The Árabe Unido de Colón has not won an LPF title for six years, a long time for a club accustomed to always being in the limelight and which has regained prominence thanks to Julio César Dely Valdés.
Colonenses visit the Universidad Latina de Penonomé Stadium today, where they will be received by CD Universitario, starting at 6:00 in the afternoon, in the first leg of the semifinals of the Clausura 2022 Tournament of the Panamanian Football League (LPF).
The ‘U’ comes from kicking Jorge Dely’s Plaza Amador out of the competition. So another of the Delys, the most successful in his career as a footballer, gets in the way of Colombian coach Julio Infante, who this time, in a round-trip series, will try to tame the eleventh that led the conference from the east.
CD Universitario (formerly Chorrillo FC) played its last final in the 2021 Apertura, which it lost to the same team that it eliminated last Wednesday, Plaza Amador.
Universitario is looking for vindication, since, together with its rival today, it was one of the worst teams in Apertura 2022, in which Árabe finished in the basement of the East and the U in last place in the West.
Julio Dely has managed to make the defensive sector one of his great strengths with men like Shaquille Coronado, Gabriel Brown, Francisco Vence and Félix Góndola supporting the work of goalkeeper Edgardo Alexander.
Defender Gabriel Brown, author of four goals, is the top scorer in an eleven from Colon who has also benefited from the attacking performance of players like Omar Hinestroza and Juan Villalobos.
Universitario has in its ranks the tournament’s top scorer, Joseph Cox, formerly of the Arab team, who has 11 goals. In his midfield, he has the oldest player in the league, Manuel “Cholo” Torres, who continues to compete despite his 43 years. So there is plenty of experience.
In the most recent match between the two teams, Árabe won by a score of 1-2.
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Source: Critica
