With the sacking of Carlos Queiroz from the Colombian national team, there’s been a lot of talk in the South American country about the Cafeteros’ future.
One of the topics is the project they have for youth squads, since the former coach had plans for their integration with the first team.
Arturo Reyes, manager of the U20 squad, spoke to the local media today, and claimed they’ll stick to Queiroz’s ideas for now.
He explained they may have issues with the availability of players, and that includes youngsters from Crystal Palace and Manchester United. The coach explained that due to calendar reasons, some clubs may not let the players go the national team.
“Having the possibility of having them on the South American dates is the priority. The federation is taking care of that. We are observing a large number of players. The list is long,” said the manager (via Marca).
Neither of the two Premier League youngsters is originally from Colombia.
Kevin Gonzalez was actually born in London, but due to his Colombian heritage, he’s been playing for their youth squads. The 17-year-old has two appearances for Crystal Palace in the U18 Premier League this season.
Mateo Mejia is from Spain, and was part of Real Zaragoza’s academy. He was signed by Manchester United last summer, and has had three games in the U18 Premier League so far. He also comes from a Colombian family.
