were the only delegation that closed its doors, concentrated on practices and decided not to attend to the press.

And we worked on refining that line of three that Chemo del Solar had already shown us when he coached César Vallejo, with whom he had some practice matches of this Sub 23 – with that system he won a friendly against Alianza -, and above all all in making a group believe that it knew that its possibilities do not go through the classification. Chemo himself said it a month ago: “The Pre-Olympic does not move the needle for me,” he warned.

And he came out to play it, to fight it against a Chile that had control of the ball, but did not find depth. The deployment of Burlamaqui extinguished the southern ideas, the clearances of Noriega and Villacorta removed the danger and when the Chilean goal seemed to fall due to maturity, goalkeeper Romero had four vital saves to save his goal.

And in the second half, Peru continued to give its heart. And there appeared the fresh air of changes. Llontop’s center finds the admitted Guillermo Larios so that he can enable Franchesco Flores, who, prior to a fake, scored the winning goal in the 67th minute.

Great goal for the play, for the team’s mentality of despite not having control of the game, going on the attack in the few times they had and because it hit a Chile that paid dearly for its lack of effectiveness.

And if more had to be delivered, it was done in the last minutes. And more from the red to Llontop at 88′. And there Goicochea appeared to run the entire band, Huamán to close his zone and Vásquez covering the gap on the left due to the expulsion.

—The variants and ages—

And what comes next is always more difficult. Peru took the field yesterday with a team of 20.3 years on average. But half of those called up are Under 18s and that will be seen in the next games. Chemo must now look for a replacement for the injured Lutiger – 18-year-old Posito replaced him yesterday. Llontop saw the red and Noriega would have to cover his position so Brian Arias (17) could have his chance.

“The team I made on January 21 (yesterday) and the 23rd (tomorrow) I am not going to repeat on the 27th due to the issue of physical wear and tear,” Chemo warned. And yes, Peru plays its four games in a row and this Wednesday it faces Argentina.

We will have to see the other variants it has. Yesterday Peru came out with an attack with Vásques (20 years old), Ascues (22) and Gúzman (17). Goicochea (19) and Flores (22) entered and players like Ian Wisdon (18) and Bassco Soyer (17) are waiting to have minutes.

Youth today allows them to dream, but the objective is different. They are guys with an eye toward the future beyond this tournament.

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