The twenty-three team members that will represent us in the South American U-17 Championship will play for the first time on the artificial turf installed at the San Marcos Stadium. This infrasctructure project was delivered to the president of the Peruvian Football Federation, Agustín Lozano, by the Lima 2019 Executive Director, Carlos Neuhaus. The team, led by Carlos Silvestre, will play against Bolivia this afternoon at 16:00.
This venue, which will also house both men and women competitions during the Pan American Games, has changing rooms, access to the field of play and circuits to access grandstands. It has capacity for 22,000 spectators and will be available after the opening of the South American Championship between Ecuador and Venezuela to be held on March 21.
The U-17 Peruvian football team has played, as training, more than 13 friendly matches. Silvestre is enthusiastic about obtaining the world category qualification, just like the team led by Juan José Oré did 12 years in Korea 2007. Their first participation was in the tournament organized by Peru in 2005.
Main Characters
The Peruvian team consists of Alianza Lima goalkeeper, Massimo Sandi; Cristal defender, José Rachumick; Cantolao talented midfielder, Yuriel Celi; and team goalscorer and Cristal central striker, Carlos Ruíz. These four members are the stars of the U-17 team for the continental competition.
Peru will make its debut on March 21 against Chile in a group comprising Ecuador, Venezuela and Bolivia. If our team ranks among the three top teams, it will access to the six-team qualification group to win four quota places for the world championship in Brazil. San Marcos Stadium will host the tournament until April 14.
Modern Scenario
The Stadium of the National University of San Marcos is part of a remodeling and improvement project. Infrastructure works started in May 2018 and finished before the announced deadline, which was originally scheduled for March 31, 2019.
It comprises an official field of play surrounded by an athletics track with eight lanes, four fixed tribunes, a VIP box, a press zone, four changing rooms for athletes, a common area for athletes, as well as an exclusive entrance and exit for buses. Also, it has storages for cleaning products and sports articles.