The mini-Tri arrives in Colombia to defend the South American U-20 title

The Ecuadorian U-20 team arrived this morning in Colombia to start the defense of the South American title won in 2019. Jimmy Bran’s team integrates group B, in which he will debut on Friday against Chilein the town of Palmyra.

The national team made a stopover in Bogotá before continuing on its way to Cali, home of the mini-Tri for the South American. “We are looking forward to the tournamentwe know the responsibility we have and the boys have worked in the best wayThey have taken advantage of all the tools that have been given to them, they have been well assimilated”, commented the strategist.

Javier Mascherano, Pablo Escobar and Jimmy Bran, among the young coaches who will debut in the South American sub-20

The tournament starts on Thursday 17:00 with the duel between Peru and Brazil for group A, but the debut of the reigning champion will be on Friday from 7:30 p.m. between Ecuador and Chileat the Deportivo Cali stadium.

“We want to be a compact team, quite united from line to lineto be able to manage the game, to be protagonists and when we don’t have the ball be aggressive to get it back”, Bran advanced about the game proposal with his managers.

The team that precedes the one managed by Bran achieved a historic South American title in the sub-20 category, which also earned him the qualifying for the World Cup Poland 2019 where the Ecuadorian team placed third, goals set in the planning of the Ecuadorian helmsman and his squad.

The youth coach arrives with a group that already climbed to the podium of the Bolivarian Games in the event held in Paraguay, last October. The mini-Tri was second in their group after 3-2 wins against Colombia and 2-1 over Chile. At the end of the phase they fell to Argentina 3-0. In the semifinals they beat Uruguay 3-1 and in the match for the gold medal they fell 1-0 to Paraguay.

“With the coaching staff and the boys we talk about the ‘pressure’ we have, but that responsibility leads us to do things well. Why not qualify for a World Cup again or be in the final stages to defend our title? that we want, representing your country has no name, it is a very nice feeling. Let’s go with that pride”, he indicated.

The South American in Colombia is played in two groups with five selections. The A has Ecuador as the seed and is completed by Bolivia, Chile, Uruguay and Venezuela. Group B has Colombia, Argentina, Brazil, Peru and Paraguay.

The top three teams from each group advance to the final phase, where the title will be disputed, the four spots for the World Cup in Indonesia 2023 (May) and three passes to the Pan American Games, in November, in Chile. (D)