This Sele Is Different

I still can't believe yesterday's match vs. Uruguay. A terribly complicated match that was played with courage and commitment. But it is inevitable for me to think about Colombia's football history, which has shown me that before we would have succumbed to Uruguayan pressure, which would have left us at the door of the final yet again. So I wake up today wondering what is different now? What makes this team transmit to us and demonstrate in each match a certainty that we can reach the decisive match and that it is a real thought (not utopian, nor perhaps a distant one) to win? And well, we can only speculate about the possible reasons for this. Because even if one follows La Sele religiously with all their movements, notes, matches, etc., that is only a fraction of what is experienced within the group.

The main difference that I see (of which José Néstor gave us a taste and we take the opportunity to thank him) is Lorenzo's ability to unify a system around an identity. And by system I am not referring to the approach on the field, but rather to all the actors within it: players, coaching staff, directors (I am not so convinced about this just yet), assistants, etc. Now what that identity truly is, only they will know. But it is strong enough for everyone who is part of what now makes up the Colombian national team system to feel it in a very personal and close way. It is so strong that we as a spectator feel like part of and invest a lot of ourselves when watching them play (if you don't believe me, remember the face and suffering of you and the people who were next to you yesterday). The consequence of this identity is that each player not only comes to this team to fulfill their role in the game, but being part of this group resonates with who they are as a person. They bring to this group not only their technical-tactical skills but they bring their values, their dreams, their strengths as people and they put them all at the service of the system, at the service of others.

This identity core is where the second difference comes from. BEING part and FEELING part of this project beyond a football role, creates a space for players to take more risks (individually and together). But the union that Lorenzo has achieved is so strong that they are not unbridled and unfounded risks, they are risks supported within a group that is there to fight together and lift up those who err. You have to try and let the world see you so you can fail later. This team never gets tired of trying. And yes, we can criticize Uribe or Borré for the wasted chances, or Muñoz for his mistake. But I invite you to see the system's response to that, the coach supports them, James supports them as captain, videos appear of all the players (literally) lifting Muñoz up. For me that shows that here in this group there is room to innovate (something that football has been missing) and to also take risks, and we are going to do all that together. And most importantly (probably) is that there is room to make mistakes and grow (as footballers and people) because the unity of the group is there for everyone. Now, maybe we don't err too much (or else we would be eliminated) and this comes back to identity, because as I feel identified with the group, I am also responsible for what happens there; I know that I am not alone and therefore I have a responsibility (as a player) with this space of which I feel a valuable part and with which I want to continue growing in.

Identity and risk-taking demonstrate (to me) a high sense of trust within the campus. But this is not (only) confidence on the field of being able to show that identity and take those risks. I am referring to something more interpersonal, where there is the trust to be vulnerable because the identity invites the whole person (not just the athlete). This vulnerability is reciprocated with compassion that encourages you to turn those challenges and adverse decisions into joint learning opportunities. The invitation to vulnerability that this National Team seems to have behind closed doors is a very powerful tool because it also creates the space for difficult conversations in which group identity prevails as a guide and that can give clues to why this selection has grown and matured so much together since Lorenzo's arrival.

Now what? What does all this imply? Well, short term we have a psychologically seasoned and united team to face the challenge on Sunday. The players know that they are (an important) part of the system (as athletes and as humans) and since it feels so close to them, I have no room for any doubt that they are going to go out of their way for this team against Argentina. Play by play. The result will be for another epilogue. In the long term it can mean a roadmap for the strengthening of all the national teams (necessary after the U-20 team's short participation). This process can mark the beginning of processes based on identity creation and the risk taking cultivation. For it to happen, victory on Sunday would serve as a more intense catalyst; but it can still be done with what we have seen so far. All this while waiting for what the directives can analyze and rescue from how a commitment to processes lead to more consolidated and powerful fruits.

I take advantage of this concluding remarks to thank and recognize the process that Marcelo Roffé has carried out as the sports psychologist for the Colombian national team. Thank you very much for the work and intentionality during the behind-the-scenes process. For what's left, on Sunday, I allow myself to dream.

- Nicolás Correa Trujillo

MA, Sport and Performance Psychology.