Colombian clubs continue to struggle to compete internationally. Both in the Copa Libertadores and in the South American, our teams once again leave the feeling of not being able to compete, as has happened in the last editions of the two most important continental club tournaments. What happens? What is failing?
In dialogue with EL HERALDO, the former Junior coach Julio Comesaña stated that “the problem is soccer and mental.”
“I think that you have to analyze football aspects, but above all mental aspects. It is not about saying that nothing works, it is about recognizing that we lose because others are better than us. Now, what are they better at? That is what has to be deciphered. Today are difficult times for Colombian soccer, ”he said.
Comesaña points out the Colombian player’s mentality as one of the main obstacles to making that leap in quality. He also criticizes the ease with which a player is magnified in these times.
“Here the first thing players do is buy an Audi, when they don’t even have underpants or education. We look at the player and the coach a lot, but we don’t look at the person. You have to work on that too. It is not necessary to praise things that should not be praised ahead of time, that the player feels that there is a permanent demand, that there is a discipline, that there is a behavior, that there is an institution that is above all. There are so many things to do. They want to be the whores and nobody can tell them anything. We celebrate before we play, we are like that, folkloric. You have to put the house in order first and then go back to compete, “he said.
Read here: The five reasons for Junior’s elimination from the Copa Libertadores
In football, Comesaña pointed to a key aspect in which, in his opinion, they continue to fail: the brand.
“It is difficult for the Colombian player. Here came Zubeldia and Bilardo, who marked man to man, and we didn’t grab anything from them, not even the ball still. America, for example, (on Tuesday) started and after five minutes they scored a goal, he had not even touched the ball. What did they think? Which Cerro (Porteño) was going to go out to look at them? And then they played 85 minutes, they created options, but they couldn’t score a goal. It also happened to Junior, to Santa Fe, to everyone. And then all those things that happen to us on the pitch, the goal that we were able to score, the goal that they score, they diminish our spirits ”.
Read here: What is Junior’s rival in the round of 16 of the Copa Sudamericana?
The Colombian-Uruguayan coach affirmed that although it could affect not being able to play several games at home, due to the social crisis, it is those situations that put the character of our footballers to the test.
“These adversities are overcome by men with a strong character and an iron will. Those who say, ‘my dream is that, I’m going for it’. Those who do not forget where they come from and where they are going. But here, when things like this happen, it seems that they don’t care, they don’t react ”, he concluded.
.
