Edison Flores: the most beloved footballer of the national team has returned

Five years have passed since the goal in Quito but it seems like fifty. So much time has passed ear flowers He is no longer the skinny beloved boy of Collique, the crushable teddy bear of the national team, the surprise of the Gareca team. No longer. His biceps have grown, he speaks in a gravelly voice at conferences, and he’s even a dad now, a sign of his newfound happiness and how old and ungrateful the rest of us get between Playoffs and Playoffs.

Everything changes, except him.

Substitute, due to the injuries he has had. Substitute, due to the growth of Peña -how he hugged him after the 1-0 against Colombia- and the hint of Christofer. Substitute, because staying five years at the same level requires maturity, competence and also a dose of luck. Substitute, but the same starting head that we met him in the Qualifiers for Russia, Edison Flores entered with ten minutes left to finish the game in Barranquilla and turned a simple soccer ball into a miracle. He turned a ball into a bullet. And Peru in a country. Neither the bets nor the seers imagined the left foot, probably the best gesture that a Peruvian left has had in months. I suspect, because they didn’t see him train double shift. I suspect, because of our genetic pessimism. I suspect, because we had forgotten who he was.

The difference is made by the factory stamp: Oreja is a fan of the U, but he is a national team player, that is, a footballer made for the rigors of international competition, where the weight of technique needs to be balanced with that of personality. Long is the local list of notable cracks in clubs, relentless scorers, for whom the national team shirt turns off the lights. Is a kryptonite. Edison Flores No. He had a handful of games with Peru before that 2-2 with Venezuela heading to Russia 2028, and finished second in goalscoring along with Paolo (5). Until yesterday he had just two games since October 2021

but the hierarchy came out, what you have or not.

Missing to qualify for the World Cup but in this hour of triumph, the gains are also different. We have brought back a man who brought us nothing but good news. To a boy with illusions who today, already 27 years old, married and an expert in changing diapers, is a man for any war. Mr. Edison Flores.

Oreja played the last game with his club, DC United, on October 3, 2021. It was a 2-1 loss to Orlando City. He completed 45 minutes. Before Panama, prior to the meeting with Colombia in the Qatar 2022 Qualifiers, he spent 69 minutes.