Leeds: Sinisterra stole the Colombia show



Leeds United had a host of first-team stars in action over the international break, with Tyler Adams and Brenden Aaronson away with the USA, Wilfried Gnonto called up for Italy, Rasmus Kristensen in action with Denmark, Diego Llorente away with Spain and Luis Sinisterra called up for Colombia.

And, after bagging his first goal for Los Cafeteros in a 4-1 win over Guatemala last weekend, Sinisterra continued his astonishing introduction on the international stage with yet another remarkable display in a 3-2 victory over Mexico last night.

Indeed, despite starting the friendly on the bench, with El Tri holding a comfortable 2-0 lead at the break, Nestor Lorenzo brought the 23-year-old on for Radamel Falcao ahead of the second half – and the player who Juan Arango dubbed a “tremendous talent” well and truly changed the game.

Over his 45 minutes on the pitch, the £36m-rated attacker enjoyed 18 touches of the ball, completed all nine of his attempted passes and won three of his five duels – a success rate of 60% – as well as made one tackle, one interception and one clearance.

However, it was undoubtedly the winger’s contributions in the final third that most caught the eye early on Wednesday morning, as Sinisterra single-handedly dragged Colombia back into the match, halving the deficit just four minutes after his introduction via a towering header from Juan Cuadrado’s corner.

It took the winger even less time to score his and Colombia’s second of the night, when, in the 52nd minute, the Whites sensation expertly dispatched Jorge Carrascal’s cut-back to draw Los Cafeteros level.

And, with Wilmar Barrios’ spectacular long-range strike in the 68th minute completing the comeback for Colombia, it is evident that Sinisterra’s introduction well and truly changed the course of the game, with it hardly coming as a surprise that the Whites winger was awarded a Man of the Match SofaScore rating of 8.3.

This performance would very much appear to back up Dean Jones’ recent comments concerning the 23-year-old, with the journalist stating his belief on Chasing Green Arrows that Leeds’ £21m summer signing is a game-changer:

“We haven’t talked about him in this entire show, Sinisterra. I do like him, I think he’s got something about him. When they were looking for a Raphinha replacement, it looks like they’ve found someone very similar in terms of he’s a game-changer, he’s got a bit about him, a bit of craft.”

Indeed, considering his return of three goals in two substitute appearances for Los Cafeteros during the international break, in addition to bagging two goals in just two Premier League starts for the Whites so far this season, it is clear that Jesse Marsch not only has a proven game-changer on his hands, but the Colombian could also be Leeds’ next Raphinha-esque talent.





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