These are the heroes of Atlético Bucaramanga’s most glorious hour

You have to know how to have patience to find the right place in the world. And that’s what he achieved Rafael Dudamelthe architect of Atlético Bucaramanga’s first star, the one that still has a city of celebration, that will pass by celebrating because today there will be a civic day.

Dudamel had other weapons at Deportivo Cali, with a much more experienced squad and even World Cup players. In Bucaramanga, the budget was much more limited. It still took six months, with 18 new players who arrived at the beginning of the year, to assemble a historic champion.

“This star has a special meaning due to the team’s 75-year history, because it is the first and that is never forgotten. I only have words of gratitude for my footballers and for a region that has given me a lot of love. The first star is never forgotten,” Dudamel said.

“What I asked most of them, which was not a football issue, was to always stay strong in any circumstance. It was very brave, because it seemed that Santa Fe was still passing us by, fortunately there was no more time. We leave nothing to improvisation and that is why we can respond with such hierarchy in the execution of penalties,” added the coach.

From back to front, Dudamel put together a solid team. And in the arch he was Aldair Quintana, a goalkeeper who had the Colombian National Team process in the Carlos Queiroz era, but who needed to consolidate. Already in Pereira, in the campaign that took the team to the quarterfinals of the Libertadores, he had hinted at progress. And now he was the key man of the title, by stopping the collections of Agustín Rodríguez and Julián Millán.

“Maybe today everything is reflected in the penalties, but I think the figures are all the boys, the effort they made. The game was very complex, it rained the entire game, the field was very heavy, Santa Fe is a great team, today they subjected us to the ultimate. Thank God we won on penalties,” Quintana declared.

Three players discarded by other clubs scored the last three goals of the campaign, one in the now called Américo Montanini stadium and two in El Campín. In the first leg, Fredy Hinestroza, who had been released in Junior, but who played in Europe and had calls to the National Team during Reinaldo Rueda’s time. And in Bogotá, Jhon Córdoba, who arrived in the middle of last year from Malacateco in Guatemala, and Daniel Mosquera, who did not have opportunities this year in America and that is why he ended up on loan in Bucaramanga, fueled the Leopardo’s enthusiasm.

“What is written for you is written in the book of the greatest. We knew that Santa Fe is a brave team, their coach is Uruguayan and that is why they are brave. We prepared for that, the team continued working. Suddenly we got careless at the end, but when you win like that, it’s double the celebration,” Hinestroza told Win Sports.

There were 27 players, plus Dudamel, the heroes of an unforgettable campaign for Bucaramanga, which took 75 years to be at the top of Colombian football.

JOSÉ ORLANDO ASCENCIO

SPORTS Deputy Editor

@Josasc

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