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Atlético Nacional–América de Cali rivalry
Other namesClásico popular
Superclásico del fútbol colombiano
LocationMedellín, Colombia
Cali, Colombia
Teams
First meetingAmérica 3–0 Atlético Municipal
1948 Campeonato Profesional
(19 September 1948)[1]
Latest meetingAmérica 4–1 Atlético Nacional
2024 Apertura
(28 January 2024)
Next meetingTBD
StadiumsEstadio Atanasio Girardot (Atlético Nacional)
Estadio Pascual Guerrero (América de Cali)
Statistics
Meetings total276
Most winsAtlético Nacional (101)[1]
Most player appearancesAlexis García (50 matches)
Top scorerVíctor Aristizábal (14 goals)[2]
All-time seriesAtlético Nacional: 101
Draw: 80
América de Cali: 95
Largest victoryAmérica 4–0 Atlético Nacional
(25 May 1997)
Atlético Nacional 6–0 América
(21 May 2006)

The Atlético Nacional–América de Cali rivalry is a major rivalry involving Atlético Nacional from Medellín and América de Cali, two of the most popular and successful clubs in Colombian football. Dubbed by Colombian and international media as one of the most important clásicos or a "superclásico" of Colombian football,[3][4][5] and also known as the Clásico Popular ("People's Classic") since it involves the two Colombian clubs with the largest fanbases,[6][7] this rivalry is also considered as an extension of the historical sociocultural and sporting rivalry between the Antioquia and Valle del Cauca departments, represented by Atlético Nacional and América, respectively.[8][9]

This match gained importance starting from the decade of the 1980s, when both América de Cali and Atlético Nacional began to stand out both in local competition and continental tournaments. Both teams played the decisive final match in the 1981 and 1984 league tournaments, América won five league championships in a row between 1982 and 1986 and were Copa Libertadores runners-up for three years in a row between 1985 and 1987, whilst Nacional beat the Escarlatas to the domestic title in 1981 and became the first Colombian club to win the Copa Libertadores in 1989.

The two teams have faced each other in final stages 15 times and have played five league title-deciders between them: in 1981, 1984, 1991, 1999, and the 2002 Apertura, with Nacional winning three of these (1981, 1991, 1999) and América the remaining two.[7]

History edit

These two clubs were founding members of the Colombian football championship, nowadays known as Categoría Primera A, and met for the first time in the 1948 Campeonato Profesional on 19 September 1948 in Cali, where the Valle del Cauca team beat their Antioquia counterpart (which at that time was called Atlético Municipal) by a 3–0 score with a brace by Chico Vásquez and another goal by Efraín "Caraña" González.[10]

In 1954, Atlético Nacional won their first league title, officially lifting the trophy after beating América in Palmira by a 6–2 score on 10 October, the final day of the season.[11] 20 years later in 1974, both teams met each other in the final stage of a championship for the first time ever, as they qualified for the final hexagonal of that year's league competition. Atlético Nacional ended as league runners-up behind Deportivo Cali, whilst América de Cali ended in bottom place, but in their direct matchups the Escarlata side got the edge over the Verdolaga one, winning 2–1 in Cali and tying 1–1 in Medellín.[12][13]

In 1981, Atlético Nacional and América qualified for the final round of the Campeonato Profesional after finishing as runners-up of their respective semifinal groups, behind Atlético Junior and Deportes Tolima, and reached the final matchday on 20 December with chances to win the title, facing each other at the Estadio Atanasio Girardot. A win for Nacional would crown the Verdolagas as champions and would also deny América a runner-up finish and qualification for the Copa Libertadores. In turn, América required to win the match as well as a setback for Junior against Deportes Tolima in order to win the championship and qualify for the Copa Libertadores. A 26th-minute goal by Pedro Juan Ibargüen allowed Nacional to take the lead in the match, score that remained in place until the final minutes of the match when Nacional were awarded a penalty after a foul on César Cueto. América manager Gabriel Ochoa Uribe chose to withdraw his squad from the field of play in protest, and referee Efraín Otálora was left with no choice but to end the match, thus confirming Atlético Nacional's fourth league title.[14]

The remainder of the 80s saw both teams become heavily involved in the title contention, with América going on to win five league titles in a row from 1982 to 1986 and clinching their fourth title in 1984 against Atlético Nacional by beating the Verdolagas on the last day of the season.[7] In 1987, América once again beat Nacional on the final day of the season to end as season runners-up behind Millonarios and also deny the Antioquia side qualification for the 1988 Copa Libertadores. However, the rivalry was also tainted during this decade by the rising activities of drug cartels since Atlético Nacional and América were linked to the Medellín Cartel and Cali Cartel, respectively, which in turn came to be considered as a factor that influenced the meteoric growth in both on-field success and popularity of both clubs.[15] As an example of this, prior to the opening match of the final stage of the 1981 championship played between both sides at Estadio Pascual Guerrero, a small plane overflew the place dropping leaflets announcing the creation of the paramilitary group Muerte a Secuestradores (Death to Kidnappers), or MAS for short.[16]

The 1990s saw this rivalry become one of the most important matches in Colombian football, with games in Cali and Medellín being played with sold-out stadiums as fans picked sides between both teams, as well as the fact that the Nacional vs. América matches were often crucial to decide the champion. Throughout these 10 years, both Atlético Nacional and América won three league titles, with the Verdolaga winning the title against the Escarlata in 1991 and 1999, and América beating Nacional on the way to their seventh title in 1990. The decade also saw the first international matches between the two sides, as they crossed their paths twice in the 1991 Copa Libertadores with Nacional knocking América out in the quarter-finals, and also in 1992, in which the outcome favored América as they won both legs of their quarter-final tie.[17] In 1999, the two sides played the final of that year's tournament, with Nacional claiming the league title on penalties after two draws in both legs of the final series.[14]

 
América de Cali fans prior to a home match against Atlético Nacional in 2007.

The rivalry further consolidated at the dawn of the 21st century. In the 2002 Apertura tournament, which was the first title-awarding short tournament of Colombian football, América de Cali beat Atlético Nacional over two legs in the final series to claim their twelfth league title.[18] Shortly after, the two teams faced each other in international competition in the 2002 Copa Sudamericana, with Nacional knocking out América by winning both legs of their preliminary round tie.[17] The highest winning margin of the rivalry was set in 2006, as Atlético Nacional thrashed América de Cali in Medellín by a 6–0 score in the last round of the first stage of the 2006 Apertura tournament, and left the Escarlatas out of contention for that tournament's title.[7]

The rivalry was weakened in the years immediately following América de Cali's relegation to Categoría Primera B in 2011, since América went on to spend five years in the second tier while at the same time Atlético Nacional embarked on a successful spree under the helm of managers Juan Carlos Osorio and Reinaldo Rueda, winning the Primera A tournament five times (the two tournaments of the 2013 season, the 2014 Apertura, the 2015 Finalización, and the 2017 Apertura), in addition to four Copas Colombia, the Superliga Colombiana twice, the 2016 Copa Libertadores and the 2017 Recopa Sudamericana. However, the rivalry resurfaced after América's promotion and return to Primera A in 2017, with Los Diablos Rojos winning back-to-back league titles in the 2019 Finalización and 2020 tournaments, knocking Atlético Nacional out on the way to the latter championship.[19]

Statistics edit

Head-to-head edit

As of 28 January 2024[1]
Competition Matches Wins
Atlético Nacional 		Draws Wins
América de Cali 		Goals
Atlético Nacional 		Goals
América de Cali
Categoría Primera A 259 93 78 88 333 335
Copa Colombia 2 2 0 0 5 2
Copa Libertadores 11 4 1 6 15 16
Copa Sudamericana 2 2 0 0 3 1
Copa Merconorte 2 0 1 1 3 4
Official matches 276 101 80 95 359 358
Friendlies 5 1 2 2 3 3
Total matches 281 102 82 97 362 361

Honours edit

Major honours won
Competition Atlético Nacional América de Cali
Categoría Primera A 17 15
Copa Colombia 6 0
Superliga Colombiana 3 0
Copa Libertadores 2 0
Recopa Sudamericana 1 0
Copa Merconorte 2 1
Copa Interamericana 2 0
Copa Simón Bolívar 0 1
Total 33 17

Records edit

  • Record wins[20]
    • Atlético Nacional:
      • Home: Atlético Nacional 6–0 América de Cali, Estadio Atanasio Girardot, 21 May 2006
      • Away: América de Cali 2–6 Atlético Nacional, Estadio Francisco Rivera Escobar (Palmira), 10 October 1954
    • América de Cali:
      • Home: América de Cali 4–0 Atlético Nacional, Estadio Pascual Guerrero, 25 May 1997
      • Away: Atlético Nacional 0–3 América de Cali, Estadio Atanasio Girardot, 8 July 1962
        Atlético Nacional 0–3 América de Cali, Estadio Atanasio Girardot, 28 November 2020

References edit

  1. ^ a b c "Copa BetPlay: así le ha ido al América enfrentando al Atlético Nacional" [Copa BetPlay: this is how América have fared against Atlético Nacional] (in Spanish). El País. 6 July 2023. Retrieved 28 August 2023.
  2. ^ "Adrián Ramos y la oportunidad de ser el máximo goleador de América ante Nacional" [Adrián Ramos and the chance to be América's top scorer against Nacional] (in Spanish). Futbolete. 24 October 2021. Retrieved 6 January 2022.
  3. ^ "NACIONAL-AMÉRICA, EL SUPERCLÁSICO" [Nacional-América, the superclásico] (in Spanish). El Tiempo. 15 September 2017. Retrieved 5 October 2021.
  4. ^ "Según Conmebol, Atlético Nacional vs. América de Cali es el clásico de Colombia: ¿dónde queda Millonarios?" [According to CONMEBOL: Atlético Nacional vs. América de Cali is the classic of Colombia: where is Millonarios left?] (in Spanish). Semana. 9 February 2021. Retrieved 5 October 2021.
  5. ^ "Las mayores rivalidades y los grandes clásicos de América" [The Americas's greatest rivalries and great classics] (in Spanish). Diario AS. 27 October 2018. Retrieved 5 October 2021.
  6. ^ "¿Cuál es el verdadero clásico del fútbol colombiano?" [What is the true classic of Colombian football?] (in Spanish). Marca Claro Colombia. 22 February 2018. Retrieved 5 October 2021.
  7. ^ a b c d "¿Por qué América de Cali Vs. Nacional es el 'clásico de Colombia'?" [Why América de Cali vs. Nacional is 'Colombia's classic'?] (in Spanish). El País. 19 February 2021. Retrieved 5 October 2021.
  8. ^ "Un clamor por el Valle" [A cry for the Valley] (in Spanish). El Colombiano. 4 July 2012. Retrieved 5 October 2021.
  9. ^ "MEMES - La Supremacía de los equipos Antioqueños sobre los Vallecaucanos" [MEMES - The supremacy of the teams from Antioquia over the Valle del Cauca ones] (in Spanish). 90Min. 17 August 2017. Retrieved 5 October 2021.
  10. ^ "América de Cali se Impuso al Atlético Mpal. por Tres a 0" [América de Cali defeated Atlético Mpal. by Three to 0]. Google News (in Spanish). Retrieved 5 October 2021.
  11. ^ "NACIONAL CONFIRMÓ SU TÍTULO DE CAMPEÓN" [NACIONAL CONFIRMED THEIR CHAMPIONSHIP TITLE]. Google News (in Spanish). Retrieved 5 October 2021.
  12. ^ "Nacional se 'espantó'" [Nacional got 'frightened']. Google News (in Spanish). Retrieved 28 August 2023.
  13. ^ "Nacional 1, América 1: "Juegan limpio o se van"" [Nacional 1, América 1: "Play fair or leave"]. Google News (in Spanish). Retrieved 28 August 2023.
  14. ^ a b "Los 9 partidos importantes entre Nacional y América en el Atanasio" [The 9 important matches between Nacional and América at the Atanasio] (in Spanish). Futbolred. 24 September 2019. Retrieved 5 October 2021.
  15. ^ "América vs. Nacional: ¿superclásico?" [América vs. Nacional: superclásico?] (in Spanish). El Espectador. 23 October 2021. Retrieved 6 January 2022.
  16. ^ "La historia negra del fútbol nacional: gran especial de Futbolred" [The black history of domestic football: Futbolred's grand special] (in Spanish). Futbolred. 7 October 2010. Retrieved 5 October 2021.
  17. ^ a b "Los duelos internacionales de eliminación directa entre colombianos" [The knockout international duels between Colombian sides]. Goal.com (in Spanish). 14 June 2017. Retrieved 6 January 2022.
  18. ^ "El recuerdo de América campeón en el Atanasio Girardot" [The memory of América champion at the Atanasio Girardot] (in Spanish). Diario AS. 16 August 2017. Retrieved 6 January 2022.
  19. ^ "América celebra: remontó, eliminó a Nacional y va a la semifinal" [América celebrate: they came back, knocked Nacional out, and go to the semifinal] (in Spanish). El Tiempo. 28 November 2020. Retrieved 28 August 2023.
  20. ^ "Datos históricos del clásico América vs. Atlético Nacional: Un duelo de grandeza" [Historical data of the América vs. Atlético Nacional classic: A duel of greatness] (in Spanish). Futbolete. 29 September 2022. Retrieved 28 August 2023.


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