National Athletic went from anger to euphoria, with a first time to be forgotten in which Sports Pereira It was a surprise, and then, the coach reconsidered, Tomás Ángel and Dorlan Pabón turned it around and, with a vibrant 4-3, they won the Super League.
Pereira was filled with courage to go to the front and turn around the final, after a weak presentation in his stadium. And that served to break the approach of the Nacional coach, Paulo Autuori, who wanted to use the same drawing of his rival to counter it.
The surprise of Juan Pablo Zuluaga with Pereira
The current league champion did what Nacional couldn’t, found a hole in the defense of three defenders. And in that he had a lot to do with the location of Juan Pablo Zuluaga, who, since the arrival of Alejandro Restrepo at Pereira, became a key man when he went from being a correct winger to a very good interior.
Zuluaga scored the two goals with which Pereira went to rest with the advantage to stay with the Super League. The first, in a wall with Angelo Rodríguez, who returned it with an external edge and a tunnel to Andrés Felipe Román, to leave him face to face with Kevin Mier to score 0-1, after 4 minutes.
In the second, he fell into the area as if he were the team’s number 9, after a brilliant pass from Yesus Cabrera, in depth, to Eber Moreno. After two rebounds, it was 0-2. Zuluaga, who had only scored one goal in his career, scored a double in a final…
Nacional’s coach, Paulo Autuori, visibly angry, dismantled the defense of three and brought in another striker, Tomás Ángel, instead of Cristian Devenish. And there, with one more face of attack, he corrected the excessive caution with which he raised the game.
And then, for the second half, Autuori touched the team again with the departure of Jarlan Barrera and Sergio Mosquera and the entry of Nelson Palacio and the Brazilian Jader Gentil, plus the passage of Ángel towards a band to seek to do damage in that area .
Ángel’s performance proved those who insistently asked him for the Colombian U-20 National Team right. The youngster equalized the series with a play from the inside out, to find the space and beat the goalkeeper Aldair Quintana, after a pass from Gentil.
Pereira did not surrender and in a counterattack, Arley Rodríguez scored the 1-3 after a rebound. And the game, which was supposed to be a refrigerator for the Matecañas, turned out to be an exchange of blows (soccer, of course) in which Nacional prevailed to win the title.
In 18 minutes, 1-3 became 4-3. First, at 24 of the second stage, when Ángel improved the action of the first goal with a shot from the angle, to equalize the series. Then, a penalty from Quintana to Jhon Duque allowed Dorlan Pabón to make it 3-3. And then, Ángel enabled Pabón to score a great goal and achieve the fourth and final.
National suffered. But the second half and Autuori’s reconsideration, plus the brilliant performance of Ángel and Pabón, gave him the 32nd title in his history. Pereira was left without a prize for his initiative.
Jose Orlando Ascencio
sports deputy editor
@josasc
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