Renato Tapia (Lima, 1995), Leganés midfielder, He is a key figure for the Peruvian team and exercises leadership that has already led him to proudly wear the captain’s armband. He did it right after the last America’s Cupwhich was lost when his country’s federation did not give him security in case of injury while he was without a club.
For him, all that was “very hard,” He stated in an interview with Agencia EFE, and now hopes to be able to make up for it by competing in the next World, a complicated challenge considering how the qualifying phase has started for his team. Even so, he believes that if it is achieved “make a fort in the National Stadium”, the objective will be achieved.
Q: What does it mean to wear the captain’s armband of the Peruvian team?
A: It is something very beautiful, a child’s dream. I lived a few blocks from where the National Team trained and I always saw the bus leaving the concentrations, going to the stadium with many people. And now that it touches me from that aspect, the truth is that it fills me with a lot of pride and makes me very happy, very happy.
Q: You did not play in the Copa América, you did not reach an agreement with the Federation by not giving you that security in case of injury while you were without a contract. Were you disappointed with their attitude? Would you have liked them to act differently?
A: What hurt me the most is that I was not treated well as a person. Because as a footballer, as a professional, everyone can have their opinion and their doubt about what can happen or what they should do. But I think that as a person I fell to the ground, they didn’t care what I could suddenly feel if the ‘insurance’ in quotes, the support of the federation, was not given or was not achieved.
Like so many decisions in my life, and especially in my professional career, I took into account the person issue. I think that I was not valued and that is also why I made the decision not to go.
Q. How hard was it to watch the Copa América from home?
A: Very difficult. The first game was very complicated. The first few days I disconnected from everything, literally everything. It was very hard, but it was what it had to do. I had to try to be strong and move forward, because I knew that my future was also at stake. It was hard, really.
Q: Were you afraid that your image would be damaged in the eyes of Peruvian fans, that they would say that you were the one who had not wanted to go? Were you worried about that?
A: It was done. I recently heard they said they had gotten the insurance. If they had achieved it, I would have played. Needless to say, I wouldn’t want to go. It is impossible, on top of that without a club it was the perfect opportunity for me to have a very good Copa América and get a club in better conditions.
It is a little crazy to say that I did not want to have more than 80 games in the National Team, having gone almost ten years in a row to all the calls. I think everyone is up to the speculation and thought they want to have. As a person I think I’m not going to accept criticism because I don’t think it’s even close to what it is.
Q: The proof is that he has returned. Qualification for the World Cup is getting a little complicated for them. What do they need to correct course? Is there still time?
A: It’s complicated. In these qualifying rounds everything has become very even. While it is true that six qualify, plus one in the play-offs, it is very complicated. Bolivia is using its home field very well, Venezuela is also coming at a very good pace. Uruguay joined with many boys who are already being very important in their team. Ecuador, also very good.
I think all the teams are going very well. What we have to correct is win at home. Winning at home is going to give us life. We have to make a fort in the National Stadium and get three points in all the games, that will give us classification for sure.
Q: More so after beating Uruguay, the first official victory since March 2022. Did that mean taking a weight off your shoulders?
A: I don’t think winning is a correction. I think it is true that many things were done well, that we got three points, which was what we had to do. But in the end the athlete and the footballer above all are left with the sensations and we left with the feeling that the next game was not the best. I think that’s what one stays with.
Obviously adding three is spectacular, but that feeling of having done well against Uruguay at home and then going to Brazil and losing 4-0 was a little bittersweet. I am sure that if we continue in this line of getting points at home, things will go very well.
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Q: Is the transition taking too long after so much time with Gareca?
A: It is always complicated, especially having had two post-Gareca technicians. I think that the period with Juan Reynoso was very short, we did not have the time to say that things did not go in the best way. Fossati came in with another game idea as well. Bringing in a coach like Fossati or Reynoso obviously changes.
In all clubs it has always changed and in the national teams even more so. Everything is a process, although it is true that in the playoffs you do not have the time to give a coach freedom to work. I think we are grasping Professor Fossati’s idea, that the process is being respected and that things are going much better. We already saw it in the victory against Uruguay.
