Silent Lonesome Man

When Ricardo "El Tigre" Gareca first appointed as coach of the Peru national football team, the Peruvians had just entered their 33rd years without a World Cup. The dissatisfaction was high among the national team because they were regarded by their own countrymen as nothing but a bunch of pop stars with no discipline and full of scandals. It was real. And no one imagined just a few years, a villain would turn into a hero. Not so easy Back in 2010, the Uruguayan Armenian manager Sergio Markarián was appointed as coach of Peru following the country disastrous campaign in the 2010 World Cup qualification, where Peru finished bottom with only three victories, despite not losing at home to Argentina, Uruguay and Brazil. In fact, the national team of Peru was so bad for some points, the media in the country named this team "Los hijos de Burga" (sons of Burga), to refer to Manuel Burga Seoane, President of the Peruvian Football Federation (FPF) from 2002 to 2014. The ange...

The Peruvian election poll has come to a stand-still, with the extreme left Pedro Castillo of Peru Libre only gains a marginal lead over the extreme right Keiko Fujimori of Fuerza Popular. In a country where the influence of the Fujimori family remains deep in the society, this could evoke an emotional riot across Peru, notably among the conservatives. And in this group of pro-Fujimori people, also include surprise packets: nearly half of the senior members of the Peruvian national team dedicated their tacit backup for the Fujimori candidate. Many normal, libertarian Peruvians had come to disbelief when the national team had so many supporters for the Fujimorists. In a video that lasted only one minute, Edison Flores, who was the new star of the resurgence Peruvian side and played in the 2018 FIFA World Cup, made his first appearance condemning indirectly Pedro Castillo and warned voters not to choose communism. Then followed Carlos Zambrano, Jefferson Farfán, Pedro Gallese, Luis Advín...

Speaking about South America, I don't have so much knowledge outside sharing similar Spanish heritage, beautiful women and passionate football fans. Yet, when going to the Latin American world, I always have a fascinating question: why is the region so uniquely difficult to characterise? Well, my favourite country in South America has to be Chile, or maybe Uruguay. I'd say Brazil and Argentina when it comes to football. I admire the Chileans for their eagerness to progress despite difficulties to maintain a healthy, though far from a perfect society. I like the Uruguayans because of their progressiveness that allowed Uruguay to become one of the wealthiest. I can also add Ecuador and Bolivia, because of Leo Rojas, mountainous music of freedom and their native cultures untouched by time. But in the mind of a Vietnamese person, I'd expect more to speak about two South American countries that are definitely worth making the world feel sympathy. It has to be Colombia and Peru -...