Hermanos Colmenárez seeks to complete task against La Guaira in Copa Sudamericana

Hermanos Colmenárez, a humble club that competes for the first time in international tournaments, is aiming this Thursday for the group stage of the Copa Sudamericana-2022, in a clash between Venezuelan clubs against Deportivo La Guaira.

On Thursday of last week, in the first leg of this first round crossing, Hermanos Colmenárez won 2-0 at home with goals from Cesar Magallán and Colombia's Wilmar González Aguinaga.

“We are going to go out and have a good game in Caracas. Thank God we have a nice advantage to be able to save this phase,” González commented.

However, in the return at the Olympic Stadium of the Central University of Venezuela, the team coached by Luis Pacheco will have to recover from a 2-1 defeat suffered on Sunday in the Venezuelan league against the champion and leader, Deportivo Táchira.

La Guaira, in turn, tied 0-0 with UCV over the weekend.

Under the direction of Daniel Farías -brother of Bolivian coach César Farías-, La Guaira has in contrast had a better start than Hermanos Colmenárez in the local championship.

La Guaira, with seven points in three days, escorts Táchira in the classification of Spaniard Alex Pallarés, who has a full of nine units; while the 'Blue Cyclone' has only been able to add one.

- “To raise your head” -

Gonzalez scored again on Sunday, putting Hermanos Colmenárez in the lead, but Táchira came back in the final 12 minutes.

“Now to raise your head and continue working,” said the 28-year-old footballer in an interview broadcast on Canal i television station.

La Guaira is a very dangerous opponent, with more experience at the international level, as in recent years it has been a regular team in the Copa Libertadores and the Copa Sudamericana. In fact, he reached the last 16 of the South American in 2016.

Hermanos Colmenárez barely made his first division debut in 2021.

The first phase of the Copa Sudamericana measures clubs from the same country and the winners enter the group stage. On Tuesday, in the definition of the first of the two qualifiers between Venezuelan teams, Metropolitanos advanced with a 4-0 win over Estudiantes de Mérida and a global score of 6-0.

This Thursday's match will start at 6:15pm local, with refereeing by Paraguayan Derlis López.

- Probable lineups

Colmenarez Brothers: Jesus Camargo - Manuel Granados, Cleiderman Osorio, Joel Caceres, Jose Luis Granados - Cesar Magallan, Luis Melo, Gabriel Colmenarez, Wilmar Gonzalez - Anuar Pelaez, Juan Camilo Zapata. DT: Luis Pacheco.

Deportivo La Guaira: Carlos Olses - Kendrys Silva, Francisco La Mantia, Jiovany Ramos, Jon Aramburu, Carlos Rojas - Guillermo Marin, Arles Flores, Yohan Cumana - Jovanny Bolivar, Santiago Herrera. DT: Daniel Farias.

erc/ma