He made his debut in February 2015 with the number 30, defending his shirt Zamora football club in his native Venezuela. Six years later Yeferson Soteldo itIt has on the back the number 10 of one of the most emblematic t-shirts of world football, that of The Saints of Brazil, with which Pelé shone and with whom he will play the Final Liberators’ Cup, when measured at Palm trees.
“I know how the story went and he asked for shirt 10”, Dice Francesco Stifano, former coach and friend of today’s player of The Saints of Brazil, in an interview with Mediotiempo.
“It wasn’t too big for him”
For Francesco no wonder that “Dwarf “, as they nicknamed him Soteldo In Zamora, I asked for the shirt that made her famous and mythical Edson Arantes of the Birth between 1956 and 1974 and with which he won two titles of Liberators’ Cup and two Intercontinental Cup championships, a tournament that preceded the well-known Club World Cup in FIFA.
“It simply came to our notice thenThe fact that he took his 10 shirts doesn’t surprise me because he says it’s Santos’ 10 because he is like that and they gave him the shirt with that emblematic number of Pelé and it was not great at all, he showed that it is for big things “, added Stifano, with whom Yeferson raised two titles in Division I Venezuelaa (Adaptation 2015 and First Division 2016).
And it was in 2016 Soteldo Yes Stifano they played their last tournament together. The 41-year-old coach still remembers the words that the footballer, originally from the city Acarigua in the state of Portuguesa, he told her before going out on the field to play Ida’s Final against Football Club Zulia on December 4, 2016 at Agustín Tovar Barinas Stadium.
“I remember very important anecdotes … 2016 was something very beautiful, because the team was nervous during the warm-up. It hadn’t even changed the big players said to me: “Prof, the dwarf is not ready”, and I said, “Come on, Yeferson, let’s warm up.” The stadium was full, the city was paralyzed and he just took off his headphones and said, “Calm teacher, I will win you champion,” and so it was, “he recalled.
That night Yeferson scored the second goal with which Zamora won the first duel 2-1. “The second or third piece took out two and defeated the goalkeeper. The next one took two or three, they penalized him, they didn’t whistle him and Gabi Torres He ended up pushing her. ” Seven days later they completed the works on the land in Zulia with an aggregate score of 4-2.
Once the third star was embroidered on the club’s shield Zamora, Yeferson Soteldo was acquired by Huachipato, a team that transferred her in 2018 to University of Chile. It was Santos who laid eyes on him. On January 15, 2019, he hires him and officially presents him as his new “10”.
He would be the second Venezuelan to win the Conmebol tournament
“He is an incredible player and an impressive person. Today we are great friends, thank you for the shirt you sent to my son, he deserves a lot for me, I wish him all the best and nervous because he will be the second Venezuelan to win the Copa Libertadores“he pretended.
And this Saturday, Soteldo will seek to become the second Venezuelan footballer to lift Liberators. The first was Alexander’s war, winning it with National Athletic from Colombia in 2016.