Santa Fe may be inferior in soccer, in performance, in physique and in payroll, but in heart, when you remember, it is gigantic. And so, in a game in which Millonarios vastly surpassed him, he turned it around in nine minutes and won the classic 308, this Wednesday at El Campín.
Millionaires, in theory, was the most affected by the casualties caused by the microcycle of the Colombian National Team and by injuries. They lost the two players to show, Daniel Ruiz and Carlos Andrés Gómez, while Santa Fe did not have Johan Torres, who only has a handful of games in the red starter.
But the DT of Millonarios, Alberto Gamero, found an alternate formula so that his team would not feel the absences so much: he played it with two fast ones, one of them with a good punch, Yuber Quiñones, and another, Richard Celis, who can throw himself into the area. And Luis Carlos Ruiz became important by throwing himself to the sideline and getting into the game when the team had the ball, much less than usual.
Santa Fe was surprised and handcuffed. When he wanted to advance lines and look for Álvaro Montero’s goal, Millonarios won his back. And when he tried to come out from the back, the rival put pressure on him and made him make mistakes over and over again: the goalkeeper José Silva looked insecure from the kick-off, the balls lost around the local area were numerous…
The scoring options went to Millonarios. Luis Carlos Ruiz missed a clear shot starting the game, when he had a dribble left over and Silva took the ball from him. From the rebound, it was left to him again and his cross shot went out. Millos was enclosing his rival and the corner kicks piled up. Until in the 28th minute, on a rebound after a corner, Israel Alba did not drop the ball: from the edge of the area, he hung it at an angle.
The beginning of the second half was more of the same, from side to side, with a festival of waste that Millonarios would end up regretting minutes later. The 0-2 seemed to give justice to what had been seen on the court up to that moment, when Quiñones hooked in the area, he tried to bathe Silva and crashed it on the horizontal, but then put it on the rebound. There were 26 minutes left and the game seemed settled.
The incredible comeback of Santa Fe, in 9 minutes turned it around
But that word can never, ever be mentioned to the Santa Fe fan. Nor to coach Alfredo Arias, who, shortly before the 0-2, had refreshed the payroll with the departure of three experienced players with a poor game, Dayron Mosquera, Matías Mier and Wilfrido de la Rosa, and the entry of Jeferson Rivas, Daniel García and Jonathan Herrera.
And between the young soda and the desire to eat the world, Santa Fe turned the classic in nine minutes. The discount, a couple of minutes after Quiñones’ goal, was a punishment for the overconfidence of Juan Carlos Pereira, who lost a ball on his way out and left Harold Rivera with the ball, ready to leak it to Rivas, who beat Montero.
Then, at minute 25 of the second stage, Rivas won Alba’s back, put the ball into the area and Neyder Moreno, who had entered a couple of minutes before, finished off Montero’s beard: 2-2.
Santa Fe woke up completely, the public too and the goalkeeper Álvaro Montero made a rude mistake that left Millonarios with nothing: he tried to control a ball with his chest and left it to Wilson Morelo, who scored 3-2, at 30 of the second half.
An unnecessary expulsion of Jonathan Barboza, at minute 37 of the second stage, gave Millonarios a second chance, who played desperately to try to save the tie. But in practice, clear goal options in that shot, he did not have. And Santa Fe, which lasted 65 minutes liquidated, today celebrates a victory in the classic after four defeats in a series.
Jose Orlando Ascension
Sports Sub-Editor
@josasc
