Special Envoy of the Observer in Doha, Qatar
The World Cup is like bingo for every player, with the certainty that the line or prize pool is always below what you can win at a sell-out show. Sometimes that feint, that shot, that cut, that 1v1 duel, that goal is enough. With the Netherlands, Gonzalo Plata had one of those moments. He received a ball from the left, went diagonally in, prepared the ball for that arc shot at the angle that the stadium raises, he saw the attempt hit the crossbar with a bang. Ecuador’s victory was just inches away, the winger’s full card had no number. But it’s like it did.
Arriving in Europe at the beginning of 2019 when he was coveted by several European clubs after making his senior debut at Independiente del Valle for 1,075 million euros (plus 400,000 euros commission), Plata began playing in the U-19. Sporting after winning the U-20 South American, participated later that summer in the U-20 World Cup where he was considered the third best player in the competition (Ecuador also came third), was called up to the main and started in 2019/20 to be a more regular option, although he left the substitute bench many times. With Rúben Amorim he ended up having less space, leaving on loan to the Spanish from Valladolid, who were in the Second League. He went up and stayed at the club forever.
With a non-mandatory option clause of ten million euros, the League team managed to reach an agreement with Sporting to pay three million euros, later paying another two million for every 20 games until reaching ten million to stay with the entire pass, and the lions are only entitled to 6.5 million for owning only 50% of the pass (the rest belongs to Independiente del Valle). However, and after the first two games of the World Cup, news of the interest of English teams in his signing has already returned, specifically Leeds, who tried it in June, and Newcastle. For now, the 22-year-old winger is only focused on the World Cup and, for a long mixed zone where he spent at least 20 minutes, He regretted that moment that he could have deflected the ball off the crossbar.
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Source: Observadora
