Bucaramanga, in a heart-stopping final, beat Santa Fe on penalties and is the new champion of Colombian soccer

When the fans of Bucaramanga They invaded their court, it was not a provocation, it was a premonition, they blindly believed that the star, theirs, the yellow one, was tied up, they did not care about provoking the lion of Santa FeThey were so gullible in their heroism that in the final match in Bogotá those leopards were the kings of the jungle, they won on penalties and became champions, champions for the first time.

What Bucaramanga fought must be written. So much courage, so much bravery. Bucaramanga was a team determined to be champion, and in the second leg in Bogotá they did not let themselves be intimidated by anything, they did not care about the torrential rain or the soaked field or the penalties, they were a team with deaf ears to the local fury, no The excitement of the lions affected them, on the contrary, it was a motivated team. He didn’t mind starting losing either, when after 9 minutes Rodallega He scored 1-0 that made the Santa Fe fans delirious. None of that intimidated the leopards. Those players were a warrior breed. They gave the most worthy of their battles. At minute 29, a little piece of the star was already in his hands when Córdoba took advantage of a filtered pass, he was left so alone that it seemed that Santa Fe’s defense did not exist, he finished with elegance and it was 1-1, the result that made them champions .

Santa Fe, which started the game determined to demonstrate its fury and impetus, was left very quickly, the ball was mixed, it drowned in that sea that was the El Campín field, without formulas, without being the team it used to be. .

Nobody is prepared to lose, but at the end of the first half a terrifying silence passed through the Bogotá stadium, the cardinal fans did not want to talk, they did not want to complain, they did not want anything, deep in their souls they began to feel that this final was not going to happen either. would be his, that this star would not be on his shield either. Bucaramanga was no longer 90 minutes away from glory, it was only 45 minutes away… and some penalties. This close, this far.

The second half was just beginning when all the drama fell on Santa Fe, heavy and lethal. A corner kick, a ball spinning in the area, a rebound, a coming and going of legs, and Daniel Mosquera pushed the ball, it was 1-2 in Bogotá, a goal shouted throughout Bucaramanga. You have to be a leopard fan to understand what those fans felt.

Santa Fe launched its offensive, but when Agustín Rodríguez did a bicycle kick and the ball hit the post rebelliously, the entire red fans remained silent and shuddered.

But the lions gave their final battle. A goal from Millán with a header, six minutes from time, turned on a light for them. And at minute 90, the unexpected, a penalty, a charge executed by Rodríguez, the series tied and all the drama transferred to penalties.

But Bucaramanga was not going to let the star for which they fought so much be taken away. In that final round, goalkeeper Aldair Quintana appeared to be, as he has been, a figure again. When Millán, the cardinal defender, missed his shot, El Campín collapsed and all of Bucaramanga launched its eternal cry of champions. Deserved champions.

PABLO ROMERO

ELTIEMPO JOURNALIST

@PabloRomeroET