Three nightmares and a party: the story of the final duels of Santa Fe against Tolima

There are several painful episodes for Santa Fe against Tolima. One of the toughest was in 1986. The Reds were coming out of one of the toughest moments in their history, bordering on disappearance. His fans had to come together to save him. A year earlier, the team had been second to last. At that time neither B nor relegation existed.
​
​Santa Fe reached the last date of the championship as eighth in the table, with 41 points, one more than the then called Cristal Caldas, where a coach who would later make history stood out, Francisco Maturana. They were playing against Tolima, which was last in the table, with 19 points. But there was a warning sign: the team had just won three games in a row, against Junior, Cúcuta and Pereira.

The only way to not qualify for the octagonal was to lose in Ibagué and for Caldas to beat Bucaramanga. In Manizales, the match was easily resolved: 4-0 for the local team. Eladio Vásquez, a former Santafereño, put Tolima ahead. Juan Carlos Rodríguez tied for Santa Fe. And James Rodríguez, the father of the current ’10’ of the National Team, sentenced the ‘cardinal’ elimination with a mid-distance shot that beat Carlos Fernando Navarro Montoya.

The nightmare was repeated in the second half of 2010. The situation was very similar to now: Santa Fe had just beaten La Equidad 0-1 at Techo, had 10 points and depended on itself to reach the final. It was enough for them with a draw against Tolima, who had 8. The match was played in an El Campín stadium in gray construction, in the middle of remodeling for the U-20 World Cup and with the western stand closed.

The Santa Fe fans were already celebrating their passage to the final and dreamed of breaking 35 years of curse. Wílder Medina prevented them, with a goal in the 89th minute, also from medium distance, like James’s father’s goal 24 years ago, in the north goal. There was a year and a half left until the reds returned to an Olympic tour.

The third disappointment occurred in 2014, in the final of the Colombia Cup. Tolima had won the first leg 2-0, with goals from Félix Noguera and Yimmi Chará, and the title was decided in El Campín.

The hope of a new title was latent. Santa Fe was one goal short of forcing a tiebreaker from the penalty spot. He started winning with both of Luis Carlos Arias. Andrés Ibargüen tied the game for the visitor and Jefferson Cuero lit a flame that went out 40 minutes later.