On the eve of Halloween, the 'Pirate' costume is one of the best sellers. But Hernán Barcos doesn't need any costume to be one. The Argentine forward already conquered the gold last season with Alianza Lima and now is quite close to repeating the feat with his goals, essentially. Although an injury could prevent him from playing the decisive matches.
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In the final match of the Clausura, at Matute, Barcos was in charge of opening the scoring to lead his team to victory. As a result, the 38-year-old star reached 18 goals this season, just one goal away from Luis Benites (Sport Huancayo), the current top scorer of the championship.
He had plenty of opportunities to achieve it this Sunday. In fact, Hernán wasted several clear chances in the first half against ADT. He even had one-on-one situations with the opposing goalkeeper more than once, but luck wasn't on his side.
Unfortunately, the Argentinean player got injured during the match on one of those plays he had to score, and he was forced to leave the field in pain on a stretcher at the 40th minute. It is hoped, from the entire Alianza Lima environment, that it is not a serious injury, as his presence is essential for the upcoming challenges.
In fact, if he can play the direct final - if he maintains the Clausura leader position -, the Argentinean player will have high chances of becoming the authentic top scorer of the national tournament. He has two matches ahead (home and away) in the title definition, and if he scores, he could surpass Benites without much trouble.
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Already last season, Barcos had fallen just two goals short of top scorers Luis Iberico and Felipe Rodríguez. The Argentinean player scored 10 goals, one of them in the final against Cristal. The thorn was left stuck by a hair. But now he is only one goal behind the Sport Huancayo forward in this 2022, which undoubtedly excites him for what remains.
Surely the Alianza's '9' will do everything possible to recover, be present in the title's definition, and fight to win his first recognition as the top scorer of the national championship. He deserves it more than anyone. He has earned it.