He left the country in silence and now became one of the key pieces of the Colombian National Team. Jéfferson Lerma, at 29 years old, is important when it comes to removing the ball and, from time to time, he also appears in the opposing goal. When he does it, it is in definitive moments.
He had already scored a very important goal in Santiago, in the failed qualifying round for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, to open the scoring in the two-goal tie with Chile, sealed with an agonizing goal from Radamel Falcao García.
And now, he celebrates again, the winning goal against Paraguay in Houston, which opened the way in the 2024 Copa América in the best way.
“We have been superior, we made a difference, although in the end we suffered. There are very positive things to frame, we stay with it and think about the next thing,” Lerma told DSports after the first victory in the Cup.
Jéfferson Lerma, from Huila to the Premier League and the National Team
Lerma doesn’t have the spotlight on him, but he always performs. He did it at Atlético Huila, where he played two years before leaving for Levante in 2015. He spent three years there and had his first official contact with the National Team. Carlos ‘Pisces’ Restrepo included him in the team that played in the 2016 Rio Olympics.
It would take him another year to reach the seniors: José Pékerman called him for the tour of Asia at the end of 2017, after the qualifying round. There he remained on the keychain.
After the World Cup in Russia, he came to England to play for Bournemouth for five years and this season that just ended was key for Crystal Palace, which opened the doors to his second Copa América: Carlos Queiroz took him to the 2019 Copa América as an alternative and two years later, he did not travel to Brazil due to a “personal situation,” according to a report by the Colombian Football Federation.
Jefferson Lerma (22), in his first starting game with the National Team, in 2017.
Photo:Efe
Jéfferson Lerma, the highest paid player on the Colombian National Team
Lerma has become an important piece for their teams and the best way to prove it is the following data. The capology.com portal, specialized in the world football transfer market and player salaries, highlights the one born in El Cerrito (Valle), as the highest paid Colombian soccer player in the National Team.
He receives a salary of 3.6 million euros per year, exceeding the 3.5 that David Ospina earned at Al-Nassr, before signing with Atlético Nacional, and the 3.2 of Dávinson Sánchez at Galatasaray. James Rodríguez, for example, earns 3 million euros annually in Sao Paulo and Luis Díaz is 2.4 million in Liverpool.
Jéfferson Lerma’s great start in the Copa América
Lerma had a great debut in the cup, mixing sacrifice and goal. “We have known how to suffer, it is a team that has faith and fights until the last. We are left with the victory, which is the important thing. Now we look at what is coming,” he declared. “I liked the good feelings that the team left. We are going step by step and adding new sensations,” he insisted.
Now, Lerma is getting ready for a new challenge, Costa Rica, tomorrow in Glendale (Arizona), in which Colombia, with a victory, could once and for all resolve the passage to the second phase.
Jose Orlando Ascencio
Sports Deputy Editor
@josasc
