Carlos Antonio Velez gave up a “toad” in the Colombia national team: “He was not a brilliant player”

Just over a week before the definition of the qualifiers for the Qatar 2022 World Cup, the coach of the Colombia national team, Reinaldo Rueda, finishes details to reveal the squad list. The 'Tricolor' is in the seventh box with just 17 points, so she must seek victory against Bolivia, in Barranquilla, and Venezuela, as a visitor, if she wants to hold on to the dream of qualifying for the World Cup.

For this reason, we are already beginning to see some players who could make up the final list and others than one. Yerry Mina and Duván Zapata, for example, are two pieces that the coaching staff will not be able to hire. The first one has a muscle problem in the duadriceps; and the second, relapsed on his injury to the adductor tendon, so the time of disability is not enough for them to be fully recovered.

In the run-up to the call, Carlos Antonio Velez released several criticisms about the selection processes in the calls, and said that the outlook does not look favorable with the current coach: “Anyone can come. I don't see, unless Reinaldo Rueda shows me otherwise this week, the strength to start the renewal that Colombian football needs. There are already some who are falling due to injury, can it be that they don't want to come and show their faces?”

“One cannot bring injured people, although injured players have been brought here several times and not now,” added the sports journalist on Monday, March 14, in his usual program, 'Planeta Fútbol', on Antena 2.

Later, Vélez gave the example of a footballer from the 'Tricolor' who, according to him, used to suffer from physical problems, and who, even knowing that he could not play, they decided to call him because he was the “toad” of the squad.

“I remember a 'so-and-so' that the patriarch [José Néstor Pékerman] had in Chile who visited the doctor's and rehabilitator's room more than the training camp. And they took him for a walk, because since he was the fifth columnist, it was the toad, the one who told everything, so he had to be there nearby,” said the communicator.

Although Carlos Antonio did not give a name, he revealed his position on the field: “He was not a brilliant player, he was an ordinary defender. Then you have to be prepared for everything, and time is going to be vaccinated to resist all those kinds of impacts.”

Let us remember that Colombia will face Bolivia on March 24 at the Metropolitano Stadium in Barranquilla. Unlike other matches, it will be played at 6:30pm under the direction of Argentine referee Facundo Tello. Then, on the 29th of the same month, he will face Venezuela, as a visitor, with the arbitration of the Brazilian Wilton Sampaio.

In an interview with ESPN's 'Team F', the former striker of Independiente Medellín, spoke about the steering wheel of Al-Rayyan from Qatar, with whom he shared in the Colombia national team and played the World Cup in Brazil 2014. For Jackson, the '10′ is one of the most important figures in the team and, in addition, he highlighted how great a person he is.

“[James] is someone who, on the court, talks. In fact, those who haven't had the opportunity to be close to him don't know that he is very competitive and, suddenly, that's what makes them think he's arrogant; what is happening to the first one that hurts is him,” said 'Cha Cha Cha Cha', as he is popularly known.

Finally, regarding the lack of goal in the “Tricolor”, Martínez said that this is not a matter of trust. “I do believe that the scheme is what can affect the functioning and performance both in the individual and collective part of the players.”

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