Juan Fernando Quintero talked about how 'good' Colombia's elimination from the World Cup had

On March 29, Colombia beat Venezuela 1-0 with a penalty goal by James Rodríguez at Cachamay Stadium in a match valid for matchday 18 and the last of the Qatar 2022 Qualifiers. Despite the victory of the 'coffee' team, they could not qualify for the World Cup repechage, as it depended on Peru losing at home to Paraguay, something that did not happen since the team led by Ricardo Gareca won 2-0 at the National Stadium.

The national team won 23 points while the Peruvian national team scored 24, one more point, in this fight to qualify for the World Cup that reached the last date of the South American qualifiers. For its part, Venezuela, which had already been eliminated, was in the last position with 10 points.

After finishing the knockout phase, the players returned to their respective clubs, as happened with midfielder Juan Fernando Quintero, who wears the River Plate shirt. This Sunday, the team led by Marcelo Gallardo beat Argentinos Juniors 4-2. After the end of this match, the Colombian, at the press conference, spoke about the national team and its tie.

“Many times blame when we don't qualify for the World Cup is easy, but we have to see the positive. See what mistakes we made and give it forward. We'll have to watch it from home, but we'll have to get up hungry again to go to the other World Cup,” Quintero began.

Let us remember that Juanfer Quintero had been criticized for his return to River as many people commented that he had done this to return to the national team. In addition, while in China, he was left out of a couple of calls for biosafety policies after the COVID-19 pandemic. At the time, the footballer denied that this was his intention.

“I come to River to enjoy and have the responsibility of representing such a big club. It's my house, I was always close. What you do at the club takes you to the national team, which has nothing to do with using River to go to the World Cup. I have a responsibility to represent River, I am happy and I take up the challenge. You don't need to use River. I'm happy to be here,” he explained.

Finally, for these qualifiers, River Plate's '10′ could only be in seven of Colombia's 18 matches in the qualifying round for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. In these matches he did not score goals or provide any assistance.

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