The 2020 BetPlay League final is Santa Fe’s biggest challenge in recent years. He lost the first leg 3-0 against América de Cali and only an unprecedented score in short tournaments could change the history of Cardinal and Colombian football, since a difference of three goals has never been traced to change the fortunes of a match for him. Title.
But in the cardinal squad there is an air of confidence and faith that can only end this Sunday, around 8 at night, when the second leg in El Campín has finished, as the players are determined to give their best and not lower the arms.
John Velásquez is one of the people from Santa Fe who most waits for this match, because as a youth squad of the albirrojo team, as a footballer from Bogotá, he dreams of staying permanently in the hearts of the fans and making history at the Cardenal club. “We are going to move that forward. There is a tranquility and a calm that God has given us after the defeat, that I see that the team in general is very motivated, wanting to go out and give everything. We don’t feel defeated, even though it hurt us a lot ”, the midfielder told FUTBOLRED, hours before the game in Bogotá.
Velásquez is so much from Bogotá that he started playing microfootball, a sport that is practiced on any field in a park in the capital. Since he grew up in the Tintalito neighborhood, to the southeast of Bogotá, he has carried quality on his feet and then he reached the minor categories of Santa Fe, where he traveled a long way to reach the professional team, with a scale in B, with Llaneros.
“It’s in our hands. My challenge was always to play professional. It wasn’t winning 3-0, they were people telling me that I wasn’t going to make it; Those were my endings and I always surpassed them. Today I remember that those bad energies, which tried to make me faint, did not exceed my faith and my effort. That is why I am convinced that this group will not give 100% in this match, they are prepared to deliver 200% and achieve victory, however difficult it may seem, “he added.
John Jairo is one of the most spiritual of the group. Together with Kelvin Osorio they have formed a group very close to God, who manifests their faith and is committed to faith. “They are not all, but they are a very large group. Each one has their faith, their beliefs and manifests them as they see fit. Of course, the blessings that have reached the entire group, “he confessed.
“After the defeat, on Tuesday God revealed a passage from the Bible to me, I got up and checked it and understood that it was my responsibility to send a message to my teammates. It is John 11:40, which says’ Have I not told you that if you believe, you will see the glory of God? This is one of those tests, many people can get off the bus, we do our thing: not to stagnate, even if we have enough difficulties, to fight to overcome them. Neither in good nor in bad should one lose faith or forget God ”.
But it is clear that God does not play games, that faith must be helped with human effort. “We are the ones who have to make things happen. It is up to each one of us to be able to make the best of it, but we turn the page and we know we have one last chance and we cannot miss it ”.
Therefore, John said that in Santa Fe they did not leave details to chance for this final. “We practice penalties, in case they occur within the game and in case we reach that definition.”
The ’10’, another weight and another motivation
When he returned to Santa Fe, coming from Llaneros, Velásquez began to stand out with the 31 jersey, but then he received the inheritance he had long awaited: the 10 jersey. “I knew it was a great responsibility that I had to assume. Omar (Pérez) was a benchmark, I always dreamed of having that shirt and now I hope that the ’10’ will remain in the history of the team, obtaining this coveted title ”.
John is grateful to the fans, who for more than a year have once again been a vital part of Harold Rivera’s great campaign. “The message has been very positive. I see the union of the fans. May they continue to be those fans of faith. We have always admired them because in bad times they supported us, they gave us messages of encouragement and faith. We will try to do our best for them ”.
Katerine and Ana Sofía, their engine of life
Love knocked on John Velásquez’s door four years ago, when he met Katerine, a beautiful woman from Antioquia who dazzled Bogota. She said that “we met through social networks, I traveled to Bogotá to meet him and immediately there was that chip. He is a good man, we talked for a long time and within a few weeks we made a very important decision: John had to go to Villavicencio, I lived in Ecuador, so we decided to continue our life path together.
From that union, perhaps hasty for some, Ana Sofía was born, the other motor of Velásquez. “They are a very strong pillar for my career. Also my parents, Jairo and Miriam; and my sisters: Lorena, Carol, Catherine and Jeimmy ”.
They got married on December 7 and hope that their honeymoon arrives with the tenth star for Santa Fe.
“Before the games, when he goes on the bus, he makes video calls to us. I pray for him and he sees the girl and me together, making him strong and dressed in red and white; it can’t be missed ”, says Katerine.
“I bring things from my family to the locker room, letters from my daughter, my parents and my wife. Also the Bible. I go back to other times and I know what I have achieved and I cannot miss the opportunity. We have a lot of faith ”, Velásquez concludes before going to dinner at the Santa Fe concentration camp, the night before the final game of the 2020 BetPlay League.
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