Last year, Sonya Keefe and Roberto Terán suffered when they were eliminated from the Enel Cup, but this year they claimed revenge and won the championship defending Independencia. Now, they are packing their bags to go to Italy with Ivan Zamorano, where they will play against Inter Milan.
Both were figures in the Grand Final on Saturday, September 22, at the Chimkowe de Peñalolén and now they are relishing the taste of success with good reason, because they had to work hard to achieve their goal.
"I'm motivated by the trip, knowing that everything we've fought for was worth it," says Sonya, with a recent past, and probable future, in the Chilean national team; while Roberto affirms that "my dream is to go to Italy. All the effort was worth it and I am very excited about that. "
Gone are the disappointments of the 2017 Enel Cup tournament, when they had to say goodbye to the dream of winning in the final games.
"The previous years I had the chance to play here, but I had already agreed with other teams and I could not fail them," said the tall blonde player, daughter of an English father and Chilean mother, who first defended Maipú and then last year played for Pudahuel.
"There were many strong training sessions from Monday to Friday, I lost two whole summers training and now together with my team we managed to win. This is very exciting, I'm proud of my team, "says Terán, who says he likes to play in his neighborhood in Quilicura, but hopes to try a club soon to start building a career as a soccer player.
After seven games, and more than three months of competitions, the girls from Independence beat the representatives of the Concepción in the final, while the boys defeated Lo Prado in an electrifying definition.
"I had hoped for it so much, I have no words to explain what I feel. I was very nervous, but when I entered the field I lost my nerves," said Keefe as soon as the match ended. An hour later, Terán did the same thing: "We said that we were going to win it, yes or yes, when they made the first goal against us, I thought I should be strong-minded. We never gave up and never lost hope that we would win."
Independencia celebrated its second "double" (the first was in 2016) and the girls won their fifth consecutive crown, all at the hand of the coach Miguel Pinto, the sculptor of these achievements who has been forming teams with patience and, above all, a lot of vision.
"He really supports us, encourages us, nor does he force us to win. He always tells us to do what we like to do, enjoy and have fun," says Sonya of her coach, while Roberto reveals that he told us that "Lo Prado was going to be a tough opponent, but he said that we would win yes or yes."