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It didn’t seem like they were in Bogotá. The giant cloth that covered the south stand of the El Campín stadium, the whistles every time Fortaleza approached the goal defended by David Ospina, the incessant chanting of the fans, the intense cheers when Cardona left the field, gave the sensation that The game was played in Medellín.
Fortaleza was local, but the capital stage was filled, mostly, with fans of the Purslane team. More than 30,000 people came to see their team in the country’s capital despite the rain that fell between late morning and early afternoon, which made the grass wet, quickly, at the start of the game.
But the love of the fans was greater. The meeting had a special aura. The footballers from Fortaleza arrived in El Campín on a SITP bus, an integrated Transmilenio system, in a nod to the environmental sustainability that is being talked about so much these days in the country thanks to the COP16 taking place in Cali.
Then they came out dressed with Hulk, Flash masks and black glasses, accompanied by children dressed as bakers, to commemorate Halloween, which will be celebrated next Thursday the 31st, when Nacional will host Medellín in the classic paisa of the first leg of the semifinals. of the Betplay Cup.
From intensity to “suffering”
The hymns sounded. The match started. The Bogotá afternoon was gray. It seemed like rain would fall again in the Colombian capital. Many fans had not yet sat down when Nacional, thanks to the intensity with which they pressed at the beginning of the match, opened the scoring.
Andrés Román launched an attack on the right side of the stadium in his hometown. He put a perfect cross to the far post so that Kevin Viveros, who was accompanying the play, pushed the ball. He scored. The goal shout that came from the stands was shocking: people were seen hugging each other, entire families celebrating.
It seemed that Juárez’s team would be a steamroller. He reached the rival’s goal several times, who could not find the ball. However, after minute 20 things changed. Fortaleza launched an attack. The players of the capital team fulfilled what their coach said before the start: “the idea is always to make the rival uncomfortable.”
They put Nacional behind. The defenders of the purslane team began to appear: Felipe Aguirre made a couple of plays that almost ended in a goal. David Ospina did the same, although he had a miscalculation at the beginning and almost “gave” a goal to the Bogota team, he was solid when they demanded it: he was a figure.
In added time of the first half, Álvaro Angulo was sent off after a “controversial” call from the VAR. An elbow to an “Amix” footballer led to the left back getting his second yellow card: red and he went to the dressing room to rest.
That conditioned the King of Cups, who suffered at times in the match. Fortaleza remained in possession of the ball. In the official statistics, Bogota residents finished with 72%. National only had the remaining 28%.
In addition, the local team went on the attack to seek a tie. He finished 11 times at the goal defended by Ospina. The Antioquians only did it seven times during the entire match. Fortaleza consolidated more passes (486/208) and greater precision when touching the ball (90%-68%).
However, the purslane team took the victory and gave joy to its people. With the victory against the Bogota team, Nacional has already secured – in theory – its quota in the home runs: it reached 29 units. The party was only marred by some fights between fans in the stands. However, the atmosphere in Bogotá gave the impression that the game was played in Medellín.
This was the minute by minute of the match:
These were the National headlines:
David Ospina; Andrés Román, Felipe Aguirre, WIlliam Tesillo, Álvaro Angulo; Sebastián Guzmán, Juan Manuel Zapata; Marino Hinestroza, Edwin Cardona, Andrés Sarmiento; Kevin Viveros.
These are the headlines of Fortaleza:
Garcia; Anderson, Ariza, Rivera, Castillo; Rodríguez, Pico, Pájaro, Parra; Navarro, Córdoba.
