El Salvador’s U-22 football preliminary team tied 4-4 against C.D. FAS in its first practice match in preparation for the XXIV Central American and Caribbean Games San Salvador 2023.
The match, played in the Óscar Alberto Quiteño stadium in Santa Ana, allowed coach Edgar Henríquez to evaluate individual and collective performance of the players after three work microcycles.
“I’d like to thank FAS, obviously an important rival. Their players were great, they demanded a lot from us, and there were many positive things, and some others that we will have to improve, like aerial play; we need to learn how to counteract, because that’s how they scored two of the four goals”, the coach reflected.
On the national team side, the goals were scored by Juan Sánchez, Kevin Román, Nelson Díaz, and Kevin Ardón.
The practice match was distributed in 30-minute blocks, in which the team made significant notes.
“It’s not the result what is important, but the functioning of the team. The team seemed good, they tried to play the ball from the back, they had patience to attack, and find the moment to score”, the coach explained.
Among the coach’s highlights were the intensity and the ability to score goals.
“We are happy to be part of the preliminary team, we are expecting a couple of friendly matches in the United States, and we want to represent El Salvador in the best way possible. We are satisfied with our work, it’s our first match as a team, and a tie is not bad at all”, said Alejandro Serrano.
Henríquez recalled that the U-22 national team will be made up of 85% players from the local league and 15% players with Salvadoran roots living in the United States.
The strategist also said that next week, they expect to confirm the visit of the Belize senior national football team, and in April they are planning a tour in the United States to play several practice matches.
“The Belize senior national football team will greatly help ups, and we will have the players of Alianza and other teams. There are teams of the Salvadoran community in the United States, and we are also planning a training camp in Mexico from May 15th to May 21st”, Henríquez said.
The preliminary team will close its third microcycle on Wednesday. From the 26-player squad, the ones that have been called consecutively are Juan Sánchez, Isaac Esquivel, Ronald Aparicio, and Walter Pineda.
El Salvador U-22 preliminary national team
Nelson Castillo /CD FAS
Jaime Mozo /AD Chalatenango
Edwin Velásquez /Nuevo Cuscatlán
Alejandro Serrano /AD Destroyer
Melvin Cruz /Dragón
Diego Lemus /Santa Tecla
Walter Pineda / Águila
José López / 11 Deportivo
Mauricio Cerritos /Atlético Marte
Jonathan Quintanilla / Jocoro
Robin Borja /Águila
Diego Ortez /Fuerte San Francisco
Diego Flores /Firpo
Ronald Aparicio / Jocoro
Emerson Sandoval /CD FAS
Jeferson Valladares /Municipal Limeño
Kevin Ardón /CD FAS
Nelson Díaz /San Carlos Los Turcos
Luis Vásquez /Chalatenango
Elmer Bonilla / Dragón
Francisco Lainez /Dragón
Brandon Amaya / Santa Tecla
Isaac Esquivel /Atlético Marte
Kevin Román / Metapán
Denis Lima /Metapán
Juan Sánchez / 11 Deportivo