Maradona Cup: How Zambrano and Advíncula will have the great chance to face Koeman’s Barcelona

The passing of Diego Maradona mourned the world of soccer almost a year ago. Many mourned his death and, to this day, the tributes to ‘Pelusa’ continue to last. Therefore, in honor of the Argentine legend, the ‘Maradona Cup’, a friendly competition that will be played by Boca Juniors and Barcelona, where two Peruvian soccer players will be present.

On recent Monday, both Boca and Barcelona, ​​clubs where Maradona exhibited his football, confirmed the development of this friendly match for December 14 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Thus, Carlos Zambrano and Luis Advíncula, Peruvians who are active in the ‘Xeneize’, will have the great chance of playing against Ronald Koeman’s team.

Solo Advincula he has previously faced the culé team. In his time with Rayo Vallecano, the Peruvian side played three games against Barcelona, ​​two were for LaLiga and the other for the Copa del Rey.

The balance of ‘Rayo’ was clearly negative, as it lost all three matches. Now, the Boca side has a new opportunity against Barcelona, ​​which lives a complicated present without Lionel Messi in the squad and with Koeman criticized.

On the other hand, for Carlos Zambrano It will be the first time that he has measured himself with the Catalans in his entire career. Despite the fact that the ‘León’ played in European teams such as Schalke 04, Eintracht Frankfurt, Dinamo Kiev, etc., he never had the opportunity to face the Culé team, but with Boca Juniors he will be able to do so.

It should be noted that the two players have not yet managed to establish themselves as they would like in the ‘Xeneize’. Zambrano has been constantly criticized and, despite the support he had with Miguel Ángel Russo, the story is different with his current coach. Sebastián Battaglia has relegated the Peruvian central defender to the bench, who has only played three games this season.

For its part, Advíncula has had more prominence, but it has also been questioned on some occasions for not standing out as expected. In addition, his recent injury has deprived him of some important games for Boca, so the young winger Marcelo Weigandt is taking advantage of his opportunity to win over ‘Rayo’.

Be that as it may, there is still time for the duel in December. Everything will depend on how Zambrano and Advíncula evolve in Boca Juniors. In addition, since it is a friendly match, it is most likely that most players will have minutes of prominence against Barcelona.

Peruvians against Barcelona

It will not be the first time that Peruvian footballers face the Barcelona from Spain. There are already many compatriots who have had a presence in duels against the Catalans and Carlos Zambrano will join this list.

From the remembered Juan Seminario to the contemporary Luis Advíncula they have had the great chance to face a team of the stature of Barcelona. In fact, ‘Loco’ was one of the best South American players in the 60s and it was not by chance that he stood out in LaLiga Santander.

. It was in 1962, when the Peruvian winger scored one of his first goals with the ‘Maños’ and contributed to the final 3-2 victory against the Catalans.

In that season, the ‘Loco’ won the ‘Pichichi’ award after being the top scorer in the Spanish tournament with 25 goals in 30 games. Thus, he became the only Peruvian and the only Zaragoza player to win this prestigious trophy. That earned him to sign for Barcelona in 1965/65, lasting three seasons.

Then there are players like Pedro Aicart Iniesta, Juan Carlos Oblitas, Germán Leguía, José ‘El Patrón’ Velásquez, José ‘Chemo’ del Solar, Percy Olivares, Alfonso Dulanto, Pablo Zegarra, Miguel Rebosio, Juan Jayo, Santiago Acasiete, Juan Manuel Vargas, Luis Advíncula, Renato Tapia and recently Luis Abram, who have marked the Peruvian presence in duels against Barcelona with their respective LaLiga teams.

Among the most memorable events of compatriots facing the culé team is one that starred José del Solar in 1997. ‘Chemo’ put on his goalkeeper gloves, after the goalkeeper of his team (Celta de Vigo) was expelled, and prevented him from Brazilian Ronaldo scored a free kick goal.