Atletico Minero

 

 

Peru’s match against Brazil in the World Cup qualifiers has been thrown into a lot of doubt as a result of key players like Alex Valera and Raul Ruidiaz testing positive for corona virus. The World Cup qualification campaign for Peru recently began with a 2-2 draw with Paraguay. This was a significant setback for the national team, who are languishing in the bottom few places of the World Cup qualification group from South America. Undoubtedly, the likes of Brazil and Argentina will be the favourites to qualify for the finals. The first four teams in the group will qualify directly while the fifth placed team will have to go through the play-offs.

Peru are ideally targeting a place in the fourth and fifth places of the group. The absence ofRuidiaz andValera for a key match against Brazil is a major blow. The Peruvian football Federation (PFF) has claimed that both players have shown serious symptoms and this is a sign indeed. It remains to be seen if other players in the squad will get the virus. If it turns out to be the case, this will be bad news for the national team ahead of the World Cup qualifiers in November. Peru will be taking on Chile and Argentina in the middle of November.

Continue reading “Peruvian players test positive ahead of World Cup qualifier with Brazil”

 

Ricardo Gareca has revealed that Costa Rica football Association tried to get him as the manager before he decided to go with Peru. After having been in charge of several clubs like Universitario and Palmeiras in a very long manager career that started in 1996,Gareca took over as the manager of Peru in 2015. The 61-year-old, though, has strong ties with Argentina after having been a top player for the likes of Boca Juniors and River Plate. He has also featured for clubs like VelezSarsfield. His vast experience as a player and manager makes him a sought-after name.

The strategist claimed that Costa Rica looking to bring him as a surprise candidate to lead the national team just after the 2014 World Cup. Costa Rica were able to surprise many candidates at this competition after reaching the quarter-finals, but they were quite unlikely to exit the competition after losing on penalties to the Netherlands. After this remarkable performance, Costa Rica needed something to improve even further. Hence, the national team is looking to bring in an experienced coach since Jorge Luis Pinto was announcing his exit. However, the move never happened andGareca went on to achieve success with Peru by taking the national team to the first ever World Cup in 2018.
Continue reading “Ricardo Gareca Reveals Offer from Costa Rica in 2015”

 

Peru national team coach Ricardo Gareca has said that it is a major relief that the World Cup qualifiers have been postponed and it would significantly help the South American team. The delay to the start of the qualifiers would have been a disaster for the national team in other conditions, as they were in a very good condition coming into the qualifiers. Peru were able to do well at the World Cup 2018 by qualifying for the competition, while the team also finished as the runner-up in the recent Copa America.

Due to the postponement of the South American tournament until October at the latest is a relief since it would give enough time for the Peruvian players to start in the qualification in a strong manner. This would potentially place them at an advantage compared to the likes of Brazil and Paraguay. These teams are expected to be in a physically better shape, but Peru will need a lot of tactical advantage. A number of leagues have started their football while others have been unable to do so due to the coronavirus pandemic. For those who are playing in the MLS and Mexican leagues, the physical condition will be better. However, those playing in the domestic leagues will suffer due to the lack of regular football.
Continue reading “Ricardo Gareca pleased with postponement of World Cup qualifiers”

Barcelona midfielder Arturo Vidal has insisted that he is very happy at the club despite the regular speculation over his future. The Chile international has been with the Blaugrana since the summer of 2018 and he has bagged nine goals and 10 assists from 84 appearances across all competitions. He has another 13 months remaining on his contract but reports have recently claimed that he could be offered as a makeweight to sign Lautaro Martinez from Inter Milan.

Amidst this, Vidal has clarified that he is comfortable at the Camp Nou and he wants to continue with the club, he told: “I am very happy and comfortable in Barcelona, of course, I want to continue. Now I am more prepared than ever. There is a good group and I have great friends in the dressing room. I feel very well physically, better than ever. In all my career I never had so much time to prepare myself. We made a plan to the maximum to extend my career as much as possible. I feel prepared for what is coming, both the Champions League and La Liga.”
Continue reading “Vidal insists he is happy Barcelona despite the regular speculation”

The World football governing body FIFA have postponed the match between Paraguay and Peru. The world cup qualifier was slated for March, but the match has been postponed till further notice. Alongside the match between Paraguay and Peru, all qualifiers slated for the month of March have also been shifted to later dates.

This is in light of the breakout of CONVID19. The breakout has put most domestic league matches on hold. European domestic teams are on hold and only a few are still active while some others play behind closed doors.
Continue reading “FIFA POSTPONES MARCH QUALIFIERS AMID CONVID19 FEARS”

Peru’s national team coach Ricardo Gareca claims that there are no issues surrounding the cancellation of a friendly match with Chile. It was expected that Peru would conclude 2019 with a friendly match against Chile at home. This was supposed to take place just a few days after the friendly against Colombia. However, a unanimous decision has been taken to scrap this game so that the team will conclude the campaign with a 1-0 loss against Colombia. Alfredo Morelos came up with a late goal in such a way that Peru were not able to react.

However, the team has achieved some big successes in recent months. After beating Chile 3-0 back in July, Peru managed to create a major shock in world football after overcoming Brazil with a 1-0 win back in September. Recent form for the team, however, has not been so great and the loss against Colombia is a testament to this status. Ironically, the win over Brazil in September is the only success for team in the last six games. It was a surprise that Peru did not try to find a replacement once Chile pulled out of the friendly. The lack of a friendly match would mean good news for some of the established players within the national team, since they could do with some rest.
Continue reading “Peru’s Friendly with Chile Stands Cancelled”