The Cacique already has his fixtures set up for the defense of the title and, despite what usually happens, there will be no champions’ duel on the first date, although Colo Colo will also debut against a recently promoted team.
The year 2022 is over and the beginning of a new tournament is drawing near. Colo Colo must defend the title obtained this season and, for that, it already begins with its preparation. This Tuesday, December 27, the squad will meet again to carry out the rigorous post-holiday medical examinations and, on January 2, they will leave for Argentina to carry out the preseason.
The football year will begin on January 15 against Magallanes for the Super Cup. Those led by Gustavo Quinteros will face the Copa Chile champions in Viña del Mar and will seek to revalidate the title that was already obtained in 2022. Then, on the weekend of January 22, Popular will kick off the new tournament and face Deportes Copiapó, a team recently promoted to the division of honor.
Colo Colo has two casualties against Deportes Copiapó
The white squad, next year, will be very different from the one that lifted the 2022 National Championship trophy. In addition to the confirmed signings, Quinteros will regret the departures of Gabriel Costa, Óscar Opazo, Gabriel Suazo, Omar Carabalí, among others.
But, also, during the first game, the coach of Los Albos will have to suffer with the suspension of two players: Emiliano Amor and Esteban Pavez. Both players carry suspensions from the last championship, since were reprimanded in the match against O’Higgins de Rancagua at the Monumental Stadium. The footballers saw their fifth yellow card and were excluded from the ensuing match. Thus, as it was the penultimate date, The sanction will have to be fulfilled in the first game of the following championship.
What happened with the debut against Magallanes?
It is a tradition in Chilean soccer that, on the first date of each tournament, the champion of Primera B and the champion of Primera A face each other, in this case, Magallanes and Colo Colo. However, with the officialization of the fixture, it was possible to verify that the Cacique opened his participation against Deportes Copiapó, which caused the surprise of all the fans.
But everything has an explanation. As explained by the ANFP, this is because Popular and the Academy will face each other on January 15 for the Super Cup and, in order not to repeat the same game in a week, they gave the place to Deportes Copiapó, who will receive the Albos at the Luis Valenzuela Hermosilla.
