Seville, December 12 (EFE). – Rodrigo Riquelme begs Chile’s Manuel Pellegrini for better cards and has raised his hand to sign up after the first few stages were marked by a certain reluctance at Betis, looking to secure a prominent position that has been wiped out by two defeats in as many qualifying rounds in the last ten days.
First in the Copa del Rey against Torrent, with three goals to bring the ball home, and this Thursday against the Croatian Dinamo Zagreb with one and a half, which the Spanish defender Sergi Domínguez shot into his own goal and with which Betis opened the scoring. With this, the Madrid midfielder has asked for a change and responded to the trust shown in him by Pellegrini.
It’s not just the records or the statistics, but also his participation in the attacking game of the green and white, his confidence in asking for the ball, facing it, hitting it with precision and quality and, like yesterday in Croatia and in one of the goals against Torrent, trying quality gestures like Vaselines.
Although in football nothing should be elevated to finality, a principle of the journalism teacher José Antonio Sánchez Araújo, “Roro” as they call him, Riquelme is looking to stretch after four months of acclimatization, in a period of the season in which the Betic coach will demand a lot from his performance.
With Ez Abde with Morocco in the Africa Cup, the Madrid footballer is the first option for the Betic left wing, but also, as on the European afternoon with Croatian Maksimir, as an alternative in the center as a creative option given the ups and downs of the Argentine Lo Celso or the injury to Isco Alarcón.
Less cornered, Riquelme gains space and options from inside to dribble from either side, look for a shot on goal or try to find partners in the Betic attack, in which Colombian Cucho Hernández as a versatile number nine and Brazilian Antony Dos Santos on the right wing are the frontrunners.
As the occasion is announced, the green and white “17”, the number he inherited from captain Joaquín Sánchez, is aware that his chance to say “Here I am” may have come, due to the circumstances of injuries and rotations and, above all, to his own game, which is becoming increasingly loose, confident and at times uninhibited.
This was also influenced by the deaf work in the sports city of Betica and the support he received from his teammates and club staff such as the kit players, from whom he dedicated his goal against Dinamo Zágreb.
Rodrigo Riquelme, 25 years old, came last summer from the club of his life, Atlético de Madrid, with a contract until 2030, for which Betis paid the Colchonero club around eight million euros for half of the transfer of the Madrid native, which in principle came after the multi-million dollar transfer of the youth squad Jesús Rodríguez to the Italian Como.
Although it was claimed at the time that they were independent companies, Riquelme’s arrival coincided with the signing of American Johnny Cardoso for Diego Simeone’s Atlético de Madrid, who gave the Betis footballer his debut in September 2019 against Eibar.
After making his debut as a first division footballer, Rodrigo Riquelme was loaned out to Bournemouth in 2020 and after the English club did not exercise the purchase option, he then played on loan at Mirandés and Girona before moving again to Atlético de Madrid and being transferred to Betis.
Rodrigo Riquelme, who has played 11 games in the league, including six as a starter and five in European competition, now has the opportunity to wear the jersey for the rest of 2025 and in January 2026 alongside Abde, his compatriot Sofyan Amrabat and Congolese Cédrick Bakambu at the Africa Cup of Nations, which takes place between December 21st and January 18th.
The calendar is tight until the end of January and Betis has Rayo Vallecano, Getafe, Real Madrid, Oviedo, Villarreal and Alavés ahead of them in the league; in the Copa del Rey to Murcia; and in the Europa League, the Greek Paok and the Dutch Feyenoord: even if nothing can be raised to the final in football, Riquelme will continue to ask for tickets. EFE
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