Junior from Barranquilla would suffer a hard loss for the BetPlay League finals

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Junior from Barranquilla plays both the home runs of the BetPlay League and the group stage in the Copa Libertadores in May – credit Colprensa

Junior from Barranquilla started the home runs of the BetPlay League well and was filled with calm to face the Copa Libertadores, in which he needs a victory to get closer to the round of 16 because he has not won for two games in a row.

However, Tiburón would face the predicament of losing one of its most important players in 2024, an athlete who became the fundamental piece for coach Arturo Reyes because his performances allowed qualification to the semifinals in the Colombian championship.

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If he were to drop out, Junior would suffer the same fate as one of his rivals in the home runs, since he has some players who would miss the finals matches and the situation would be worse because that team suffered a lot due to injuries and absences in the season.

Although it was demonstrated that Junior’s substitute roster does not have the same level as the starter, due to the three defeats in the BetPlay League, among the starting players one stands out who was vital to qualify for home runs and in the Copa Libertadores.

This is Santiago Mele, a goalkeeper who would miss the Colombian soccer finals with Junior due to his possible call-up to the Copa América, because he would be on the list of those pre-called by Uruguay, in addition to being the first in the tournament who would be called up for the selection contest.

On the list of pre-called by Uruguay for the Copa América, Santiago Mele is one of the four goalkeepers – credit @Notifutboluy/X

The Uruguayan media Notifútbol was in charge of revealing the list of players reserved by coach Marcelo Bielsa, in which the goalkeeper Tiburón is alongside Randal Rodríguez, Sergio Rochet and Guillermo de Amores, the latter remembered for his time at Deportivo Cali between 2022 and 2023.

Although it is not confirmed that Santiago Mele will go to the Copa América with Uruguay, it is clear that Junior de Barranquilla depends a lot on the goalkeeper’s saves to advance both locally and internationally, added to the fact that his substitute is not someone reliable due to his results. in 2024.

Jefferson Martínez is the second goalkeeper of the Tiburones, he appeared in four games of the season and only ended with a clean sheet in one, which was on the first date of the BetPlay League against Bucaramanga and with a 2-0 victory, the rest were losses against Fortaleza (2-0), Patriotas (1-0) and América (4-1).

Jefferson Martínez only had one clean sheet in his four games played with Junior in the 2024 season – Junior credit

Beyond the numbers, coach Reyes trusts both Mele and Martínez to defend the League title, in which they started on the right foot with the 2-1 victory over Millonarios, and get a place in the round of 16 in the Conmebol Libertadores.

For Marcelo Bielsa’s Uruguayan team, the objective is to make a good presentation in the Copa América and fight for the title against Argentina and Brazil, two of the favorites, and the coach would already have a base squad that he had been using since the qualifiers.

In that starting lineup of the Charrúas, Santiago Mele is not a first baseman because Sergio Rochet would take his position and condemn him to the bench, at least, in the group stage matches against the host United States, Panama and Bolivia.

Santiago Mele covering for the Uruguay team during a friendly against South Korea – credit Kim Soo-Hyeon/REUTERS

The Junior goalkeeper only appeared in four matches with Uruguay, one of them in a qualifier against Colombia, in Barranquilla, where they tied 2-2, and the rest in friendlies, the most recent in the 2-1 defeat against Ivory Coast at the Stade Bollaert-Delelis from the city of Lens, France.