He Once Caldas and Atlético Nacional are the only two Colombian clubs to have won the Copa Libertadores. The team from Manizales, capital of the Caldas department, won it in 2004, which makes it one of the historical clubs in the country.
(You can read: Revolcón in Boca Juniors: unexpected decision nine days after the Libertadores)
Although Once Caldas has only won four championships and is currently going through a bad time, it is a benchmark in Colombian soccer. Let’s see some of its history.
According to the official website of Once Caldas, which plays its home games at the Palogrande stadium, this club was born in 1959 from the merger of Deportes Caldas and Deportivo Manizales.
He explains that the record of Deportes Caldas, champion of the Colombian tournament in 1950, was taken as the basis for registration with Dimayor, hence the team includes that title within its achievements.
In 1961, El Once officially debuted in the Dimayor tournament, but due to economic and publicity reasons, the team changed its name several times: Cristal Caldas (1972-sponsored by Aguardiente Cristal), Varta Caldas (1979-sponsored by Pilas Varta ), Eleven Philips (1991-sponsored by the multinational Philips).
Despite more sponsors later arriving, the club decided not to change the team’s name any further.
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The team’s second star came 53 years after the Deportes Caldas title. It was achieved in 2003 under the technical direction of Luis Fernando Montoya Soto.
The other two Once Caldas titles are the 2009 Apertura tournament and the 2010 Finalization tournament.
The feat of the Libertadores
After obtaining their second star, Once Caldas represented the country in the Copa Libertadores de América. It was the third time that the white team had attended the main club tournament on the continent.
Under the direction of Luis Fernando Montoya, the Once hoped to surpass the performance in the Cups of 1999 and 2002. Group 2 corresponded to them and surprised by being first with 13 points after facing Maracaibo from Venezuela, Vélez from Argentina and Fénix from Uruguay.
In the round of 16 they beat Barcelona from Ecuador and advanced to the quarterfinals. In that instance he faced Santos from Brazil. There was a 1-1 draw in Brazilian territory and in Manizales they reached the semifinals with a 1-0 victory, with a great goal from a free kick by Arnulfo Valentierra.
In the semifinal they faced the historic Sao Paulo from Brazil. At Morumbí, Once Caldas drew a goalless draw. And at Palogrande they prevailed 2-1 with goals from Herly Alcázar and Jorge Agudelo, to reach the unexpected passage to the final.
(Keep reading: History of Once Caldas)
El Once had to define the title against the reigning champion of the Libertadores, the powerful Boca Júniors from Argentina. In the “bombonera”, the white team drew a goalless draw and left the definition at home.
On July 1, 2004, the ‘white-white’ was crowned champion of the Copa Libertadores de América, by way of charges from the penalty spot, after a tie to one goal, in the 90 minutes.
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Fernando Umana Mejia
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