Tomás Ángel will not be in the South American Sub 20 that will take place in the country from January 19 to February 12. The 19-year-old attacker played 403 minutes in 2022, 132′ with Nacional and 276′ with the National Team, many more than those accumulated by Isaac Zuleta, the Getafe striker who entered the squad and barely reached 143′. Héctor Cárdenas made it clear that although one of the variables to justify his absence is the lack of continuity, there were also others that were taken into account in which he did not stand out as much.
Ricardo Caraballo (Barranquilla), Jhon Jader Durán (Chicago Fire), Juan David Fuentes (Barcelona), Isaac Zuleta (Getafe) and Jorge Cabezas Hurtado (Real Cartagena) were the forwards chosen by Cárdenas to play the South American Sub 20 in which they Colombia is part of Group A. The DT told what they took into account for the election of the same.
“The decisions go through the assessment that we make over time, the preparation we have, the different calls and the current situation, which is one of the important parameters that we take into account when choosing our footballers and in the end there are 23 who They are going to represent us, all with the possibility of being and today we decided that this was the closest thing, what most generated opportunities for us and the versatility that the team needs and that is why we made the decision ”pointed out the DT.
Lack of minutes and other variables to leave Tomás Ángel out
Cárdenas added that of almost 200 players who took into accountonly 75 were able to do part of the previous preparation and in the end only 23 were left on the list to play the tournament by different variables that they took into account. Although he valued Ángel’s contribution to the process, he pointed out that those chosen help make the team more versatile.
“Like all the 198 players that were considered and of which only 75 had the opportunity to be here, they had the same chances of reaching the championship. In the end, a statistical part of Tomás is important, recognizing that throughout the preparation he scored 7 goals and his discipline and dedication is noteworthy. But not only the variables of the call go through thatif we go to the statistics there are others that can reflect other arguments by which we make decisions”.
Finally, he referred to Ángel’s continuity and compared it to Monsalve, who was the only one from the FPC who was playing in the League final in December. “It is one of the variables (the lack of minutes). Every time we include athletes we analyze their present. In this call we have Miguel Monsalve who was the only one who had the opportunity to play the final of the local tournament. That speaks volumes about what participation is and what we value in our footballers, on a day-to-day basis. That they have the opportunity to perform in the National Team and their clubs so that they have the appreciation they deserve”.
