SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador – Shifting back and forth between a club team and a national team is something that has always challenged players, yet Alianza and El Salvador MF Marvin Monterroza seems to make it look easy.
The 28-year-old has been nothing short of superb in helping Alianza reach the 2019 Scotiabank Concacaf League semifinals, while also leading El Salvador to first place in their group in League B of the 2019-20 Concacaf Nations League.
Monterroza has featured in all seven matches for Alianza in the 2019 SCL, scoring two goals, and has also served as the midfield maestro in all four matches of the Cuscatlecos in the CNL. Without question, Monterroza has taken both competitions by storm.
“I would say that this is a very good moment in my career, I’m doing good things for both my club and the national team, so perhaps it is my best moment,” said Monterroza in an exclusive interview with Concacaf.com.
One would never know the true difficulty of going from club football to national team competition just by watching Monterroza, who insists it is a far more complex transition.
“You go from one idea to another. You play for your club and for a coach who has his own ideas about playing and then you go to the national team with a coach who has a different idea about playing. Sometimes I even play a different position. With the national team you have less time to prepare so that can make it difficult,” said Monterroza.
Monterroza was part of the El Salvador team that featured in the 2019 Concacaf Gold Cup, and he is already eager to return to the tournament in 2021 and fulfill the dream of winning a title for his country.
“We want to go far in the Gold Cup and we all have that faith and mindset that we can do it. We want to win big things and put Salvadoran football on high,” said Monterroza.
With Alianza, Monterroza finds himself in the middle of a tight semifinal series with Motagua of Honduras following a 1-1 draw in the SCL first leg. Like his national team ambitions, Monterroza is also following the dream of helping lead Alianza to a Concacaf club title less than a year after nearly beating eventual champions Monterrey in the 2019 Scotiabank Concacaf Champions League Round of 16 last February.
“It will take a lot of work but I believe we have the mindset to do it. We showed last year in the Champions League versus Monterrey that we can be among the best,” concluded Monterroza.
