Introduction ( English )

By: JuanJo | September 30th, 2009

Welcome everybody (again) to the Atletico Nacional ‘offside’ blog. Although I’ve already given you a brief welcome this time I want to introduce you English speakin folks to the most loved and hated team in Colombia. Although it’s obvious that I am a loyal ‘hincha’ of Nacional you will also see that when I write about my team, I am very biased, honest but biased. You as football fans know what it’s like, this passion, this life. I am no different, my team is my life, my life revolves around my team. I try to buy everything with my teams colors ( green and white ) and avoid them rival colors ( red and blue ). I’ve shed tears, I’ve been wasted, I’ve been at stadiums jumping and yelling til my voice was gone. But there is no need to explain this feeling any more, now let me tell you about who this team is, where it comes from and where its going.

Atletico Nacional was founded in 1942 known back then simply as Union. It was founded in a small park in Buenos Aires, a neighborhood of Medellin named after the Argentine capital. That same year (1942) we were champions of the ‘B’ league in Colombia, we were promoted to the ‘A’ league and never looked back. 5 years later in 1947 the team decided to merge with a different team by the name of Indulana, the name came to be Union Indulana and was shortly changed to Atletico Nacional because of the fact that the players were from across the country ( National ). The became known for their style of play and won their first local championship in 1954.

After the championship in 1954 came more championships in the years of 1973,1976,1981,1991,1999,2005-I, 2007 I and 2007 II. Now these are just the local championships, here’s what we won internationally: Copa Libertadores 1989, Copa Merconorte 1998 and again in 2000, there was the Interamericana in 1990 and 1997. All these championships, local and international were thanks to the great players that have worn with pride the beloved green and white stripes.

Humberto “Turrón” Álvarez- Our first notorious goal scorer, feared striker, led Nacional to our first championship in ‘54

Hugo Horacio Lóndero- Scored one of the most important goals in Nacional’s history ( besides the other 68 goals in his career ). The man scored the winning goal against Cruzeiro (3-2) in Brasil. This was the first time a Colombian team won in Brasilian territory and the first time Cruzeiro lost to a foreign team.

Jorge Hugo “La Chancha” Fernández- Led the team to the 1973 championship

.Cesar Cueto “El Poeta de la Zurda”- My father tells me stories of this player, he said once that it didn’t matter if Nacional lost, you’d pay anything to go into the stadium and see him play.

Guillermo “El Tanque” La Rosa- La Rosa was Cuetos other half, the beautiful game was at its finest when these two led Nacional to the championship in 1981.

Oswaldo Juan Zubeldía- Only coach to lead the team to two championships in 1976 and 1981. Remembered for saying ” I’ll take Nacional to the top, then I’ll leave” .

Those were just some of our best players and coaches in black and white. Here are some of our most famous players, I won’t say much about em, you can figure out who they are.

Luis Fernando “Chonto” Herrera
Leonel Alvarez
Alexis García
René Higuita
Mauricio “Chicho” Serna
Víctor Hugo Aristizábal
Faustino “Tino” Asprilla
Iván Ramiro Córdoba
Miguel Angel Calero
Francisco “Pacho” Maturana
Victor Marulanda
Juan Pablo Angel

I also have to mention Camilo Zuñiga and David Ospina.

But our most adored idol has to be Andres Escobar, there will never be another defensive player like him, treated everyone with respect and never had anything negative to say, led us to our most important cup win (Libertadores ‘89) and left us in 1994, may he rest in peace.

Folks, this team is more than 11 players on the field. It’s got a whole city behind it, a whole country. There isn’t a more loved team in Colombia, our official fan base “Los Del Sur” has people in all corners of the Republic of Colombia, even some outside of the country, like myself. At the same time, followers of the other teams in Colombia hate us more than they hate their own in-city rivals. We are loved for our unique style of futbol and we are hated for our winning ways.

The team has been facing a bit of a bad streak since the last championship at the end of 2007. Although this season, we are in sixth place and in the semi finals of the Copa Colombia. We have a promising head coach in Ramon Cabrero and a young team that is headed in the right direction. I hope that you will follow as I keep writing about my team, our next game is this Saturday, October 3 against Deportivo Cali. This match will be very interesting since Cali is one spot below us and will be forced to defend their house. Thanks for takin the time to read this, hope I’ve officially made you “Verdolagas”.