The tournament of the bumps, wants more. And while miracles exist, this team is far from the greatest feat ever achieved by Dominican football. So the story may double this Friday, when the Dominican Republic will face its counterpart Guatemala, in the showdown of the great intruders.
After giving the great clarion call against El Salvador on Sunday (5-4), the merengue nation also gave the blow against the equally powerful Caribbean Jamaica (1-0), so their enormous feat of securing a ticket to the 2023 World Cup in Indonesia , seeks to lengthen the rod until the Paris Olympics (2024).
The Dominican rival, Guatemala, not because it is another intruder in the great fair, will not be a regular riding rival. He arrives at the World Cup leaving nothing more and less than two true powers of Concacaf, such as Canada and Mexico.
The Dominican Republic apparently has the greatest options to continue advancing towards the unimaginable, such as playing the grand final of the tournament, where its favorable factors must converge on the field against the Chapines.
Another lunar rise
The Quisqueyan brand will have to deal – just like its rival – with the nerves of seeing each other where no one even dreamed of it, carried by two international figures who play in the MLS, and other important figures in the domestic league (LDF ).
This historic team has shown enormous stature against their counterparts who are World Cup players in the Absolute, thanks in large part to figures such as the handle of the attack and captain of the selected team, Edison Azcona (Inter Miami), goalkeeper Xavier Valdez (Houston Dinamo) and the revelation of the contest, Ángel Montes de Oca (Cibao FC).
Both Azcona and Montes de Oca were lethal in the direct elimination stage, the former deciding the match against the Salvadorans with a great goal; while the localist killed the Reggae Boys.
What will they face? A team that does not know fear, while it has left two that take the mile along the way, although with a dose of some luck (both matches won on penalties), it undoubtedly has great resilience.
They will face an ultra defensive formation, with the 5-4-1 used by Rafael Loredo.
However, coach Mariano Tejeda warned that against everything, the troops will go for the result head-on, without speculation.
“We want to continue this story, and we are going to look for victory from the start of the match.” Guatemala has in Jorge Moreno the greatest standard, a feline with fourteen lives in the three suits, so difficult to beat on penalties, that they owe their permanence to the goalkeeper. But the most representative figure of him is the center forward, Arquímedes Ordóñez, who works for FC Cincinnati in the MLS.
Well placed team
The greatest merit of the Creoles has been an equally surprising tactical and systemic approach, showing great discipline in both aspects. His style is the standard 4-4-2.
The defense, with Charbel Wehbe, Sebastián Mañón, Keffler Martes and the versatile Israel Boatwright, seems more than effective. Not to mention the average, led by Azcona and De Oca, in addition to Ányelo Gómez, a duet that adds up as two net forwards. The goalkeeper looks very promising.
Many of those names come with great promise of promotion in Europe, especially Italy and the Miami estate itself (Miami Academy), where the Captain came from.
Tejeda also took for granted that each player knows that they can still achieve more in the Premundial in Honduras.
“Here we all have the mentality of achieving results based on a lot of work, and that is what we have done in this team”.
FILE
Time: 6:00 p.m. (ESPN). The winner will be unprecedented in the JJ.OO.