The coach of Peru, Ricardo Gareca, will not only define tomorrow a possible pass, for the second time in a row, to the World Cup playoffs, but also his permanence at the head of the Blanquirroja, in a transcendental set against Paraguay.
Gareca reaches a key point in his career seven years after being chosen by Peru’s sports director, Juan Carlos Oblitas, to start a process that revolutionized the Peruvian team.
In 2018, Peru ranked fifth in the qualifiers after drawing in Lima (1-1) with Colombia, which allowed it to qualify for the World Cup against New Zealand and break a streak of 36 years without attending a Cup in Russia. of the world.
Although the Blanquirroja lost 1-0 against Denmark and France, and beat Australia 2-0, participation in the World Cup became a party that marked the sporting history of the country, by summoning thousands of Peruvians to the distant Russia.
In addition to that classification, Gareca returned the Peruvian national team to South American prominence, reaching third place in the 2015 Copa América in Chile, second place in Brazil 2019 and fourth place in Brazil 2021.
The coach renewed his contract to continue with Peru in the process towards Qatar 2022 in August 2018, after taking a month in which, according to his own confession, he waited to receive a long-awaited proposal to lead Argentina.
In recent months, when asked about the interest that other teams, such as Colombia or Chile, allegedly have, he remarked that “the priority continues to be the Peruvian team.”
However, given the interest that the Peruvian Football Federation (FPF) has in ensuring its continuity, it has stated that the best thing for now is to wait for the elimination process to be completed. In addition to Gareca, the entire sports area of the Peruvian team, led by Oblitas, is one step away from ending his contract with the FPF, although he also has automatic renewal clauses if he qualifies for the World Cup.
Beyond the final result of this process, the work of the coach at the head of Peru is approved by 90% of Peruvians.
The Peruvians are optimistic about the possibility of securing the playoff in the match of the last day that will be played this Tuesday against Paraguay in the Nacional de Lima. Despite taking Peru from ninth place to a possible qualification in these qualifiers, Gareca has always displayed measured optimism about the World Cup process.
Last Thursday, after losing 1-0 to Uruguay in a controversial match, the coach admitted that he had “expectations of going to the World Cup directly”, but asked to turn the page to focus fully on the match against Paraguay.
“You have to overcome, there is always the possibility of achieving another opportunity,” he said before emphasizing that Peru has “shown signs of being a team that reacts right now.”
Peru arrives at the last day of the qualifiers in fifth place in the standings, with 21 points, one more than Colombia and two more than Chile, so it depends on itself to define its fate, and the permanence of the coach with the which regained international prominence.
