Argentine press sees Unión de Santa Fe alive in Barranquilla

The Argentine press, especially from Santa Fe, arrived in Barranquilla to cover the game between Unión and Junior ahead of the final day of Group H of the 2022 South American Cup.

The feeling among the gaucho communicators is that ‘Tatenge’ has options to classify in ‘Curramba’, but they make it clear that the duel will be even, perhaps with a bit of favoritism for the team ‘Tiburón’, which has players on the payroll. has more experience and international travel.

Gustavo Borsato, of Aires de Santa Fe, believes Thursday’s duel at the Metropolitano stadium is “50 and 50”, highlighting the “prestige” and “history” of the venue against “hunger” and “strength” . the visitor.

“The truth is there are no favourites, the duel is 50 and 50 for me. But if I had to pick one, I think Junior, because of the prestige of his players, because of his history in international tournaments and because he is local, has a certain favoritism, very small. But this means nothing, because I think Union has managed to play in this South American Cup against that adversity and without favoritism on its back,” said Borsato in dialogue with EL HERALDO.

For his part, Adrián Brodsky, of Santa Fe’s LT9, spoke about the strengths of Junior and Unión, which they will try to impose today to qualify for the round of 16 of the continental tournament.

“With Junior, I lived the experience in Santa Fe — in the first game between the two teams in this Group H of the South American — after reporting the match and observing their movements. Perhaps that day I was left with the image that is not the real one because, as Munúa – a technician from Unión de Santa Fe – said, they presented a different schedule of what they usually do and what they will definitely do tomorrow (this Thursday ) in your stadium. The image I have of Junior is that of a compact team, with a profession, that manages time, that knows how to play with the desperation of the rival, that knows when to take cover and when to counterattack to go. A team that, though small in its proposal -in Argentina-, was Union intelligent and complicated. I know it’s going to be different here, it’s going to be different. They have a striker with a hierarchy like Miguel Borja, who can control a close game on his own, and they have Hinestroza, who hurts on the left side. Junior is a very interesting team, with good individuals,” said Brodsky.

“Unión focuses its strength on dynamism, on the drive to be a modern team. He has a lot of high pressure, dynamism, he doesn’t let the rival breathe when he goes looking for him. When the opponent has the ball, he presses on him, harass him, they go two against one permanently. And when they have the ball, they don’t make possession of the ball a cult, on the contrary, they are a fast team. Having to go out tomorrow (Thursday) to look for the game is not an unfavorable circumstance for me, but rather a good thing for Unión, because it is their strongest point, and if they know how to take advantage of it , they will have a chance to qualify,” he added.

What the Argentine communicators are clear about is that Thursday’s match, in the ‘Colossus of the Citadel’, will be completely different from the one they saw at the 15 de Abril stadium in Santa Fe, where Unión and Junior equalized one goal. made.

“It will be an open game, with two teams looking for victory, because that’s what really works for both, but with great care. I think Union, coming to Barranquilla and not used to the temperature, will try to balance the loads a bit, force them to get 90 minutes in the best way. An open game and, I think, with a lot of scoring opportunities,” said Julián Buccolini of Radio Sol Play 91.5.

One of the factors Argentinians fear most when they have to play in Barranquilla is the intense heat and humidity that surrounds the city. This time it will be no exception, despite the Santa Fe weather being quite similar.

“The weather can be a mitigating factor, but that will have to be seen later in the course of the game. The weather is bad. In Santa Fe we have this climate in the summer, in December, in January, when there is normally no football and few games are played in this climate. We are not used to playing in this temperature. I was in 2018, in the Copa Sudamericana, when Junior played against Colón, and the Santa Fe team felt the decline in the second 45 minutes. So I think the climate problem could become an equally big inconvenience for the Union,” assured Juan Carlos Soldani of Radio Sol Play 91.5.

Finally, they talked about what could be the scoring duel between Miguel Borja and Uruguayan Jonatan Álvez, a former Junior player. Enrique Cruz, of Diario del Litoral and Radio Sol de Santa Fe, stated that if the match had been played a month and a half ago, Álvez would make the difference over the Cordovan, but today the Uruguayan arrives at half speed, after overcoming a serious injury who took him out of several competitions.

‘If you ask me this question – who is more decisive between Borja and Álvez? – would have asked a month and a half ago, I told you that Jonatan Álvez. Unfortunately, what happens is that at his best moment, when he was an unbalanced player and on his way to becoming an idol of the Unión fans, he suffered a fairly complicated injury to the sole of his foot that left him sidelined. for different games and didn’t come back the same. Today Borja is much more important for Junior than Jonatan Álvez is for Unión,” said Cruz.

“That factor – the low level of lvez – will be the key, especially for Unión, who has to win the game. Unión is a team that used to create a lot and didn’t specify, now it doesn’t make any more and continues without specifying. He needs Álvez’s scoring ability because it’s his only goal,” he added.

Cruz believes that if Álvez is not on his night, Unión should cling to what players like Franco Calderón and Mauro Luna Diale can do, the other cards to refer to the Argentina team.

“Unión has a good air game in Calderón, always winning one in a rival area, and I have a lot of confidence in Luna Diale, the other player who suddenly, when he has a good night, is a destabilizing factor,” he concluded.