(ESP-ENG) Dos deportes, una meta.
Hello friends, good vibes to all.
At present, Venezuelan sports seem to be going through a kind of "honeymoon" in both soccer and baseball. I say this because of what we are seeing with the U-23 national team in the pre-Olympic that is taking place here in Caracas at the Brigido Iriarte stadium and because of what the Tiburones de la Guaira are doing in Miami in the Caribbean Series after having qualified for the grand final to be played today against the Dominican Republic or rather Los Tigres del Licey. I also have to mention, because I do not think it is less important, that the boys of the Futsal team qualified for the World Cup to be held in Uzbekistan between September and October this year.
But let's talk a little about what awaits us today and Sunday. Let's start with the LVBP champions. For me, the Tiburones are having a Caribbean Series that can be remembered as one of the greatest and best performances ever seen in recent years by a Venezuelan team. Very honestly I did not bet anything for this new version of the Guarista team that won the final against the Cardenales de Lara; and I did not do it because of the losses that the team ended up suffering in the end. When these things happen, the chemistry and the good atmosphere are usually lost, so the performance never ends up being the same. Fortunately I was wrong and the team led by Ozzie Guillen has played a very good ball in Miami.
And so much so that two days ago left-handed pitcher Angel Padron dared, had the audacity and character to pitch a No Hit - No Run for the second time in the history of the tournament. The feat was against Nicaragua with a score of 9-0. And this was so surprising because Padron when he pitched in the regular season here in Venezuela was a pitcher who did not have very good numbers; I think this was very unexpected, absolutely nobody expected the performance of the Andean on the mound and in the end he ended up doing what I believe has been the game of his life and his career. I haven't followed this Caribbean Series very much, historically I don't do it even if my team is going to represent it, but the little I have been able to observe has left me pleasantly surprised and the fact is that the reinforcements have been great.
Alexi Amarista, Wilfredo Tovar, Hernán Perez, Wilson Ramos, all of them are reinforcements and the way they have shown why they were chosen on the field has been crazy, the collective performance has been one of the great spark plugs for this team to be able to reach the final. A final that will be against the current champions but we already beat them in the first day of the tournament by 3-1. We know what it is like to beat the Dominican Republic and more importantly, we have what it takes to do it. Out of 7 matches played we have lost only one against Puerto Rico, on the other hand the Dominican Republic has lost 3 matches and still they are in the final. This is because of things of the format that are totally inexplicable.
In our country we have a different but equally hopeful outlook, a national team that is giving everything to try to obtain its ticket to Paris for the Olympics. La Vinotinto has had a spectacular tournament, they finished the group stage undefeated, beating Brazil 3-1. The most important thing of all is the functionality that this team has shown, an order in all its lines that has allowed it to reach the final quadrangular having real options to qualify to the Olympic Games. The first of the three games was against Argentina, achieving a valuable draw in a game that was very controversial because it ended with a penalty that for many was not a penalty but for others it was quite clear.
Players like Telasco Segovia, Bryant Ortega, Jovanny Bolivar, Kelsy, Matias Lacava, etc, have been the bastions of this project that have really given much joy to the country. Yesterday they played again with Brazil in a match that was very even and balanced in the midfield, so much so that in the first half they hardly hurt each other because of the great dispute that was seen in the central axis. It was a very physical match that could have gone either way. For example, Segovia's play was a spectacle, since Ortega was suspended, he had to play a little further back and the recoveries he made in that half of the field were vital.
In the second half everything remained pretty much the same, a very tight game, with many fouls, many frictions, which in the end made us think that a draw was going to be a good deal. Brazil's goal came from a defensive blunder, as few had seen in the tournament. Our goal came from a good combination in the area for Jovvany Bolivar to score a great left-footed goal. We could have gone up by a great hit by Lacava but the great goal was disallowed for offside, well disallowed by the way. In the end a deadly counter attack annihilated us and we ended up losing.
What's next for us? - Well, we have to win on Sunday against Paraguay, one of the best teams in this pre-Olympic. If we win, we qualify, so there is no turning back. Whatever the result, there is absolutely nothing to criticize to these young players, the work they have done has been exemplary, they never give up, they press and run until the last minute, they have a winning mentality and attitude that weighs carats. We will see what the short term future will be on Sunday because in the medium and long term it is a very good and promising one.
¡Un abrazo a todos, nos leemos en la próxima!
Well my people that's all for today, I hope you liked it.
¡Hugs to all, see you next time!
Interesante análisis @javyeslava.photo condensar en una misma opinión lo que ocurre en dos deportes pero que al final nos darán la misma alegría es muy osado, en el buen sentido. Lo que los tiburones de la Guaira han hecho es admirable, este muchacho Pinto es tremendo, que lastima que muchos de ellos no tienen oportunidad en la MLB, que prefiere buscar talento en Australia o Londres, ni siquiera los medios americanos reseñan lo que está ocurriendo en su propio país, béisbol de excelente calidad.
Volviendo al punto, creo que es una muy buena descripción que le das, vivimos una luna de miel jeje, lo de futsal nadie lo seguía y mira que Azaña, y bueno esperemos que los muchachos de la sub 23 nos den la alegría también.
Así es, lo de Pinto es una locura, no solo allá en la serie sino en varias aperturas que hizo aquí, el nivel de ese chamo está por las nubes pero es eso, la MLB no le da las chances que merece.
Espero que mañana los chamos de la Sub23 nos den esa alegría, ganando a Paraguay se hace la hazaña, esperemos que así sea.
Saludos amigo!
He leído muchas críticas sobre la casi inexistente cobertura mediática que ha tenido la competición de la Serie del Caribe a nivel de Estados Unidos y me parece bastante triste porque muchas de las grandes estrellas de la Major League Baseball son de estos países, sin mencionar que la calidad de los juegos es notoria.
Los dos equipos tienen sus méritos propios, pero personalmente considero que por la historia dentro del deporte, esta selección de fútbol tiene unos cuantos puntos adicionales porque Venezuela no es conocida a nivel internacional por destacarse en el fútbol, a diferencia del béisbol donde los venezolanos sí nos hemos destacado más.
Aún así, la realidad es que todos estamos unidos apoyando a los dos.
Los americanos son así, a ellos no les interesa lo que se haga más allá de sus fronteras y si algo se hace dentro pero no los involucra tampoco le dan la cobertura. Ayer hubo más personas que en la final de Clásico Mundial dónde jugó Estados Unidos.
Y si, ojalá los chamos mañana logren el hito se clasifiquen a París, sería una noticia gigantesca.