Like when an orchestra finishes a masterful presentation in a theater. How they applaud the actors of a play at the end of an act full of action, drama, suspense and a happy ending. This is how the Atlético Nacional fans cheered the young midfielder Juan Manuel Rengifo when he was substituted, in the 68th minute of the match against América de Cali.
When he walked towards the western line, to shake hands with Mateus Uribe, who replaced him, the fans applauded him standing in the stands of the sports arena. Many had in their memory the goal he scored on Saturday, against Inter Miami, in the eyes of Lionel Messi, his idol.
That day the 20-year-old midfielder was excited. However, not as much as on Wednesday night, after scoring the goal that broke the tie in this edition of the Colombian “great classic.”
After teaming up with Edwin Cardona in a strategic chess play in which he marked a diagonal, he ran into space to stand well left-handed and took one, two seconds to think, settle, kick and have the ball enter through a small space between the stick and Jorge Soto, Rengifo burst with emotion.
He ran, shouting with his mouth open, almost with rage, towards the side where the north and western stands of the Athanasius meet. He dedicated so much, as always, to his parents, his brother, his girlfriend, who have not abandoned him in the games he has played at Atanasio.
In National everything is going
This was the young midfielder’s fifth goal in the 23 official games he has played with Nacional. With their goal, the purslane team put the final 2-1 against América. In addition, he achieved his second victory of the semester – in his second presentation –, bringing him to six points and has a 100% performance playing at home.
In addition, the purslanes celebrated the first goal by Argentine left back Milton Casco, who with 13 minutes gone was left with a ball that was loose due to an error by Jorge Soto and, being left-footed, scored from the right.
He celebrated it with euphoria. People recognized his effort. Casco is not one to score many goals, but in Nacional, it seems, everything is going well for him. In the ten years he played for River Plate, the full-back scored only five goals. With the greens, two official games were enough for him to “lower the flag.”
In Nacional, Eduard Bello, Nicolás Rodríguez and Alfredo Morelos also added minutes, players who reinforced the purslane squad. In addition, the Antioquia striker “Chicho” Arango was on the stand, who could make his debut on February 12, when the “King of Cups” receives Fortaleza at the Atanasio (8:30 pm).
Follow the minute by minute of the match here:
These are the National headlines:
Harlen Castillo; Andrés Román, Simón García, William Tesillo, Milton Casco; Juan Manuel Zapata, Juan Manuel Rengifo, Edwin Cardona; Marlos Moreno, Dairon Asprilla, Andrés Sarmiento.
These are the headlines from America:
Jorge Soto; Mateo Castillo, Marlon Torres, Nicolás Hernández, Ómar Bertel; Dylan Borrero, Rafael Carrascal, Juan Cavadía, Tilman Palacios; Yeison Guzmán, Kevin Angulo.
