America endured, reacted, rallied and celebrated in the loneliness of Barranquilla, for a victory against Millonarios necessary but not definitive, at the start of the B home run of the Betplay II League 2021.
And much of that 2-1 victory, agonizing and worked, had to do with the duel of strategies: the courage of Juan Carlos Osorio vs the safety of Alberto Gamero.
Both teams signed a first half of those that move between the tactical and the boring: they did not dare to hurt themselves. But in the complement, a different story was written, which rewarded the bravery of one over the precautions of the other.
Osorio won the pulse in the line with adjustments that were decisive: in the 63rd minute he refreshed the midfield by changing Paz for Malagón and gave a new impulse to the attack by ordering the arrival of Ureña for Angulo. Note that they were two men with good performance, but that was precisely the bet, to confuse the rival and force him to move the board and open spaces.
But not only that, the arrival of Sierra for Gómez, at 71 minutes, had a double effect: it allowed DT to take care of a Gómez who had already escaped the red and allowed to advance the lines for the auction of the game. Although the key movement went through talent, as Osorio took out an immovable, Lucumí, to give space and confidence to a disputed, Joao Rodríguez. And it was the latter who scored the winning goal, at minute 88, precisely in an assist from Sierra.
Perhaps America did not plan the suffering, but surely he was clear about the plan to endure and counter to enforce his temporary home in Barranquilla.
And how did Gamero respond? When Osorio rethought the game with his first four changes (Torres came in for Ramos at the end, but everything had already been said), the adjustment was Perlaza for a Ruiz exhausted in the coverage of the band and Andrés Gómez for Emerson Rodríguez, who did not have a especially inspired party.
At that point, Millonarios won and it was a valuable prize to order the withdrawal, but the real effect was that, without Ruiz, there were fewer headaches for the Americans, who had more space and time for the counterattack.
But the change that came out worst was that of Murillo for Silva, at 79: it is true that the blue leader was exhausted, that the contribution of the goal could be enough to relieve him and give space to fresher players, but with Murillo the message was go completely against Ruiz’s goal and that ended up playing against it. It is worth saying that the newcomer was the one who reached into the area for the 1-1 penalty.
When Jader Valencia arrived for Vertel, America had already come back and, although they had done a great job against Nacional, this time they had neither continuity nor time to avoid defeat.
In the end, Osorio’s chips were all for the victory, because it was what corresponded to the local team. Those of Gamero, on the other hand, tried to lower the blind when they had three points in the bag and, in the end, remain empty-handed. A checkmate from courage to caution.
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