Players like Allen Obando, who remained hidden in the clubs on the coast – which is the case with the center forward of Barcelona SC -, the South American U-17 Championship allowed us to discover them. The 16-year-old striker is being checked by almost a hundred international scouts who are looking for talents that will bring them closer to European teams.

Kendry Paéz (15) has a solid option to be bought by the big man from the Old Continent. When the Guayaquil midfielder turns 18, the institution that acquires his rights will be formed for him. That is why its panorama is different from that of Obando. When the South American is finished and Obando returns to Barcelona SC, Esmeraldean will be delayed. I’m not saying he should always be a starter in the Canarian first team, but Obando should be given the chance to play often.

It would be incomprehensible if, after the South American Barcelona, ​​SC Obanda was sent to compete in the under-17 tournaments of the Guayas Football Association. It must be ensured that this footballer has the sporting progress that the main teams of Guayaquil stopped offering to the youth a long time ago.

Something similar to what could happen with Obanda has already happened to Barcelona SC with Leonardo Campana. In 2019, Campana was the top scorer in the South American under-20 competition won by Ecuador (the striker also stood out at the World Championship in the category where the Tricolori won the bronze medal). The institution of bullfighting was neglected, could not keep him, did not renew his contract, and Barcelona SC lost money and property with Campano.

My advice to the management of Barcelona is to promote Obando to the first team at the end of the U-17 South American. Carlos Alfaro Moreno knows how to work in training schools. They must try to connect the striker with European football, improve their environment and even review the legal part to ensure the interests of the club.

Barcelona SC cannot repeat, with Obanda, the bitter experience of hiding a young promise. How many more will be in the same situation? How many more will the same thing happen? The shipyard teams completely neglected their side departments. We are full of foreigners – eight for each team in the Pro League – and we are nationalized and we are going backwards, especially in Guayaquil, in the formation work.

The Liga de Quito has begun to correct that mistake. Also, to a certain extent, Aucas, not to mention Independiente del Valle. But Emelec, for example, lends Dixon Vera Libertada, from Loja. That young man could have learned more in his own club, but for this year 2023, they appointed four footballers, and several of them are foreigners. How is it possible that Emelec brings a young man from Colombia (Juan José Pérez) and Libertada borrows a young man from an electric quarry!

It also happened in Barcelona SC. They loaned Jean Carlos Montaña to Guayaquil City, got him back, but we never saw him again. We are wrong. After the South American U-17 against Allen Obando, they can’t hide it. (OR)