Deportivo Independiente Medellín will begin the group stage in the 2022 South American Cup against Guaireña from Paraguay, this Thursday at the Defensores del Chaco stadium in Asunción. This will be a historic meeting for the ‘albiceleste’ team, who will seek to surprise in this continental competition. On the occasion of this match, the president of the club Luis Cáceres spoke with FUTBOLRED about the challenges that his team has and the debut against the powerful.
To put them in context, Guaireña is a soccer club founded in 2016 based on the clubs of the Guaireña Soccer League. This team is originally from the city of Villarrica, Department of Guairá, located 150 kilometers from the capital Asunción.
In 2016 he was promoted from the National Interleague Championship (Third Division) to the Intermediate Division (Second Division), in the 2019 season he was crowned champion of this competition, rising to the First Division in the 2020 season. In his first participation in professional football accumulated 26 points, with which it was placed in sixth position, qualifying for the 2021 South American Cup where it faced River Plate from Paraguay falling in the first phase, for this 2022, the ‘albiceleste’ team surpassed Nacional de Asunción, managing to enter to the Group Phase, where they will face, in addition to DIM, Internacional from Brazil and October 9 from Ecuador.
FUTBOLRED: Tell us a little about the history of Guaireña?
JC: Guaireña has its origin in the Guaireña Football League, which plays in the city of Villarrica, 150 kilometers from Asunción. This League was amateur, we achieved the UFI Interleague Championship in 2016, in 2017 we started in the Second Division until 2019, where we rose to the First Division, in 2020, we reached the semifinal of the championship, falling against Guaraní, but qualifying for the Cup. Sudamericana 2021, now we were able to advance in the Copa Sudamericana 2022 to the group stage. We are turning six years old on March 28 and what better way to celebrate it than facing a great Colombian like Independiente Medellín. 7 years ago we were playing amateur tournaments and now we are at the international level, which indicates good management as a club. Our objective is to consolidate ourselves in the First Division, these participations help us to clean up the club’s economy, we are adding prestige.
What do you know about Deportivo Independiente Medellín?
JC: It is a great team from Colombia, they are currently very well in the Colombian championship, in the first positions and they will arrive in Paraguay with the objective of taking the three points. We know that, in the group together with October 9, we are the teams that are going to fight with two great ones like DIM and Internacional de Brasil. We are prepared for the double competition, both in the local and international championships, with all the confidence and security that we will compete as much as possible and seek to leave the three points in Paraguay. We will play in Asunción, because our stadium does not meet Conmebol’s conditions.
What are the figures of Guaireña?
JC: Yeiber Murillo is a Colombian-Venezuelan striker with very good conditions. There are also midfielders Richard Salinas, Pablo Ayala, goalkeeper Héctor Espínola. It is a fairly young squad, almost 80 percent renovated compared to last year, the average age was one of the highest in the Paraguayan championship, we have already been able to lower it considerably.
Analyzing the group, what are Guaireña’s expectations in this Copa Sudamericana?
JC: This group is complicated for us, taking into account the hierarchy, the history and the economic power of the rivals. This is a club from the interior, with working, ordinary people, there are no businessmen and not much support from the local government. We have a lot of sacrifice, a lot of humility and the desire to compete to the fullest. The squad is aware of what is being played and we are representing an entire department, soccer from the interior and Paraguayan soccer. This first game is essential to maintain the chances of qualifying, it will be a nice game, a good audience, there are many people who will travel from our city to Asunción, also many Guaireños who live in Asunción and we hope they can join us.
Guaireña is a team known for its clothing, what is the reason for this innovation?
JC: Since we rose to the First Division, Guaireña has been known for its clothing, with the company that dresses us, the idea is to have personalized designs, using typical elements of our city. Villarrica is known as the cradle of culture in Paraguay, it is also very religious and the designers of the Kyrios company were inspired by that, to adapt all those symbols in designing a shirt like the third we have for this season, with which we will play in various matches of the Copa Sudamericana.
Juan Camilo Alvarez Serrano
FUTBOLRED Correspondent
Medellin
En Twitter: @juanchoserran8
