River’s great contribution to the Copa América

Drink. Or, rather, drink you. There is a direct correlation between River’s success in the last seven years at the continental level – two Libertadores, three Recopas, one South American – and his subsequent contribution to the Conmebol teams. And that is reflected in a piece of information: With seven, together with Bolívar, he is the team that will contribute the most footballers to the Copa América.

Franco Armani, Gonzalo Montiel and Julián Álvarez -the latter, yesterday- were included in the Argentine list; David Martínez was summoned by Paraguay as well as Robert Rojas and Nicolás De La Cruz (Uruguay) and Rafael Borré (Colombia) will also participate in the Brazilian tournament.

The mass convocation has historical rigor. It is the best contribution of the last 26 years after the 1995 Copa América, when there were nine mentioned: Roberto Ayala, Ariel Ortega, Leo Astrada, Marcelo Gallardo, Ricardo Altamirano, Germán Burgos, Sergio Berti (Argentina), Celso Ayala (Paraguay) and Enzo Francescoli (Uruguay). The base of the team that with Ramón Díaz would obtain the Libertadores 96.

In the case of 2021, three of the seven summoned came from the Inferiores and made their debut during the Marcelo Gallardo cycle: Montiel, David Martínez and Julián Álvarez, the last to join the Argentine payroll. And he empowered each one of them.

To the 21-year-old forward the Doll accompanied him in his growth, respecting the theory that opportunities in the elite must be given by decanting the maturation process. Although this did not deprive the deté of giving him the possibility of entering the last two finals of Libertadores de River.

Gallardo he also tactically deconstructed Alvarez: It is no longer a 9 as in its beginnings in Calchín but it contributes imbalance on the wings or as a midfielder: it has 17 assists and 16 goals.

Another talent cultivated by Gallardo was Montiel. He gave him in that role despite having been born in football as a defender and transformed him not only into a National Team player but also an appealing surname for the European markets due to his ability to unfold and reach the position of a false wing (12 passes-goal) although without neglecting its defensive role.

Without Foyth on the payroll, his presence as a starter in the Copa América is practically a fact, a tournament that could facilitate the definitive consolidation in the position. One in which he still did not manage to weigh in the same way as in Núñez, perhaps because his nine games in the Major (five by Qualifiers, four friendlies) were skipped in time.

The case of Héctor David, a naturalized Paraguayan, is different: He returned to the club on loan from Defensa, where he had left in June 2019 for not having a place in River (It was first transferred; Varela later acquired its 50% in August 2020).

In his first semester post-return, he successfully covered Pinola’s injury loss: he quickly adjusted to the G style -both in the role of second defender and left-back- providing vertical passes and clean exits. He even scored a goal and received two assists in 15 games. And this led him to be detected by Eduardo Berizzo’s radar, who cited him precisely because of the versatility it offers him in Paraguay.

Not everything is homemade​

However, the contribution of River transcends its quarry. Armani He is as titular for Scaloni as for Gallardo. He even won his National Team place for having revalidated in Núñez the level that he had shown in Atlético Nacional. Rojas, likewise, although he lost ground in River for showing a decline in his performance, he is seen by Berizzo in Albirroja – in his last performance, against Brazil, as a right back.

De la Cruz and Borré, the other two representatives of the CARP in Brazil 2021, reached the zenith of their individual levels also in the Gallardo process. And both have as a common denominator that accompaniment that the DT provided them even when they were resisted. He trusted and turned them into two decisive players: just as the Uruguayan recognizes that MG taught him to take one more second to decide, the Colombian stands out for having turned him into a team forward with deployment and sacrifice.

The statistics validate the above: Nico is the player on the squad with the most assists in the MG era (25, in the same vein as Nacho Fernández and ten from Pity Martínez) and Rafa, the top scorer of the cycle (55). They will try, in Brazil, to be variable of weight also in their national teams as they have already achieved in River. A team that will Copa América.