Up, Jorge Bava and Hugo Rodallega, from Santa Fe; Below, Alejandro Restrepo and Homer Martínez, of Medellín.
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Santa Fe and Medellín will play this Tuesday, June 24 from 7:30 PM, at the El Campín de Bogotá stadium, the first leg of the Betplay League final, the first division of Colombian professional football.
In the press conference prior to commitment, the technicians and captains of both teams recognized the virtues of their rivals and agreed that their campaigns have been very similar and there is no favorite.
Jorge Bava, Cardinal Technician, admitted that “Medellín is one of the teams that best plays in the country. It is a pride to compete against them. There are 20 teams and only two reach a final. We have a very mature, very close group, which has overcome difficult moments and that knows what you have to take the fight.”
He added that “what I want is to always propose, be in a rival field and not let it out, but you have to see what the opponent allows. It is important to be calm and understand that this is a series of 180 minutes and we have to know how to read the moments of those games.”
Rodallega: “Right now I change to be a scorer for lifting the cup”
The captain and main reference of Santa Fe, Hugo Rodallega, admitted that “the squad is living a special moment and we must enjoy it, because it is the prize for our effort as a group, that we covered each other, we did a job in silence and that has us in the final. I effort and I always want to compete and be the scorer of the tournament is a reason for pride for me, my family, for the team, but now I change the team.
On sports processes and the fact that his coach has been at the head of the team for only two and a half months, he said that “there are long and short processes. It depends on what a coach finds and here the teacher found a structure that already had a working time, perhaps at a time not very good, but the base was already.”
From the rival, he emphasizes that “he plays football very well, but we are going to try to take advantage of our fans without forgetting that they are two game and we must be cautious, because the title is not defined in the Campín.”
He ended up saying that “our key has been trusting, we were criticized because our game was not colorful, but we are here in the final and that is what is worth, with a strong group, of temperament and personality.”
Alejandro Restrepo: “We both deserved to be in the final”
The Medellin coach, Alejandro Restrepo, said he is “happy and proud to represent this institution on the way in which 18 teams have remained. We now define only two. Santa Fe is a great rival, who knew how to take advantage of a visitor in difficult games, with a footballer who have experience and a technician who does not take long but has a clear idea, which shows”.
He added that “it will be a great series, with two teams that despite not entering first places in the table, it had a difference of just a couple of points with others. They are two very soccer and teams accustomed to these instances. In a final there are no favorites, except in this.”
“We already have a slightly consolidated game idea, with 50 games and a path that allows us to know the group better and have variants. I think we are clear about the game patterns,” Restrepo added.
One of the Captains of the Dim, Homer Martínez, said that “we are going to leave everything on the court, more than 100%. We have made a cute path, with high and low, we became strong at the moment difficult but we are convinced that now there is to do a lot and talk little.”
About the series said that “you have to be intelligent and concentrated, because they are two finals and we close at home.”
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