La Paz, April 24 (EFE).- Always Ready from Bolivia is preparing all its artillery to receive César Vallejo from Peru on Thursday with the premise of establishing itself at the top of group A of the Copa Sudamericana, in a duel that will have a female shortlist, led by Brazilian judge Edina Alves.
The referees Neuza Back and Fabrini Bevilaqua will collaborate with Alves, while the fourth judge will be Paulo Zanovelli. Daiane Muniz and Fabricio Vilarinho, all Brazilians, will be on the VAR.
It will be the first time that three referees will officiate a match in Bolivia, when Bolivians and Peruvians face each other at the 4,090 meters of altitude of the ‘El Alto Municipal Stadium’.
The Bolivian ‘millionaire’, under the command of Colombian coach Flavio Torres, will seek to add three to continue in the fight and reach first place in the series that qualifies for the round of 16 of the continental tournament.
Group A is headed by Always Ready and Defensa y Justicia from Argentina with 4 points, followed by Independiente Medellín from Colombia with 3 and at the bottom, without points, is the Peruvian team.
The Bolivian team comes to the duel after the one-goal tie they achieved the previous day at Defensa y Justicia, so a victory in El Alto would make the possibility of qualification clearer.
Always Ready is fully focused on the Sudamericana after its early elimination in the group stage of the Bolivian championship.
Torres’ team has not played since April 6, but they have enough international experience since they played the two keys prior to the group stage of the Copa Libertadores, first leaving Sporting Cristal of Peru on the road and losing on penalties to the National of Uruguay.
For its part, the Peruvian team, led by coach Guillermo Salas, maintains the hope that this match against the Bolivians will mark a turning point in its performance in the Sudamericana and the local championship.
César Vallejo is going through a bad moment, since it occupies box 16 of 18 teams in Peru’s ‘Liga 1’, with 11 points after 12 games played and has just lost by the minimum with ADT.
‘The poets’ have as their main figures the 36-year-old Paraguayan winger Édgar Benítez and the top scorer of the Peruvian team Paolo Guerrero, who has already turned 40.
However, several Peruvian media talk about a possible departure for Guerrero, who was not on the bench during the last game.
Salas’ team completed its last training session the day before before its trip to Bolivia.
The next date that will be played on May 7, Always Ready will host Defensa y Justicia in El Alto, while César Vallejo will also be home against Independiente Medellín.
– Probable alignments:
Always Ready: Alaín Baroja; Diego Medina, Luis Caicedo, Marcelo Suárez, José Carabalí; Robson Matheus, Héctor Cuéllar, Adalid Terrazas, Julio Herrera; Denilson Rodrígues, Wesley ‘Tanque’ da Silva.
Coach: Flavio Torres
César Vallejo: Carlos Grados; Carlos Miguel Cabello, Carlos Ascues, Alec Deneumostier, Johan Madrid; Gerson Barreto, Jairo Vélez, Edgar Benítez, Frank Ysique, Pierre da Silva; Yorleys Mena.
Coach: Guillermo Salas
Time: 20:00 local time (0:00 GMT on Friday)
Referee: Brazilian Edina Alves, assisted by her compatriots Neuza Back and Fabrini Bevilaqua.
Stadium: Municipal of Villa Ingenio, at 4,090 meters above sea level in the Bolivian city of El Alto. EFE
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