Independiente del Valle, which had placed third in group C of the Copa Libertadores, will finally be Boca’s rival in the round of 16 of the Copa Sudamericana. The Ecuadorians have been one of the best teams in their country for years, they have several Argentines on their roster and they will seek to upset Xeneize again as they did in 2016.
For the fans of the blue and gold, the memory of the elimination of the Libertadores semifinals against the Rayados eight years ago is fresh. Since then, the Ecuadorian team has established itself as a club that produces great figures and has contributed many footballers to its team.
The team is led by the Argentine Javier Gandolfi, former coach of Talleres, and although it did not set foot as strongly at the continental level as other times when it was eliminated in the area that Palmeiras and San Lorenzo advanced, it has just finished as leader in the first phase of the Pro League of their country after a 1-0 victory over Orense and closed the first semester with three wins in a row.
In the 21 games of the year, Independiente won 12, lost only three and tied the remaining six. Furthermore, due to his performance at the local level, he made sure to play in the final of the competition and qualified for the next edition of the Libertadores. In recent times, Matagigantes lifted the Sudamericana in 2019 and 2022 and the Recopa last year.
As for football, the big star is midfielder Kendry Páez, only 17 years old, who has already been called up to his national team and will be in the Copa América in the United States. The boy is pointed out as the great surprise of football in his country and even he was already sold to Chelsea in England, but he has not left yet because he has not reached the age of majority.
However, Páez is not the only product of his training that surprised the world. From his ranks, Moisés Caicedo, a midfielder who is currently in Chelsea, Piero Hincapié, defender of Tri and Bayer Leverkusen, and Gonzalo Plata, forward with a past in the national team, emerged, among many others.
In addition, the squad includes renowned soccer players such as Moisés Ramírez, the team’s goalkeeper, Romario Ibarra, who was part of Tri, and Junior Sornoza, a key man in that team that eliminated Xeneize. But it is also a squad with a high Argentine presence beyond the coach. In total there are seven: Guido Villar, Mateo Carabajal, Richard Schunke, Joaquín Pombo, Cristian Zabala, Lautaro Díaz and Michael Hoyos.
2024-06-09 02:51:00
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