Edison Flores: Why is he the player of important goals in the Gareca era? [VIDEO]

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In these seven years leading the Peruvian national team, with 93 games played and 127 goals scored, one of the goals that Ricardo Gareca shouted the most, according to his own confession, did not end in victory. Not even in a draw. It was in October 2016, at one of the most critical moments for Peru that was beginning to establish itself as the competitive team it is today. That time, the national team lost away to Chile in Santiago in a fairly acceptable match with a bitter ending, although for the 'Tiger' that was one of the best performances of his team as visitors. The author of that goal was Edison Flores, the same player who motivated the fraternal embrace between the coach and Christian Cueva in Barranquilla, the "player of important goals" who will replace André Carrillo this Tuesday in the Peru-Paraguay match for the final round of the Qatar 2022 Qualifiers.

That was the only goal by 'Orejas' that did not help Peru earn any points. The other six goals in the qualifiers were decisive. In fact, if we had to choose a goal to encompass what the road to Russia 2018 was and another for what the journey towards Qatar is, we could choose two goals by Flores: the one in Quito that started a historic victory against Ecuador in 2017 and the one he scored against Colombia in Barranquilla this year.

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If the national team today depends on itself to secure the fifth and last spot, it is thanks to the productivity of Christian Cueva, but also to the two only goals scored by Flores in these qualifiers. The winger was called up amidst criticism for his lack of activity in his club -his last match had been in October 2021- for a double matchday in which we had to earn points no matter what, and he ended up scoring in the victory against Colombia and the draw against Ecuador.

Two goals that were worth four points. And all of them scored in the second half. Edison Flores, who until the 2018 World Cup was a key player in Gareca's team, learned to live with being a substitute. To know how to wait for his moment. The DC United man is a national team player, capable of deciding a match coming off the bench. Although tonight, against Paraguay, he must also demonstrate that he can be the determining starter he was before.

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