Former Colombian international and Boca Juniors idol Mauricio Serna is not a person that holds back on an opinion. He spoke about several issues regarding Colombian football in an interview with Futbol Red where he criticised the national team as well as his beloved Atletico Nacional. The team are a shell of what it was when he started off professionally and what it was during his final years as a player.
“I don’t really like how Nacional play. They have no concept. They don’t have a style. Defensively, (Ramon Cabrero) has them always trying to find tactical order with seven or eight defenders at the back. They can’t put together four consecutive passes. They depend too much on what Jair Iglesias does on the left, as well as what Giovanni Moreno and (Ezequiel) Maggiolo do in the attack.”
Part of the reason is because Nacional have a small squad and it will limit their success in both the domestic tournament as well as internationally. The size of the Verdolaga is a fair indication of what has gone wrong in Colombian football for the past three years.
That level of play is part of the reason why clubs from the nation have done very little in the past couple of years at an international level. He blames that on the players as well as the level of competitiveness that the Colombian first division has at the present moment.
“The tournament is very mediocre. This is why (Colombian) teams go to a tournament like the Copa Sudamericana and get knocked out in the first round. This also happens with the national team.”
Serna mentioned that the modern Colombian player lacks the intangibles that players like Valderrama, Rincon, Bermudez, Cordoba and a few others had.
“Colombian players have a great deal of talent and are successful when they move abroad, but when they play for the national team they don’t respond. They don´t have the same temperament as before. Nowadays it seems like it is a tremendous burden to play for the national team”.
Serna was part of the Nacional squad that lifted the Colombian Apertura championship in 2005. His success abroad is much more documented as he won two Copa Libertadores titles and an Intercontinental Cup title with Boca Juniors at the turn of the century.
Juan Arango
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Valderrama as coach will sort this out or Rincon
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Valderama I do not know…i prefer bilardo, scolari someone else passarella
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Colombia have had so many good players in the past and they still do! Why they don´t succeed is beyond me
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