And you may be right. These matches allow us to know if, for example, the summaries of Gil Vicente from Portugal or Malmo from Sweden are edited by biased hackers or if they seriously show the progress of Jesús Castillo and Sergio Peña, our repatriated footballers. If Piero Quispe’s transition from Monumental to Mexico gives us a more accomplished offensive, more influential in front of goal, or it still drags the habit of running with the ball as if he played alone. If Paolo Guerrero’s validity will be conditioned by his goals – last night he scored 4-1, from a penalty, after five years of waiting – his leadership or from the bench could be a good substitute.

Peru beat the Dominican Republic 4-1 with justice, yes, but also out of obligation. If we had not achieved two results like this this week, an army of haters would be preparing the artillery. It would be three months of anxiety until the Cup. It would be more of a crisis, as if we didn’t know there was a crisis. There is still no system, there are still no eleven starters, but there will be peace. I prefer this news over any other. The show is winning.

-The match-

It wasn’t a good first half. The two goals before the break could serve for statistics – it is a carbon copy of what happened in Matute – and from it, say that Peru crushed the Dominican Republic and had 45 minutes left. The reality was different, and it is proven in the replay seen this morning: Peru was a team disconnected for almost half an hour, they collided with a Dominican wall that seemed fragile from the physique and the game -Bryan Reyna bounced, Edison Flores dodged, barely Piero Quispe was prowling around – and on top of that, the visiting coach put his best man – Junior Firpo – to cover captain Luis Advíncula, the man whom hours before he had defined in DT as a winger “who kills you.”

Until Quispe decided to zigzag forward, produced a foul near the area and then Sergio Peña scored the first free kick. His celebration without a smile has to do with the co-authorship of goalkeeper Noam Baumann. It is one of those shots that Peña, 36 matches with the national team, 4 goals, shoots with effect and they come out beautiful even if he has his eyes closed, but the idea is for the goalkeeper to save them. That was 1-0. It was 18 minutes and Peru didn’t need more.

When the discounts were played and the western stand was looking to see if Sonne was warming up or not, Jesús Castillo, Gil Vicente’s midfielder, waited very carefully for a corner that was born between north and east and hit a shot into Noam Baumann’s goal with as much elegance as hope. Lloyd allowed his first goal with the national team, the fourth of his career in four years as a professional. This information serves to summarize the poverty of our rival.

The 3-0, a ball that Quispe recovers, who waits without going off side and who defines after trick, almost without resistance, confirms all of the above.

The 3-1 score is a great goal, but also the coldness of a goalkeeper, Gallese, who almost had no work. He surprised him.

The 4-1 is a milestone. At 40 years and three months old, Paolo Guerrero scored his 40th goal with the Peruvian team. He waited almost five years to score, having last done so in the 2019 Copa América.

What is the best about these two triumphs in Matute and Monumental? The only indisputable law among fans: get used to winning again. It is as mandatory for Fossati as his 3-5-2. “The first thing is to win,” he said last night before starting the game. Winning, says Valdano, “is healing” and he is right: it allows you to heal wounds, to recover, to face the next day with another shine. That’s what this last Peru in the Qualifiers needs. The treatment will continue in June – possibly two friendlies – and he should be cleared for the Copa América. Because in the Qualifiers it’s that or die.