Millonarios faces the club this Tuesday in El Campín Palestinian from Chile, on the fifth date of group E in the Copa Libertadores. Winning the match is decisive for the Colombian team if it wants to stay alive in the international tournament, although the game has also attracted attention for political reasons.
(You may be interested in: Video: this is how they received Palestino, Millonarios’ rival in the Libertadores, in Bogotá)
The match acquired an extra-sports component due to the support that this Chilean club has earned in different parts of the continent due to its historical relationship with the people of Palestine.
In fact, upon arrival in Bogotá, The Palestine club was received by a good number of people who displayed Palestinian flags and sang songs in their favor, beyond the sports harangues.
“This Tuesday Millonarios vs Palestino in Bogotá. Let that social neighborhood be expressed,” the president wrote in comment on a publication from another account in which a call was made to support the Palestino club in this Copa Libertadores match.
What is Palestine’s relationship with Palestine?
Palestino was received in Bogotá.
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The relationship between Palestine and the club is much closer than you think. Immigration to Chile began in the mid-19th century and became much greater at the beginning of the 20th century. Chile is the largest Palestinian community outside the Middle East, with nearly 500,000 people of that origin residing in the country.
Precisely, the club was born in the city of Osorno, founded by Palestinian immigrants. In 1952 it was admitted to the second division of Chilean football and three years later it was champion of the first division.
Daniel Cataño (right), in action against Palestino. It is marked by Dilan Zúñiga.
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“The team became the soccer reference for all of Palestine, those who are in the diaspora and those who are in Palestine. A good part of the national soccer team is made up of Chileans. Therefore, each Palestine triumph is celebrated as its own. ”, he assured in 2019 Alex Monterowho was press attaché of the Palestinian embassy in Bogotá.
Palestinian celebration against millionaires.
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Furthermore, the history of the Palestino shirt is particular. Its colors are those of the Palestinian flag, with green, white and red stripes. And in recent years they have added elements that bring the team even closer to its origins. As in the 2013-14 season, when the number 1 on the jerseys was replaced by the map of the original Palestine, before the creation of the state of Israel.
The relationship is so close that even Bank of Palestine decided several years ago to enter as the main sponsor of the shirt and with that, took the first step to begin operations in Chile.
Palestino’s most glorious era was in the second half of the 70s, with Elías Figueroa, the great captain of the Chilean National Team, as a reference. They won the Chile Cup twice (1975 and 1977), then were League champions (1978) and then reached the semifinals of the Copa Libertadores in 1979. Since then, the team had not participated in Conmebol tournaments again until 2015, when He returned to the Libertadores.
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