There is less and less left for the Colombia selection officially debut in the Copa America 2024 from United States. The national team plays this Monday against its counterpart Paraguay for date 1 of group D.
The cast directed by DT Nestor Lorenzo has aroused a lot of enthusiasm after the good performance it has shown in the friendly matches and at the start of the qualifying round against World Cup 2026. Colombia is undefeated in 23 games and is the only team in the world that has not lost between 2023 and 2024.
Colombia selection.
Photo:FCF
Yepes trusts the National Team
It seems to me that he is a candidate to try to fight for the Copa América
The former captain of the Colombian National Team, Mario Alberto Yepes, He spoke with Futbolred and analyzed the moment in which the national team arrives and is adding pressure to fight for the title.
“I see it as very solid, well-coordinated, it is a team that has also found defensive solidity, a strong midfield with skilled wingers that allows many spaces to be generated. It seems to me that he is a candidate to try to fight the America Cup. If players, coaching staff and president are with that idea, then even better. From here we will be exerting a lot of force,” explained the former defender.
“Colombia at the National Team level is going through a good moment, It has had a replacement that has been progressive, but it has had players who have established themselves, despite having little time and have had the help of experienced players. That has them playing well with modern football and very fast transitions,” added Yepes.
The famous “Yepes Era Gol”, in Brazil 2014.
Photo:Efe / Archive EL TIEMPO
For Mario Alberto The issue of being undefeated is not an extra pressure and can be transformed into a motivation to go for the crown that is elusive to the Selection for 23 years.
Playoff matches are one thing, friendlies are others, and the Copa América is something else.
“I don’t see it that way (pressure for the undefeated team). On the contrary, I see it as another motivation to keep it. There, the work of the coach and the experienced players to quickly change their thinking is very important. Playoff matches are one thing, friendlies are another, and the Copa América is something else. It is important to understand, understand and assimilate well what the rivals are like,” said the 48-year-old from Cali.
The National Team must focus on the collective
On the other hand, Mario Alberto Yepes He spoke about coach Néstor Lorenzo, whom he knows perfectly well after José Néstor Pékerman’s tenure on the bench of the Colombian National Team, where the current coach was an assistant and the former center back was the captain of a team that reached the quarterfinals of the World Cup 2014.
Miguel Borja and Néstor Lorenzo.
Photo:TIME
“He was the assistant of Pekerman and worked under him. I was trying to get those ideas across and I haven’t been able to work with Nestor Lorenzo as a coach and I don’t know how to describe him. I can speak from what I see and it seems to me that he has changed the National Team, making it more vertical and faster. I really like what I see,” he declared about Lorenzo.
Finally, Yepes He stated that the game should not fall on individual figures such as Luis Díaz or James Rodríguez, The ideal is for the group to be well oiled and make the stars grow.
“I hope and hope not only from him (Luis Díaz). All the National Team players must arrive well and we must understand what their arrival will be like after so many games they have had to face this year. All of this affects one’s carrying burdens and in the end, they end up letting go, but I hope they reach a good level for the Copa América. The important thing there is that all the teams that are going to fight for the title have all their players outside their countries and it will surely not be easy for them either,” concluded Mario Alberto in his interview with Futbolred.
Mario Yepes was presented to the Federation.
Photo:FCF
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