“There is a system in formation, but will there be time for it to be internalized?” | ANALYSIS

Decades ago, when the team had to face international competition, our leaders played it safe and agreed to a match with the Bolivian team. At that time, only an accident could jeopardize a national victory over the modest highland team and our team went to the Copa América or the qualifying rounds with a victory that, truth be told, only served to massage the ego. Deep down, fans and journalists knew that these victories, sometimes dangerously brief, were not of much use. We were going to suffer anyway.

The Bolivia of the eighties is today Nicaragua and, this Tuesday, the Dominican Republic, two selected without parchments, accustomed to surviving rather than competing. Did Fossati need them to start this new stage? And while the Central Americans generally didn’t cause much damage, the few times they attempted to do so put Carlos Cáceda’s acrobatic skills to the test.

The best thing about Peru was the pace it imposed in the first 25 minutes, that excessive voracity to recover the ball and, with it, try to generate danger on the wings, something that had been seen with last year’s champion U. Crossed changes of front to detoxify the areas, small associations on the sides, occupation of the area with the forwards and the opposing interiors… There is an idea forming, it would be foolish to deny it. What is needed is to know if the right interpreters exist and if there will be time for the new system to be internalized. Universitario adapted very quickly to what ‘Nono’ wanted, but let’s not forget – as Reynoso did – that there are notable differences between managing a club and managing a national team. After this Tuesday’s game, the Uruguayan will not see his team again until shortly before the Copa América and although the quartering in the United States will be good for him for rehearsals, the results could condition certain decisions and distort the path outlined. .

There is a discussion among football fans that is usually endless because it is born from a question with a dead end: What is more important, the club you are a fan of or the national team? The majority usually opts for their team. I have heard many prefer to raise the Libertadores than celebrate a World Cup. Or, as happened on Friday night, insult Fossati because he trained in Ate or disdain Grimaldo for his celestial present. Some time ago, I asked Andrés Burgo, the Argentine journalist and author of “El Partido,” about his preferences and his answer was withering: River Plate.

For Peruvians, a few years ago the national team was very important in their lives. People who looked down on football or who for various reasons did not pay attention to it, found in the red and white a reason to feel part of a collective feeling. Football is not won with laughter and celebrations, but a country divided into a thousand pieces like ours, with few reasons to hug each other, needs these moments. On Friday it was strange to smile again. Let’s put our shoulder in so that it becomes a habit again.