Failed preseason: a River footballer could not enter the United States and had to return to Buenos Aires

06/19/2021 5:55 PM

• Clarín.com

• sports

Updated 06/19/2021 5:55 PM

The campus of

River

arrived on Saturday morning to

Orlando

with a free seat on the plane.

Lucas Beltrán

, one of the 27 summoned to carry out the preseason in the United States, did not fulfill one of the necessary requirements to be able to enter the

United States

and had to leave the delegation during the stopover in

Lima

.

What happened? The forward took advantage of the holidays to spend a few days off in

Europe

and, among other destinations, enjoyed the beaches of Sicily, Italy. Although he returned in time to resume work at the River Camp under the orders of

Marcelo Gallardo

, he did not complete the 14 days of mandatory isolation required to enter North American territory.

After posing for the photo with

Bruno Zuculini

and

Agustín Palavecino

minutes before taking off from Ezeiza, the illusion turned into disappointment. Upon arriving at the Jorge Chávez International Airport, located in the capital of Peru,

the authorities checked his passport and the irregularity was detected

. In this way, he could not continue with the trip and in the next few hours he will return to Buenos Aires.

Although Beltrán will miss the beginning of the preseason, the idea of ​​the coaching staff is that he fulfills

the five days of quarantine that he lacks

and then joins the work.

In the absence of Julián Alvarez (Argentina) and Rafael Santos Borré (Colombia), Gallardo will start working with five forwards: Matías Suárez, Agustín Fontana, Federico Girotti, Benjamín Rollheiser and Flabián Londoño Bedoya, who is making his first preseason in Primera.

Beltrán was unable to reach the United States.

Photo: River press.

Beltrán and an irregular 2021

Beltrán came to River from Córdoba at the age of the Eighth Division (15 years old) and is one of the club's great projects.

After jumping to the First Division in 2018 and going through an adaptation process, 2021 started with the surprise in the 11 of the Doll in the Superclásico on January 2 (2-2) and also replaced Matías Suárez against Atlético Tucumán (Argentine Cup ), Colón -converted his first goal in Primera- and Central Córdoba.

After losing some prominence and going down to Reserve, he had to enter before Boca in the Bombonera in a team decimated by the first cases of coronavirus.

And when it seemed that he was going to have his chance in the definition of the group stage of the Cup, he also got infected.

With the hope that the next semester will be that of consolidation in the First Division, Beltrán spoke about Gallardo and stressed the importance of DT in his evolution as a professional: "I cannot add anything to Marcelo because we all know how he is as a coach. He is very demanding , tries to get all your performance to the maximum and is always in the details improving everything. He made me a more complete player, understanding where to locate myself, run the court better, mark the diagonals better, have better definition and know all the movements in the direction of team and my teammates. "