Colon make history with first-ever title
Historic victory for Santa Fe club, while Boca Juniors legend Carlos Tevez is ready to leave Argentina
Thousands flouted restrictions and disregarded social distancing to take to the streets. Many preferred to stay at home with their family and simply cry. One drilled a hole in the urn containing his father’s ashes and poured red wine in, to come good on the promise to drink that bottle bought back in 2005 for the club’s centenary the day the Sabalero – the Shad fishers – finally win a trophy.
The celebrations continued for days in Santa Fe, Argentina, as Colon won their first-ever title in 116 years of history. Three well-crafted second-half goals secured the historic win over Racing Club in the Copa de la Liga final. In the semi-final they had defeated Independiente, the King of Cups. Winning this title was to have punched well above their weight.
42-year-old coach Eduardo Dominguez was in tears by the final whistle and did not let the trophy out of his sight afterwards – he said he’d be sleeping with it that night. “Bringing in Dominguez was key,” said club president Jose Vignatti by way of explaining how the club with a limited budget and few star names won this competition. Dominguez preferred not to give interviews. His future is not clear with his current deal due to end. “We respected him and his idea and that took us to the title,” Alexis Castro, one of the scorers in the final, said of his coach.
Dominguez oversaw the project, but Colon were largely guided on the pitch by their spiritual leader, Luis “Pulga” Rodriguez.
Joint top scorer and with the most assists in the competition, at 36 years of age, standing 5’4” tall, the Pulga (Flea) is now a cult figure in Argentine football. He is the archetypal product of the dustbowl pitches – the potrero
– where kids learn the game. He still plays in much the same way, a tricky and devious playmaker in the revered No.10 role.
As a teen he was whisked off to Europe for trials but was abandoned by his agent in Bucharest. Disenchanted with football, back in his native northern Argentina Rodriguez began working as a builder before returning to the professional game. He spent his entire career in Argentina, notably at Atletico Tucuman where he is their second all-time top goalscorer.
He left Tucuman under acrimonious circumstances in 2019 and with fans feeling let down. He was not leaving them for the prestige of playing for one of Argentina’s “Big Five”, nor was he joining a club that could offer him a lucrative final payday. He was joining Colon – a mid-table side that had never won anything.
Yet with Rodriguez, Colon reached the final of the 2019 Copa Sudamericana, South America’s Europa League equivalent, where they ultimately lost to Ecuadorians Independiente del Valle. On the back of that defeat, coach Dominguez joined and exactly 100 games later Colon celebrated their first-ever title. They have now qualified for the 2022 Copa Libertadores. “You can’t buy glory with money,” Rodriguez said after the final. “You can’t buy this happiness.”
Minutes before the final started, down in Buenos Aires there was a very different mood at the Bombonera. Carlos Tevez was announcing he was leaving Boca Juniors. “I don’t know what will happen with my career,” he admitted. Tevez’ father passed away recently. “I haven’t even had time to mourn him.” The Apache made it clear he would not be playing for Boca or in Argentina again, but his future is uncertain. “Physically I could play on, but mentally I can’t.”
While Tevez’s future is unclear, so too is what comes next for domestic football here. Argentina is in the midst of a brutal wave of COVID-19 infections. Critical
“You can’t buy glory with money. You can’t buy this happiness” Colon captain Luis “Pulga” Rodriguez
care bed occupancy in Colon’s province of Santa Fe was at 98 per cent at the time of writing, though it is lower in the most populated region in and around Buenos Aires. The Copa de la Liga was an improvised knockout tournament to make up for the absence of a league competition after lockdown in 2020. The next league season is pencilled in to begin in mid-July.
After the Copa America break, the only certainty is for the clubs involved in the Copa Libertadores last 16. Boca must plan without Tevez. Defensa y Justicia, Velez Sarsfield and Racing are all involved, while River Plate meet Argentinos Juniors in the all-Argentine tie. River wrote a most peculiar chapter in the club’s folklore in the group stage, playing with injured midfielder Enzo Perez in goal and unable to pick a single substitute against Independiente Santa Fe of Colombia because of the outbreak of coronavirus infections in the squad.