The Colombian coach, Reinaldo Rueda, stated this Saturday that the Honduran team “will be a demanding rival” for his pupils, so the friendly match on Sunday will be of great importance for the next commitments of the South American qualifiers for the World Cup in Qatar.
The coffee growers will receive Peru on 19 in January and will visit Argentina on February 2.
For Rueda, Honduras, already eliminated of the fight in Concacaf for a quota in Qatar 2022, “is in another project”, looking to the future, which poses a greater requirement.
“It will force us to examine ourselves,” said Rueda, who praised the work that the Central American rival is beginning to show with the recent arrival on the bench of Colombian coach Hernán Darío Gómez.
“It has been a few months, it has a balanced payroll. They play good football, it will be a good evaluation”, insisted Rueda, who was also the coach of Honduras.
🎙️ #Press Conference | @ReinaldoRuedaDT: “There are no mysteries in this matter of soccer at the national team level. Professor Hernán Darío has a lot of experience, he is the most successful Colombian coach with five World Cups, which is not easy to achieve.”
📺 https://t.co/3DRpBuRKqp#VamosColombia🇨🇴
— Colombia Selection (@FCFSeleccionCol ) January 15, 2022
Colombia and Honduras will clash this Sunday in the US city of Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
Both national teams will test players from local clubs.
“The idea is to project the evolution of our players in other leagues, see the moment and go squaring the design of the payroll for the matches in Peru and Argentina”, explained the Colombian strategist.
He said he trusts that the starting goalkeeper David Ospina can be part of the next call for the knockout matches s.
Ospina underwent an MRI after leaving a recent game with his club, the Italian Napoli, due to a muscle injury in his left leg.
“Fortunately, the MRI gave a good result. There was no rupture, just a strong contracture. It is necessary to prevent him from playing in the middle of the week and that he does play the weekend before the call, “he said.
Rueda regretted that the covid pandemic-19 has cut work cycles of the selection.
“Here we come and we had two difficult years with this issue of the pandemic, we have lost time and job opportunities”
Reinaldo Rueda
He added that several players could not be summoned because they contracted coronavirus during the holidays and now those who “arrived with many negative tests, must take the tests and that generates tension ”.
Colombia is measured on January 28 against Peru, in Barranquilla, and then will visit Argentina, in Córdoba, on January 1, two key matches to qualify for the World Cup in Qatar.
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