The arrival of Felipe Aguilar to Atlético Nacional and Juan José Aguilar to Deportivo Independiente Medellín revived that count of brothers who simultaneously militarized on opposite shores.
In total, there are six pairs of players and one of a coach in the history of the two greats of Antioquia football. Next, we’ll go over this list:
Rafael and Alfonso Serna: These Antioqueños were the coaches of Nacional and DIM respectively at the beginning of the Colombian professional championship in 1948, in the case of Rafael it was from July to September, while Alfonso was there until 1949. In the greens, he was replaced by the Argentine Fernando Paternoster, while that, in the DIM, his successor was also the Argentine José Cevasco.
Conrado and Jairo Arboleda: Conrado, better known as ‘Pimbora’ was part of the DIM champion team in 1957. He was in Deportes Manizales, Deportivo Pereira and Bucaramanga. Regarding Jairo, (not to be confused with ‘the teacher’), he had a discreet passage through Nacional at a time when the greens did not stand out in the tournament. Interestingly, the brothers shared the same nickname, the most prominent being the one that played in the powerful and they coincided in 1956.
Esteban and Elkin Velásquez: These brothers from Antioquia coincided in the 1960s, when Esteban played for Nacional, while Elkin defended the colors of the powerful. Esteban painted to be the figure of Colombia in the 1968 Olympic Games, unfortunately an injury cut off his career that he had started at Peñarol in his Caicedo neighborhood, before moving on to Fabricato and Atlético Nacional; he was a right hand pointer of unmatched skill and speed. For his part, Elkin was a figure of the DIM and Once Caldas, this player was part of the remembered ‘dance of the sun’ of the powerful group.
Gabriel Jaime ‘Barrabás’ and Hernán Darío Gómez: ‘Barrabás’ at the beginning of his career and ‘Bolillo’ at maturity, both players coincided, Jaime in Nacional and Hernán Darío in DIM in 1978. As a curious fact, both players later joined the purslane team, where they were later coaches. .
Jimmy and Javier Arango: Jimmy and Javier Arango were two soccer players from Antioquia who were famous in each of the great teams in the department. While Jimmy defended the green jersey, Javier was in the red one and like the Arboledas, both shared the nickname ‘Jimmy’, no matter how much his brother’s name was. In the mid-1980s, both players were on different sidewalks.
Felipe and Juan José: The Aguilar family is a nationalist par excellence, the brothers Felipe and Juan José learned to love green and white colors from a very young age when they started at the football school of the Antioquia club. Felipe managed to go all the way and despite a couple of internships with Alianza Petrolera, he managed to consolidate with the greens, being an important piece to get the Copa Libertadores 2016.
Juan José, a little younger than Felipe, saw his example and wanted to follow him, even in the same position as a central defender. He reached the lower ranks of Nacional and having no opportunity in the first team, he decided to go to Brazil to show his talent. In 2021 he returned to the country and after earning an opportunity in Hernán Darío Gómez’s team, Juan José will defend the DIM shirt and they may possibly face each other in the championship.
Citing Aguilar’s words upon his arrival this semester with Nacional, Felipe expressed that family desire; “It is my brother’s dream and mine, that we can find ourselves competing in professional football and God willing that the opportunity is given, it would be something very important for both of us.”
* Data thanks to Javier Danilo Correa, on twitter: @jdanilocorrea
Juan Camilo Alvarez Serrano
FUTBOLRED correspondent
Medellin
En twitter: @juanchoserran8
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