Peru head coach Ricardo Gareca has said that there are plenty of positives for the South American nation after their strong performance in the recent Copa America tournament. Peru were ranked outsiders to secure continental glory for the summer but they managed to surprise many as they reached up to the final, where they suffered a 3-1 loss at the hands of Brazil.
He added that Peru currently don’t have a large pool of players when compared to other top nations but that could be changed in years to come, he continued: “We may not have the thousands of potential players like other nations, but we may have 50 who will allow us to compete with anybody. Of course, if we have more potential players, we can find more talent, so what Peru needs to do is keep working so there’s a greater number of potential players for the national team.”
Peru produced a mixed run of performances during the group stage of the Copa America and a heavy 5-0 defeat to Brazil meant that they scraped to the knockouts as the best-placed third team.Thereafter, they managed to stun Uruguay through a penalty shootout before securing a comfortable 3-0 triumph over two-time defending champions Chile at the semi-final stage.
Despite this, they were always regarded as outsiders to beat Brazil in the final and they managed to compete efficiently. Peru kept Brazil in a contest at 2-1 until the 90 minute where Richarlison converted a penalty to put the game to bed.