Colombia’s midfielder #20 Juan Fernando Quintero and Colombia’s midfielder #05 Kevin Castano react following their staff’s defeat within the Conmebol 2024 Copa America event closing soccer match between Argentina and Colombia on the Arduous Rock Stadium, in Miami, Florida on July 14, 2024. (Photograph by CHARLY TRIBALLEAU / AFP)
Colombia coach Nestor Lorenzo stated his staff had been impacted by the delayed begin to the Copa America closing on Sunday however conceded that winners Argentina have been making a golden period.
“I believe we had an excellent build-up to the sport however then some uncommon conditions began to occur,” he stated referring to the 82-minute delay to the match brought on by crowd and safety issues on the entrances to the stadium.
“(The gamers) warmed up, cooled down, warmed up once more, earlier than the kick-off. Then we had 25 minutes of half-time, unusual issues for each groups,” he stated.
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The prolonged interval was to permit for a present from Colombian singer Shakira.
“Usually the stress is felt extra by those that have much less expertise in finals, and it took its toll on us,” Lorenzo added.
“It’s not straightforward to play in a closing for everybody, the boys felt a little bit of the trouble of the entire event, they performed six video games in 21 days.
“I have to make clear, all of the gamers who I substituted, all of them, got here off with cramp, some in each legs, however all of them requested to be modified,” he added.
Argentina coach Lionel Scaloni agreed that the lengthy delay had been a wierd problem for his gamers too.
“What occurred earlier than the sport is tough to elucidate, obscure, gamers standing for an hour exterior the stadium ready for his or her households to come back and we needed to exit and play the sport like that with the entire feeling of not realizing the place your loved ones was,” he stated.
READ: Argentina beats Colombia to win document sixteenth Copa America
“No messages have been arriving, some didn’t reply, we noticed the movies that have been circulating and we weren’t unaware of what was taking place and in these circumstances we went out to play the sport and I believe the boys from Colombia have been additionally in an analogous scenario, very unusual,” he stated.
Lorenzo acknowledged although that whereas his staff have been in the beginning of their journey whereas Scaloni’s Argentina have been making a golden period.
Argentina’s win earned them their third straight main event title following their World Cup triumph in Qatar in 2022 and the Copa win in Brazil in 2021.
Lorenzo stated the totally different ranges of expertise of the 2 groups was evident within the sport on the Arduous Rock Stadium.
“Of the 2 finalists, one is creating an period and it’s not a coincidence. Earlier than this period began, they misplaced two Copa America finals and a World Cup closing,” he stated.
The defeat ended an unbeaten run of 28 matches for the staff with 25 of these video games coming underneath Lorenzo, who took over the aspect in mid-2022.
“Whereas Argentina is in a spectacular course of, which is not a streak, however an period, we’ve solely simply begun,” he argued.
“Hopefully we’ll play within the closing once more subsequent time and qualify for the World Cup (in 2026)” he stated.
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Colombia, who didn’t qualify for the World Cup in 2022, are nicely positioned to make the World Cup, sitting in third place in South American qualifying.
