“Beyond the results, let the process be respected”: the lessons of Cardama and Lobatón about the Sub 23 of 2000, a team that almost touched the sky

Baylón’s departure hit the blue and white people in the same way as it did with Teddy Cardama, coach of the Under 23 who had to rethink everything for the pre-Olympic that began on January 18 in Brazil and gave two places for the Sydney Olympic Games (Australia).

Unlike these days in which Chemo del Solar fights in the Venezuelan pre-Olympic without his best weapons (today, 3 pm, Bicolor will face Paraguay), Teddy had on his team a Claudio pizarro installed at Werder Bremen, in addition to names like Marko Ciurlizza, Abel Lobatón, ‘Machito’ Gómezamong others.

Cardama recalled.

That Peru had the team’s best campaign in the last 30 years: we did not qualify for Sydney 2000 due to goal difference, but both the coach and Abel Lobatón, one of the figures of that team, remembered that campaign and analyzed the present and future of Chemo del Solar.

Teddy’s memory

He was the coach of that Peruvian Under 23 team and with a group of players in which they stood out Luis Cordero, Abel Lobatón, Claudio Pizarro, Jorge Araujo, among others. He made the team compete at a high level despite not achieving the ultimate goal, which was to qualify for the Sydney Olympic Games.

“I think it’s good that at least Peru’s first participation is highlighted because they played a good game, despite the distance in age, but in the end it is the only way to start processes”. “We had a great team, it’s true, with many players who already had an important presence at the local level, they had been champions and others played abroad”he added.

The 56-year-old Peruvian coach remembers how much the early death of Sandro Baylón, who at 22 years old was the team captain, affected him. “Everything happened so quickly, a few days after Sandro left, we had to make our debut against Uruguay and we lost because we had to rethink on the fly. We had worked a lot in the preparation matches against Guatemala, Chile, Ecuador. The first game was difficult for us because of the emotional impact, not only because of Baylón’s position and posture on the field, but because of the emotional issue of the players.”.

Cardama is energetic and asks that Chemo Del Solar’s process be respected, whatever happens with the current Sub 23 in the Pre-Olympic that is being played in Venezuela. , something that has not been done before. That team that I coached should have continued playing in the Youth of America Tournament that was held in Toulouse, France, but it did not do so.”.

The look of Abel Lobatón

He was the forward companion of Claudio pizarro in that Pre-Olympic. We showed him a picture of that game and it made him very nostalgic. “It’s a great memory,” he tells us.

For Lobatón, what the ‘Chemo’ U-23 team has been doing is a great job after beating Chile. , he added.

Lobatón gives advice to the Under 23 teams ahead of the duel this Saturday, January 27, against Paraguay. “The main thing is that mentally they are at their best and they are going to go out and play as equals and they have already realized that they are competing and that is the most important thing when the player competes and even more so at the international level”.

Finally, Lobatón leaves a message about the work of ‘Chemo’ in charge of the Peruvian Sub 23. “The hand of coach José del Solar is visible and even more so, it is always easier for human beings to recognize when there are victories, because in defeat no one recognizes something good”.