América de Cali gave the surprise in the first leg and with a resounding 3-0 defeated Santa Fe in the first game of the grand final. Juan Cruz Real found a solid and competitive squad, in which the combination of experienced players and homegrown players, ended up giving him results throughout the championship.
Players like Pablo Ortíz, Santiago Moreno and Luis Sánchez, were key pieces in the game of the first leg; The three, emerged in the scarlet quarry, stood out in the final and dream of a Christmas title with the ‘mecha’ shirt.
Precisely, Jersson González, coach of the minor divisions, spoke with ‘Caliber Grueso’ about his work in the quarry, highlighting the value that youth have in the process carried out by Juan Cruz Real.
“I will always say it with great pride, people only see them succeed now, but they have not seen the work of five years ago, when they came by bus … Now, many already arrive in their car and that is a pride and satisfaction, that only I feel. They have to value, every day to be a better person, to play every game as if they were making their debut, “he said.
Likewise, Álvaro Rius Valero, sports director of América de Cali, highlighted the importance of youth in 2020, ensuring that part of the reasons why the Argentine coach was hired was his focus and inclusion of young talents in development of the first team.
“When Juan Cruz Real was brought in, it was said that one of the reasons is that we thought his game model fit very well and had many similarities. We were trying to implement in the minor divisions and it had a lot of similarity with what Jersson had been working with. them “, precise.
And it is that as proof of this, it is the combination between youth and men of experience in the starting eleven. Pablo Ortíz forms a good duo of centrals with Marlon Torres; Luis Sánchez, together with Cabrera and Paz, structures an orderly midfield; while Santiago Moreno complements an offensive trident with Adrián Ramos and Duván Vergara, which has paid off.
Now, with the youth as the present and the future of the Valle del Cauca red team, América de Cali hopes to ratify what was done in the first leg, and be proclaimed champion next Sunday, December 27 in El Campín.
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