Ricardo Gareca and Christian Cueva is a historical pair in the Peruvian national team. Both had difficult moments in the 'white-red', but ended up getting achievements that will be remembered forever. 'Aladdin' had dedicated some emotional words to him during the week and now the 'Tiger' returned them to him. In addition, he also spoke of the penalty missed against Denmark and the effusive hug they gave in Barranquilla after the goal of Edison Flores.
First, the Argentine strategist spoke about the game and the virtues of the Al-Fateh striker. “It gives you a lot of alternatives because you can play behind the tip, for the bands. It's very restless. It does the diagonal from left to the middle well, but needs pass options. They are players who break the mold with gambeta,” he said in an interview with ESPN Tactical Football.
At another time he was asked about the player's attitude after missing the penalty against the Danes in the Russia 2018 World Cup. “The Peruvian national team has its psychologist and coach, but Cueva is very strong mentally. Even after that play, he asked for the ball and one observes that of the player,” commented the former technician of Universitario de Deportes.
In addition, he spoke of the exciting hug they gave after the goal of 'Orejas' against Colombia in the final minutes, which was even highlighted by the FIFA. “There was the goal and he saw me, I deduce that. If it was something thinking, then I think it was because we lived through key, difficult moments”, commented the former striker.
Finally, he added how they came to this beautiful relationship. “He is not an easy player, he is a great professional. Within the field he delivers everything and even recovers more balls than many in that function. It is offensive, but with a great sense of sacrifice, but it touched difficult moments, where he received criticism and even me. Together in the national team we have raffled those moments. That has strengthened the relationship,” he confessed.