Watford youngster Jorge Cabezas at the weekend had his first chance to start for Colombia at the U20 South American Championship.
The striker had one goal and one assist, and that made him the man of the match in the 3-0 win over Paraguay.
As Gol Caracol had a word with former player and now coach Sebastian Botero, they wanted to ask him about two specific players. One was Miguel Monsalve, who he’s known for years, and the other was Cabezas, who recently got big attention from the Colombian media after being secured by Watford.
Botero had great things to say about the Hornets’ new signing, claiming he’ll be showing more for the U20 national team.
“He has a lot of talent and creativity with the ball. He is capable of solving situations when the game is complicated. Against Paraguay he showed that he should have more minutes than he had been playing in the South American championship,” Botero told Gol Caracol.
“Tactically, he’s a striker who makes many diagonals and who stretches the rival defence, so he creates space between the defenders and rival midfielders. It was his first game and you have to take it easy, but he has a lot to give.
“They are players who will have to be in Europe in a while, if things go well. In fact, Jorge has already been signed by Watford and we’re going to have him for six months. It will be nice to have him here. Since he won’t be around much time in the country, we hope to help him mature and prepare him to make the leap for football as complicated as English.”
Watford signed Cabezas from Real Cartagena as soon as the January window opened. Still, they left him in Colombia to let him get more experience, and he’s loaned to Independiente Medellin until the end of the season.
Colombia’s U20 squad reached the second stage of the South American championship, and as things stand, they’re qualifying for the World Cup. That’s undoubtedly a great challenge for Cabezas, as he prepares to complete the move to Watford.
