Although there are several players who have lifted trophies with current BetPlay League finalists, the one that stands out the most is the Cardinal Idol.
There could be no other protagonist behind a great story in Colombian soccer. It could not be other than Gabriel Ochoa Uribe. El Médico was the architect of the consecration of Alfonso Cañón in Santa Fe and his return to football, a few years later, with América. And yes, before starting to talk about the players who were champions with the cardinals and the scarlets, it must be said that the coach with the most times champion of our country raised a title with the capital’s team in 1966 and seven with the red devils of Cali , in 1979, 1982, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1986 and 1990.
(Open letter from Harold Rivera Jr. to Harold Rivera Sr.: “YOU DO NOT HAVE A ROOF MY OLD MAN”)
Alfonso Cañón, who lives at the top of the Santa Fe Olympus, played 505 games, scored 150 goals and won four titles, three in the league in 1966, 1971 and 1975 and a Simón Bolívar Cup in 1970. In 1976, when he left the club in The one who made history, there was talk of his retirement from football, and after a short-lived stint at Bucaramanga between 1977 and 1978, the doctor Ochoa contacted him, and in a kind of already seen and of rebirth, Cañón went to América de Cali, which would begin to mark an era from the late 1970s. The Master He carried the good omen of fortune on his legs, and although he only played ten games and scored one goal, he was the protagonist on that December 19, 1979, the date on which ‘La Mechita’ won his first title in Colombian football.
Cardinals and Scarlets have lived their golden ages in distant moments. While America became great in the 1980s, Santa Fe, which was the first champion, in 1948, has enjoyed the best years in its history since 2009. That is why few players have managed to become champions with both teams, especially in the league.
You have to go back a few good years to find one of the few footballers who won trophies in the league with both jerseys. Róbinson Zapata, who won his first title with America, in 2000, the tenth star of the Red Devils. In 2006, the Valle del Cauca goalkeeper was also champion with Cúcuta. And in 2014 he made the Olympic turn with Santa Fe. In total he won four titles, two leagues and two Superleagues with the cardinal uniform.
With less prominence in Santa Fe, and with greater relevance in America after having been the scorer (fourteen annotations) and one of the references of the team that returned the glory to the red of Cali in 2019 and left behind the eleven-year drought without a championship (five of them for having been in the second division), Michael Rangel has a league title with the Cardinals in 2014 and one with the Scarlets.
There are other players who were champions with both institutions, but not in the league. For example, midfielder John Valencia won the league in 2008 with América and the Superliga in 2013 with Santa Fe; Carlos Valdés, who also won a Colombia Cup with the lion in 2009, has the same titles as Valencia; and Cristian Martínez Borja won a Super League with the Cardinals and the promotion tournament with the Scarlets, in 2016.
Wilson Morelo played little, but he was on the champion squad with America in 2008 and then won a league, a Super League and the South American with Santa Fe.
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