Thought i'd give the lad his own thread. He's been called up to represent Colombia in the prestigious Maurice Revello youth tournament (previously known as the Toulon Tournament). It's always a very fun tournament to watch and I've not missed a tournament in about 8 years (well bar the last 2 that were cancelled due to covid!), it's a great way of finding youngsters from countries you might usually miss. BT Sport usually held the broadcasting rights in the UK but it doesn't seem as if there'll be a UK broadcaster this year sadly, but i'll post all of Colombia's games in here. Colombia are in a group with Algeria, Japan and Comoros. Algeria and Comoros don't seem to have named their teams yet but the Japan team looks interesting with a 16 year old from the Barcelona youth teams playing alongside someone from Blackburns U18s!
**** sake, just did a twitter search for him and found out he pulled out the squad last night. Ah well, least he's got a thread about him now. And now i'm a lot less excited about the tournament.
How do they decide which teams play? I thought that it's pretty standard for England and Brazil to be involved, but they're not this year. Ultimately this tournament seems to have few high ranking nations and a lot of crap ones.
On a positive note, maybe it's because Watford want him to have a proper break before pre-season here? Which would surely be better for us.
He said he was due at Watford on 9th June. Hopefully we've forced him to withdraw, Gino calls the shots now.
I have read that it was Envigado who requested that Asprilla be released from Colombia’s U-20 squad, which was selected to play in the Maurice Revello youth tournament (previously known as the Toulon Tournament). They want him to play for them in Primeira A's "Apertura Quadrangular". Wikipedia states that “the top eight teams in Primeira A (after the opening part of Colombia's premier league season) advance to a knockout round consisting of two groups, each team playing six times in a round-robin format. The two leaders of each group advance to the final, which is played in a home and away leg fashion.”
Not a clue how they decide in all honesty, but I like the chaos that ultimately brings with the diverse mix of teams! Yeah not sure why us and Brazil aren't involved this year, we usually put out a team even if there's an U21 tournament that year as well
As he’s a Watford player, he’s been withdrawn from the Toulon tournament to play in one in nearby Toulouse instead.
According to the media in Colombia, he has been told that he has to report to our training ground on 1st July. Seriously hope we give him a chance. We’ve got to start putting faith in these youngsters. If he’s good enough to make his international debut, he’s good enough to get minutes in the championship with us. Having watched him a couple of times now, I would rather see him coming off the bench than Sema.
Probably be hyped up, have all the media talk and pictured with the kit then disappear off to Spain just as the season starts.
The worst bit about our recent form is that it almost makes Mark Lawrenson look half competent at his job.
https://mobile.twitter.com/GolCaracol/status/1533957208509034496 Yaser Asprilla will take his bags and will have to go to football in England, to present himself in the discipline of Watford, the team that bought him and that left him during this semester playing in Colombian football. For this reason and before he closes his cycle at Envigado, the orange box coach, Alberto Suárez, gave details of the talented player's growth as an athlete and as a person. “Yaser Asprilla is in the same process. But I tell you that sometimes we are unfair, we forget that the one in front is another human being. Yaser has been receiving a lot of information, transforming behaviors”, stated the strategist at the outset. In addition, Suárez was clear and specific when mentioning that with the native of Bajo Baudó "there is no problem outside the field". On the other hand, the Envigado coach spoke about what Asprilla had to experience when he was bought by a team in Europe and received such recognition at an early age. “A lot of good things have happened to him and before the age of 18 he was sold to an English team. That is not his fault, he has been burning stages of development, with great abilities that he has, he lives a new life system, something that overnight fell from the sky. So you have to understand that," he added. To finish, Suárez gave details of what Yaser Asprilla could become and when he will have to join the Watford ranks. “He is going to Europe and can become a benchmark in the football world. Now on July 1 he has to appear in England”, concluded the Envigado coach. What are Yaser Asprilla's statistics as professional soccer players? At just 18 years old, this talented player has played 34 games, scoring six goals and providing three assists. To this is added that he already debuted in a preparatory match with the Colombian national team.
Hopefully Cucho stays and helps him settle in. If he's as good as people say he could easily be knocking on the door of the first team.
Has a totally different mind set. Big difference. Uncle Cucho will be here to provide a helping hand and I am sure some of his family will come over as well to keep him comfortable.
Might be wise to secure Gomes back in on an initial 3-month contract, just to help the lad settle in and provide the big brother/father figure necessary to be able to kick a ball in this country.
Lots of commentary from Colombian fans asking what's happened to him this season. His coach also said he only weighed 9 stone and would need to adapt in Europe. Hopefully still a top young talent just having a bit of a dip but would be surprised if he features much next season.
I wouldn't be surprised if he goes on loan to League One initially, or at least doesn't really feature for the first six months of the season while he adjusts. From what I've seen of him lately he doesn't seem ready to contribute much yet to the first team, in which case the club won't be keen to have him on the bench wasting one of the 11 non-HG spots.
