Luis Perea: “Colombia is going into the Copa America with a strong group”
The Atleti defender is heading into the tournament in good form
The Copa America is one of the three most international important football events together with the World and European Cups. Several Atlético de Madrid players will take part in the competition after having finished up there club duties. One of them, Luis Amarante Perea, talked about the form of his national team, Colombia, and how they are approaching this new challenge.
After wrapping up a great season in which he was a crucial piece of the squad coached by Quique Sánchez Flores, and during which he passed Argentine Jorge Griffa for most league games played in the ‘rojiblanco’ jersey by a foreign player, Perea goes into the 2011 Copa America excitedly and confidently in his country’s chances. “I’m really looking forward to it. Colombia has a great group, but we’re all playing in Europe. It will be a pretty special camp after the last Copa America, which was horrible for us. Our fans have a lot of faith in this group and that places a lot of responsibility on us,” assured the international.
It should be recalled that the Colombian National team began a new era in 2011, after naming Hernán Darío ‘Bolillo’ Gómez as head coach for the second time. On February 9, Colombia played a friendly match against Spain, the reigning World Champions, at Santiago Bernabéu Stadium. Later, Colombia returned to Spain to play another friendly against Ecuador in preparation of the 2011 Copa America. The match was played at Vicente Calderón Stadium on March 26, 2011 and Colombia left a very good image.
Their biggest international success was when they won the Copa America in 2001, that tournament held in Colombia (they went undefeated over the course of the whole competition). Thanks to that title, the team took part in the 2003 Confederations Cup, where they finished in fourth place. With regards to junior competitions, they took third place at the Under-20 World Cup in 2003 held in the United Arab Emirates and then fourth place at the Under-20 World Cup that same year. They also nabbed a fourth-place finish at the 2009 Under-17 World Cup held in Nigeria.
“Colombia has created a group with a very good defence. We really get on well with each other, although we lack a bit of offensive firepower. But, in general, we’re a very strong team. We have good players, guys who have been scoring a lot of goals in their leagues, and we hope that they find the goal in this tournament,” he emphasized.
On a personal level, Perea highlighted that “I feel great, I’m really looking forward to it and am confident. Playing with the national team is really special; you always want to leave everything on the pitch. I’m getting older, I’m starting to be one of the more veteran players and my chances of getting in the national team are growing smaller. I want to have a good tournament and take an important step in the team qualifying for the World Cup.”
Asked about the favorites of this competition, the Atlético center back stated that “because of their history, Brazil and Argentina will always be the favorites. Chile has a good squad, and Uruguay and Ecuador also have very strong squads. The truth is that we’re going to face very strong opponents in this Copa America. Many of them are coming off a good World Cup and that gives them a small advantage. There are national teams that have very strong offensive players and that’s dangerous. We don’t feel inferior to anybody, but we know that some of them have more work at their backs. We’re not going to put a roof on how far we can go; we want to compete and go as far as possible.”
Playing in the same group as Colombia will be Argentina, undoubtedly one of the toughest teams in the Copa America, along with Uruguay and Chile. If Kun Agüero ends up participating with the rest of his countrymen, he will face off against Perea, which the Colombian laughed about and played down its importance. “We haven’t spoken much about that subject. We get along really well and know each other. I hope that when we play each other we won’t see each other much (laughs). We play on different national teams and we leave our friendship aside. The only thing that we want is for their not to be any injuries, but both Argentina and ourselves are going to play our cards and will go out as hard as we can,” he concluded.
After wrapping up a great season in which he was a crucial piece of the squad coached by Quique Sánchez Flores, and during which he passed Argentine Jorge Griffa for most league games played in the ‘rojiblanco’ jersey by a foreign player, Perea goes into the 2011 Copa America excitedly and confidently in his country’s chances. “I’m really looking forward to it. Colombia has a great group, but we’re all playing in Europe. It will be a pretty special camp after the last Copa America, which was horrible for us. Our fans have a lot of faith in this group and that places a lot of responsibility on us,” assured the international.
It should be recalled that the Colombian National team began a new era in 2011, after naming Hernán Darío ‘Bolillo’ Gómez as head coach for the second time. On February 9, Colombia played a friendly match against Spain, the reigning World Champions, at Santiago Bernabéu Stadium. Later, Colombia returned to Spain to play another friendly against Ecuador in preparation of the 2011 Copa America. The match was played at Vicente Calderón Stadium on March 26, 2011 and Colombia left a very good image.
Their biggest international success was when they won the Copa America in 2001, that tournament held in Colombia (they went undefeated over the course of the whole competition). Thanks to that title, the team took part in the 2003 Confederations Cup, where they finished in fourth place. With regards to junior competitions, they took third place at the Under-20 World Cup in 2003 held in the United Arab Emirates and then fourth place at the Under-20 World Cup that same year. They also nabbed a fourth-place finish at the 2009 Under-17 World Cup held in Nigeria.
“Colombia has created a group with a very good defence. We really get on well with each other, although we lack a bit of offensive firepower. But, in general, we’re a very strong team. We have good players, guys who have been scoring a lot of goals in their leagues, and we hope that they find the goal in this tournament,” he emphasized.
On a personal level, Perea highlighted that “I feel great, I’m really looking forward to it and am confident. Playing with the national team is really special; you always want to leave everything on the pitch. I’m getting older, I’m starting to be one of the more veteran players and my chances of getting in the national team are growing smaller. I want to have a good tournament and take an important step in the team qualifying for the World Cup.”
Asked about the favorites of this competition, the Atlético center back stated that “because of their history, Brazil and Argentina will always be the favorites. Chile has a good squad, and Uruguay and Ecuador also have very strong squads. The truth is that we’re going to face very strong opponents in this Copa America. Many of them are coming off a good World Cup and that gives them a small advantage. There are national teams that have very strong offensive players and that’s dangerous. We don’t feel inferior to anybody, but we know that some of them have more work at their backs. We’re not going to put a roof on how far we can go; we want to compete and go as far as possible.”
Playing in the same group as Colombia will be Argentina, undoubtedly one of the toughest teams in the Copa America, along with Uruguay and Chile. If Kun Agüero ends up participating with the rest of his countrymen, he will face off against Perea, which the Colombian laughed about and played down its importance. “We haven’t spoken much about that subject. We get along really well and know each other. I hope that when we play each other we won’t see each other much (laughs). We play on different national teams and we leave our friendship aside. The only thing that we want is for their not to be any injuries, but both Argentina and ourselves are going to play our cards and will go out as hard as we can,” he concluded.