Matías Bustos Milla
08/09/2020 - 16:53
- Clarín.com
- sports
If the cases of coronavirus in the campuses of Liga de Quito and Binacional , River's rivals in the Copa Libertadores, had already caused concern, now the news has been added that Caracas Fútbol Club , which shares the group with Boca, had to suspend practices for the cases of Covid-19. The doubts about the restart of the tournament, scheduled for mid-September, are far from dissipated.
All the soccer players in Caracas will return to work at home and the return from work at the club will be postponed for at least 10 to 15 days. "As long as the PCR swab tests are not done, he will not train again. Those studies are distributed by the Government and that is why the process will delay," they explained to Clarín from the Venezuelan club.
📣Official statement 📣 pic.twitter.com/7RHB39vnJM
- Caracas Fútbol Club (😷) (@Caracas_FC) August 7, 2020The Conmebol Council led by Alejandro Domínguez had ratified a few days ago, in a Zoom meeting with the representatives of the national Federations (except for Venezuela and Bolivia), the dates for the restart of international tournaments.
In this context, Gonzalo Belloso , deputy secretary general of football and director of Development, although he encouraged the return of the Libertadores, left a small warning. " In the case of having a certain number of sick players, it is possible to suspend the matches . We need everyone to also take care of themselves in their private lives. The virus is not going to go away for a while and we have to settle down," said the manager. .
In this scenario, Boca will return this Monday to face-to-face practices in groups at the Ezeiza complex. With the news of the confirmed case of the juvenile Agustín Almendra and with tests that will continue throughout the preparation.
In fact, the club has already booked a hotel in Ezeiza for August 24, in case the possibility of staying focused and holding preparation friendlies in isolation is enabled. He also had proposals to travel to San Juan or San Luis, but for now that was put aside.
The horizon is clear: the Copa Libertadores. And although many believe that the date of September 17 will be changed to fly to Asunción de Paraguay to face Libertad (in the week they confirmed another positive for coronavirus on their campus), they are working towards that date.
With the physical trainer Damián Lanatta at the head of the logistics, with particular care with Miguel Ángel Russo (he will supervise the training sessions, but with little contact with the group in the first days) and with Leandro Somoza and Mariano Herrón on top of the players. They will be days of tasks divided into groups of 5 and 6 footballers, with 36 at their disposal, including starters, substitutes and various youth players.
Of course, while all that is getting ready, the news that came from Venezuela surprised. Caracas, which as Boca is part of Group H (they tied 1-1 in the debut, in the Venezuelan capital), reported that after detecting positive cases in their squad, they decided to stop training.
What will happen if several teams from South America start to have the same problems? How will the "sanitary tunnel" that Conmebol requested for the countries that open their borders be carried out? They are all unanswered questions, which remain floating in the air each time the idea of resuming the Copa Libertadores is advanced, despite the good economic predisposition of the organization.
For now, Boca plans everything and hopes that the training days will come. He carries out video analysis of Libertad de Paraguay (the only one of the group's rivals that is in competition) and is aware of the news of Independiente Medellín, which will return to the local tournament in September but which can change its headquarters to the "coffee axis". All in a scenario of uncertainty in which doubts are far from dissipating.
HS
