Oriente Petrolero will debut on Wednesday in the group stage of the Copa Sudamericana. He will do so by visiting Fluminense at the Maracana stadium, starting at 6:15 p.m. Both are part of group H of the tournament, which is also made up of Unión de Santa Fe from Argentina and Junior from Colombia.
The technical director of the refineries, Erwin Sánchez, prior to the trip to Rio de Janeiro, expressed his perception that their team is considered the weakest of the group.
“Without a doubt, it is a strong group, with four different styles of football. We, as we have been saying since the beginning of this season, want to do things well and it will be a very important challenge to face great teams… Little by little we have been preparing ourselves to reach this situation in the best way and although we are considered the weakest team in the group, We are still enthusiastic about competing and doing things well”, expressed Platiní.
The coach of the albiverdes was analyzing team by team and started by Fluminense, his first rival in this phase, which over the weekend won the Carioca Championship, a regional tournament in the state of Rio de Janeiro, by drawing (1-1) with Flamengo, since they had won 2-0 in the first leg.
“Fluminense has players with a lot of experience and also young players who transmit another speed to their team. We know the respect we have to have for each one of them, but we must not confuse respect with fear,” he said.
He also referred to Unión de Santa Fe, team that on Friday lost (2-1) in its visit to Patronato and currently ranks sixth in group A, out of 14 teams, in the first division championship in Argentina.
“If Unión is inside a strong championship like the Argentine one, which every year is taking out players for Europe and for the MLS, We will still have the same precautions. As I say, it is a nice and beautiful challenge to face these teams, ”he added.
The other member of the group is Junior from Barranquilla, which on Saturday beat Alianza Petrolera (3-1) for date 14 of the Colombian championship. Among 20 teams, the white and red team occupies the fifth place in the standings.
“We also know Junior, because we have faced him, we have not been able to beat them in any of the times that we have played with them, I think they are going to be nice games to also find out what level we are at,” said Sánchez.
The delegation from the East decided to travel this Monday night (22:50) to Brazil on charter flight. After playing the match against Fluminense, in Rio de Janeiro, the delegation will return to Santa Cruz and its arrival is scheduled for Thursday.
Eastern parties in the South American Cup:
GROUP H
Wednesday April 6
Rio de Janeiro: Fluminense 18:15 East P.
Tuesday April 12
Santa Cruz: East P. 18:15 Santa Fe Union
Thursday April 28
Santa Cruz: East P. 20:30 Junior
Thursday May 5
Santa Fe: Union of Santa Fe 18:15 East P.
Tuesday, May 17, 2022
Barranquilla: Junior 20:30 East P.
Thursday May 26
