Carlos Báez Appleyard, nicknamed “Aquiles”, the youngest captain to be crowned champion in the history of Club Cerro Porteño. He remembers the moment in which he had to face “Verdao” and analyzed how the international match should be faced on June 29 at Nueva Olla and on July 7 at Allianz Parque.
Carlos “Aquiles” Báez says that the expectations of the Cerro Porteño game against Palmeiras for the Copa Libertadores de América are high. “We have players capable of advancing this phase. Chiqui Arce is exposed to criticism, as well as all the technicians who passed through the institution were. All the preferences of Paraguayan soccer are very heavy, because they are usually people who do not understand much about soccer, with that I do not mean that they do not have the right to complain or swear, but all that must be absorbed, the professionals must be prepared for those situations ”.
“Cerro Porteño is displaying very interesting football, that is why I have high expectations for the team. That match against Libertad remained in my retina, if we reach that level of play, we will be able to advance to the next phase. In my case, today as a fan I want to accompany the delegation, be with the group, just by being there I think I can transmit positive energy, I always considered myself a positive man”, said the former Barça captain.
The former defender recalled his past as a footballer for the Independiente de Avellaneda club and said that “for us it was important that a Ricardo Bochini or certain people travel, that motivated us, that the former player come, support us, give us strength, that we have to winning, that makes any footballer feel good, and I have a lot of that to contribute to Cerro”.
“At the time we made ourselves respected, because these Brazilians from the moment you set foot in the airport make your life impossible, they make you the famous nerve game that everything must end on the field. However, you arrive at the field of play nervous, because they made you wait a long time at the airport, because the night before they threw bombs non-stop in front of your hotel, the ball passers who yell things at you, in the locker room they give you a stink bomb, there are many issues that we go through, so we had said that we would make ourselves respected no matter what happens, we are Cerro, anywhere is planted and that is what happened. Today it is a bit funny that people have remembered that moment of mine in those circumstances.
For Carlos “Aquiles” Báez, the key is to try to repeat the game that was played against Club Libertad, where Ciclón managed to win 4-0 in Nueva Olla. “We have to play the same game, and God allow that the same result can be given, to take advantage of that. In addition, Arce is a great connoisseur of Brazilian football and even more so of Palmeiras, that’s why I think no detail will escape him”.
“We don’t pay much attention to the statistics, we try to leave it aside, we must be focused on 180 minutes, we are not going to fill ourselves with movies, neither this, nor that, we have to think about the game and do the best we can. possible to move on to the next phase. We are not going to be filled with ghosts, or what happened here or there, we must go to Brazil to win, period”, remarked the one who wore the number 23 of the Barça entity.
The Paraguayan soccer championship has a break, since Guillermo Barros Schelotto’s Paraguayan Soccer Team is on a friendly tour in relation to a new World Cup process. Several clubs such as Cerro Porteño, took advantage of the situation to carry out a physical reconditioning. “This break was good for him, we hope that several players can recover, since the players who are injured are very important,” added Báez.
As for possible new additions to the Obrero neighborhood club, Carlos Báez does not agree very much. “I am not in favor of the reinforcements issue, with those who are at the moment important things can be obtained, I prefer to bet on the players who are, we have a great squad and I play for them, they are the ones who achieved this classification therefore they deserve to continue playing with this squad”.
“Cerro has to think only about Cerro, other things should not be analyzed, they should be convinced of what they have and go out and play the 180 minutes in the Libertadores. I want to tell the great Barça fans that we are going to face this match as it characterizes us, with a lot of humility and strength, as simple as that”, he concluded.
