It is a recurring question among the followers of Real Cartagena and football in general in the city. Where is Juan Pablo Pino?
The question arises because of the little participation that the talented player has had, who returned to football after two years without a team and who hopes to end his career with the continuity that he did not have in his last clubs.
Real Cartagena was the one he chose to once again show his ability and help the project to achieve promotion to the first category.
But, although the expectation has been high in Cartagena and the country, the 33-year-old player has not had the continuity that was expected at first and so far his contribution has been little in the BetPlay Tournament and in the Colombia Cup, in the that Real qualified for the second phase by eliminating Atlético Huila.
The last match of the team was precisely that of qualifying against the opitas in the Cup, in which Pino stayed on the bench.
And the television narrators repeated the question that the people of Cartagena asked themselves a few dates ago, And where is Juan Pablo Pino? They questioned when professor Nilton Bernal completed the five changes that the party allowed him without including the former Monaco and Medellín .
Although he has performed little so far this year, Pino has left flashes of his great technical quality in his income, which makes it a mandatory question when it is not taken into account.
However, the circumstances of the match against Huila did not favor the entry of the player because, with the advantage in the global scoreboard, the team required footballers with greater physical display than Pino could offer to maintain the defensive job.
It could be an important piece when Real Cartagena fell by a goal and the definition was projected to the penal route. His experience managing the game and participating with an eventual charge from the 11 steps would have made him relevant.
But both times Real was down, he was able to react quickly. At 67 minutes the game was 2-2 and the team focused on holding out the attempts of an Atlético Huila that little by little ran out of arms to overcome the Auriverde rear.
Nilton Bernal’s bet worked and with the third goal, by Daniel Pedrozo, at 81, Real Cartagena did not miss Pino.
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And in the BetPlay Tournament? Juan Pablo Pino missed the first three dates of the Tournament due to injury, he debuted with the Real shirt on the fourth day against Valledupar as a visitor, a game in which he played 21 minutes, with sparks of good play, but the team lost to the vallenatos.
Since then he has appeared to add a few minutes per matches and was absent again due to discomfort that he had after a good contribution when entering the draw as a visitor against Orsomarso.
He missed the games against Boca Juniors and Tigres, dates 9 and 10, due to those annoyances and was called up again in the away win against San Andrés.
Juan Pablo Pino has played in five matches of the Tournament, with only 115 minutes on the court, just over a complete match in total.
And although the fans demand a little more of their participation, from inside Real Cartagena they assure that a greater participation is expected from him for the second half of this year, for which he could arrive in optimal physical condition to be the important player that believe it can become.
Something similar commented coach Nilton Bernal on GolCaracol.com after the 3-3 draw with Orsomarso.
“We are trying to gradually get in tune and be physically well. If we can get him to get well physically, he is a player who still has a lot of football to give, “said the coach about the work they do so that Pino finds the rhythm.
“His sparkles the moment he entered helped us a lot. We were losing 3-1 with Orsomarso, in Palmira, he entered the second half, we achieved 3-3 and in the last minute we were able to win the victory … He entered and changed our team, because he is a different player, despite his 33 years and everything he had stopped. When you start to feel good physically, it will make a difference on the court, “he added.
CONTRIBUTION BEYOND THE COURT
What stands out in Real Cartagena so far is the contribution that Juan Pablo Pino offers beyond the field, in a space that exists but is not visible to the fans.
This is confirmed by Nilton Bernal in conversation with El Universal. The coach ensures that the ‘Magician’ is a reference for his teammates and in training sessions and concentrations he usually chat with the youngest to convey his experience.
“It’s not just the game, it’s the training sessions, it’s the concentrations, the day-to-day, listening to his experience, listening to all the experiences he has had in his sports career, that contributes a lot,” says Bernal, who also highlights the input from other experienced players such as Juan José Salcedo, Jhony Meza, Óscar Ramos or Mario Álvarez.
“There are times when you see five or six players sitting in a hotel lobby around Pino, Meza, Salcedo, Mario Álvarez, Óscar Ramos, all of this has an important value,” he said.
Nilton Bernal explained that due to strategy and study of the rivals he faces, there are times when he cannot give some players more minutes and gave Juan José Salcedo as an example, who little by little has added more minutes and reunited with the goal .
“I think the most valuable thing here is that we have not only had 11 players but that we have used 22 or 25 and that speaks of the fact that there are good players and that a team is being put together thinking about the future, backed by guys who really They have been a valuable contribution since the construction of all these players ”, he pointed out.
Although the fans expect a greater participation from Juan Pablo Pino, the player and the club continue in a process to achieve a physical rhythm with which he can help the team achieve the objectives of the year.
At the moment, the player continues training and waiting to add minutes of competition. The next ones he hopes to have next Monday, March 22, in the duel against Bogotá FC at the Jaime Morón León.
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