What competition will be played again in Colombia?

A football competition that was previously held in South America, will return again next year in Colombia. This is the U-23 Pre-Olympic Championship. This tournament will award two places to the Olympic Games that will be held next year in Tokyo.

Undoubtedly it is a contest in which great stars emerged, and helped them achieving much recognition in South America. For example, Ronaldinho Gaucho who shined in 1999 in the championship that was held successfully in Londrina.

This time, in Colombia, each of the games will be developed in three locations such as Pereira, Bucaramanga and Armenia. The contest will be held from January 18 to February 9. According to Antena 2, it will be played with two groups of five each, and then a home run will be made.

LatinAmerican Post spoke with the renowned journalist Carlos 'El Pini' Patiño, who spoke about this competition that will return again in January. A contest that will serve the coaches of the combined to see players with a view to the qualifiers heading to Qatar 2022.

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A traditional competition returns

“Undoubtedly, the return of this tournament is a good option for the youth players to show their talent and learn to play for the national selection. It will also be an excellent alternative that allows coaches to see future stars, ” said Patiño.

According to him, with this championship, new job opportunities will be opened in restaurants and commercially. He believes that great talents will emerge, and more opportunities will be presented that will allow them to excel and stand out greatly.

Likewise, the journalist stressed that there is always new blood that wants to break the obstacles in football, it serves as preparation and thanks to that a good alternative arises for the players who since their process have been asking for a clue to represent their country internationally.

In previous times, this competition, generated the departure of several coaches of the selected seniors, due to the poor results, as happened with Javier Álvarez when Colombia finished thrashing 9-0 by Brazil in Londrina, being eliminated by a wide difference of goals.

When questioned, whether directing these U-23 casts represents a risk for the coaches of the older teams, Patiño said that managing these squads serves the strategists in preparation for the upcoming championships, defining game styles and strategies.

Since 2004, this competition had disappeared, and for the Beijing 2008, London 2012 and Rio de Janeiro 2016 Olympics, Conmebol representatives won their seats in the U-20 South American championships, where the champion and runner-up qualified.

Faced with this measure, the reporter said that this was a good alternative for soccer players who wanted their process to be asking for a clue to represent their country in international tournaments, emerging as a great hotbed with a view to this world competition.

In the Pre-Olympic, the most prominent selected have been Brazil and Argentina. According to statistics provided by Sports Venezuela, the Brazilian team has won 7 titles of this competition, while the Argentine won 4 first places.

It should be noted that the players who participated in this contest are those born in 1997, and in the Olympics there may be three reinforcements without age restrictions. The two teams that achieve the title and the subtitle will access directly, while the third will play a repechage.

In Chile 2004, this competition had been disputed for the last time, and the squads that directly classified the Athens Olympics were Argentina and Paraguay, the third parties did not have the opportunity to dispute the playoffs, and both casts reached the end of this contest Olympic.

How are the teams preparing for this competition?

The Argentine team will be led by coach Fernando Batista, and there is a joint effort in the gaucho team with Lionel Scaloni that has allowed them to plan, train and rehearse. According to, La Nación, names like Exequiel Palacios, Gonzalo Montiel and Adolfo Gaich allow us to be excited.

On the other hand, in the Colombian National Team, there will be coach, Arturo Reyes, who in his list of summoned for friendly games mentioned Nicolás Benedetti who has stood out with the shirt of América de México, acting as a midfielder or extreme left, As Colombia reviewed.

In turn, the Chileans are directed by Bernardo Redin, technical assistant of Reinaldo Rueda, who has been betting on young talents with a view to the future. In a recent friendly duel against the Brazilians, they fell 3-1, and according to latercera.com, there are many defensive weaknesses.

Given this type of preparation, Patiño ended by ensuring that between more competition and national and international games, he will have the opportunity to get together with the best, with the aim of improving, correcting and establishing new work rhythms towards the future.