Brazil. If Colombia sunk into scandalous disorder, Brazil went the other way – after years of chaos, finally order was shaping in. It was a good year – the national team won Copa America at last and there was crop of bright young stars. True, the best players were players in Europe and the exodus was only increasing. It could be that in 1989 the scales finally tipped in favour of the national championship – no more good play in the state championship provided a spot in the top level national championship, thus changing the focus of both clubs and fans. The top national level was reduced from 24 to 22 teams and the last 4 were to be relegated to the second level. There was further reduction to 20 teams, so only 2 teams were promoted from second level. The top level was becoming a real league, soon to play classic league championship as well. The second level was shakier – 24 teams played in it in 1988, but in 1989 the number increased to 96! Second level was still in transitional period – the first order was to stabilize top league, Second Division after that, naturally suffering at the moment. But something was firm: promotion/relegation exchange was established and the top 2 teams were promoted to First Division. However, it was enormously huge and complicated championship this year and even simplification of the championship formula did not help grasping the stages of the season. First level was structured better already. Taming local pride, ambitions, and illusions was never easy in Brazil, but now these problems were ate least removed from the top level – and, for the moment, concentrated in the second level. It was obvious that some team from the Amazonian jungle was inferior even to third-rate teams from Sao Paulo or Rio de Janeiro, but such a club was located in a state, which demanded equality – if Rio should have 5 teams in the national championship, so the jungle state should have the same number . Thus, obscure clubs popped up, mostly to play their single season in the second national level.
Campeonato Brasileiro Série B 1989, the second level of Brazilian National League, was played from September 9 to December 20, 1989. The competition had 96 clubs and two of them were promoted to Série A. The participants were divided into 16 groups of 6 teams in the opening stage. The top 2 teams in each group continued to the next round – from there to the final it was cup-style direct elimination, thus, 1/16, 1/8/ ¼. Semifinals, and final. Many obscure teams played their single season on that high national level. The formula was simple, but the sheer size of the championship… and the obscurity of most teams, combined with similar names of clubs from different states made it both exciting and difficult to follow.
Group A
1
Rio Branco
10
6
0
4
11
10
+1
12
2
Rio Negro
10
5
2
3
9
3
+6
12
3
Nacional
10
4
3
3
9
5
+4
11
4
Dom Bosco
10
5
0
5
13
11
+2
10
5
Mixto
10
4
0
6
9
13
−4
8
6
Princesa do Solimões
10
3
1
6
12
21
−9
7
Mixto
Group B
1
Anapolina
10
6
1
3
15
10
+5
13
2
Ceilândia
10
5
2
3
11
9
+2
12
3
Sobradinho
10
4
1
5
11
16
−5
9
4
Vila Nova
10
3
3
4
12
11
+1
9
5
Taguatinga
10
3
3
4
12
13
−1
9
6
Atlético
10
3
2
5
11
13
−2
8
Vila Nova
Taguatinga
Atletico Goianiense
Group C
1
Moto Clube
10
5
4
1
17
7
+10
14
2
Remo
10
5
3
2
11
7
+4
13
3
Paysandu
10
4
4
2
10
6
+4
12
4
Maranhão
10
2
4
4
11
17
−6
8
5
Sampaio Corrêa
10
2
3
5
6
13
−7
7
6
Tuna Luso
10
1
4
5
7
12
−5
6
MAC – Maranhao Atletico Clube
Group D
1
Fortaleza
10
4
5
1
9
5
+4
13
2
Ceará
10
4
4
2
9
6
+3
12
3
Flamengo
10
4
4
2
11
10
+1
12
4
River
10
4
3
3
8
8
0
11
5
Ferroviário
10
3
2
5
9
10
−1
8
6
4 de Julho
10
1
2
7
10
17
−7
4
Ferroviario
River
Group E
1
ABC
10
5
4
1
10
4
+6
14
2
Treze
10
3
6
1
12
6
+6
12
3
América
10
4
3
3
13
11
+2
11
4
Nacional de Patos
10
4
2
4
11
13
−2
10
5
Botafogo
10
3
1
6
9
14
−5
7
6
Baraúnas
10
1
4
5
4
11
−7
6
America (Natal)
Group F
1
Central
10
7
3
0
14
3
+11
17
2
Santa Cruz
10
6
3
1
14
2
+12
15
3
CRB
10
4
4
2
9
5
+4
12
4
Capelense
10
2
4
4
7
8
−1
8
5
CSA
10
3
1
6
5
14
−9
7
6
América
10
0
1
9
2
19
−17
1
CSA
Group G
1
Catuense
10
5
4
1
12
4
+8
14
2
Confiança
10
4
5
1
11
5
+6
13
3
Fluminense de Feira
10
3
6
1
8
6
+2
12
4
Leônico
10
3
3
4
7
8
−1
9
5
Sergipe
10
1
6
3
6
9
−3
8
6
Lagarto
10
0
4
6
2
14
−12
4
Sergipe
Fluminense de Feira
Group H
1
Itaperuna
10
5
4
1
11
4
+7
14
2
Americano
10
5
3
2
14
5
+9
13
3
AA Cabofriense
10
4
3
3
9
9
0
11
4
Rio Branco
10
3
5
2
9
5
+4
11
5
Desportiva
10
3
1
6
7
17
−10
7
6
Colatina
10
1
2
7
7
17
−10
4
Cabofriense
Desportiva
Colatina
Group I
1
Botafogo
10
5
3
2
9
7
+2
13
2
Catanduvense
10
4
5
1
11
5
+6
13
3
Uberlândia
10
2
5
3
8
9
−1
9
4
Goiatuba
10
1
7
2
3
4
−1
9
5
Goiânia
10
3
2
5
10
14
−4
8
6
América
10
1
6
3
3
5
−2
8
Goiatuba
Goiania
Group J
1
Bragantino
10
8
2
0
17
3
+14
18
2
São José
10
3
4
3
6
6
0
10
3
Volta Redonda
10
3
4
3
6
13
−7
10
4
Novorizontino
10
2
5
3
9
7
+2
9
5
Esportivo
10
2
3
5
2
7
−5
7
6
Santo André
10
2
2
6
7
11
−4
6
Novorizontino
Esportivo (Passos)
Group L
1
América
10
5
3
2
15
10
+5
13
2
União São João
10
4
3
3
13
9
+4
11
3
Democrata-SL
10
4
3
3
12
16
−4
11
4
Bangu
10
4
2
4
12
12
0
10
5
Valeriodoce
10
3
2
5
9
10
−1
8
6
Tupi
10
2
3
5
7
11
−4
7
Tupi
Bangu
Group M
1
Juventus
10
4
6
0
13
7
+6
14
2
XV de Piracicaba
10
4
4
2
9
6
+3
12
3
Rio Branco
10
4
4
2
9
9
0
12
4
Mogi Mirim
10
2
5
3
7
11
−4
9
5
América
10
2
3
5
9
9
0
7
6
Ponte Preta
10
2
2
6
7
12
−5
6
Ponte Preta
Group N
1
Grêmio Maringá
10
6
3
1
13
7
+6
15
2
Londrina
10
5
2
3
8
5
+3
12
3
Operário
10
3
5
2
14
11
+3
11
4
Douradense
10
2
4
4
7
11
−4
8
5
Ubiratan
10
2
4
4
9
14
−5
8
6
União Rondonópolis
10
1
4
5
4
7
−3
6
Operario (Campo Grande)
Group O
1
Blumenau
10
6
3
1
10
5
+5
15
2
Juventude
10
5
2
3
14
10
+4
12
3
Brusque
10
5
2
3
16
14
+2
12
4
Glória
10
4
4
2
13
9
+4
12
5
Marcílio Dias
10
3
1
6
11
15
−4
7
6
Esportivo
10
0
2
8
5
16
−11
2
Gloria
Marcilio Dias
Esportivo (Bento Goncalves)
Group P
1
Joinville
10
6
2
2
9
2
+7
14
2
Operário
10
4
5
1
10
5
+5
13
3
Noroeste
10
3
4
3
7
5
+2
10
4
Foz do Iguaçu
10
3
4
3
7
9
−2
10
5
Caxias
10
2
4
4
4
7
−3
8
6
Pinheiros
10
1
3
6
4
13
−9
5
Caxias
Pinheiros
Group Q
1
Criciúma
10
5
4
1
22
8
+14
14
2
Figueirense
10
4
4
2
8
10
−2
12
3
Novo Hamburgo
10
2
6
2
6
6
0
10
4
Santa Cruz
10
2
5
3
13
15
−2
9
5
Pelotas
10
2
4
4
6
11
−5
8
6
Avaí
10
2
3
5
8
13
−5
7
Second phase to the final:
Rio Negro
2–2 (p. 3–2)
Anapolina[3]
1–1
1–1
Ceilândia
0–1
Rio Branco-AC
0–0
0–1
Fortaleza
0–2
Remo
0–0
0–2
Ceará
2–2 (p. 5–4)
Moto Clube
1–1
1–1
ABC
1–5
Central
1–4
0–1
Treze
2–2 (a)
Santa Cruz
0–0
2–2
Confiança
1–2
Itaperuna
0–0
1–2
Americano
2–2 (a)
Catuense
1–2
1–0
São José
1–0
Botafogo-SP
1–0
0–0
Catanduvense
1–2
Bragantino
0–1
1–1
XV de Piracicaba
1–0
América-RJ
1–0
0–0
União São João
1–2
Juventus
1–0
0–2
Operário-PR
3–2
Grêmio Maringá
2–0
1–2
Londrina
1–2
Joinville
1–1
0–1
Figueirense
2–5
Juventude
0–2
2–3
Blumenau
1–1 (p. 2–4)
Criciúma
1–0
0–1
Eliminated:
Londrina
ABC (Natal)
Americano (Campos)
Moto Club – or Moto Clube (Sao Luis)
Botafogo (Ribeirao Preto)
Rio Negro (Manaus)
Uniao (Sao Joao)
1/8
Remo
1–0
Anapolina
1–0
0–0
Ceará
4–0
Rio Branco-AC
3–0
1–0
Catuense
2–2 (a)
Central
1–0
1–2
Treze
2–2 (a)
Itaperuna
2–2
0–0
São José
1–1 (a)
XV de Piracicaba
0–0
1–1
Juventus
2–4
Bragantino
0–1
2–3
Operário-PR
3–3 (a)
Juventude
2–2
1–1
Criciúma
2–1
Joinville
2–1
0–0
Eliminated:
Anapolina
Central
Juventus (Mooca)
Treze
Operario (Ponte Grossa)
Rio Branco
XV de Novembre (Piracicaba) – also known as XV de Piracicaba
¼
Ceará
1–2
Catuense
1–1
0–1
Itaperuna
1–2
Remo
0–0
1–2
São José
0–0 (p. 6–5)
Juventude
0–0
0–0
Criciúma
1–3
Bragantino
1–0
0–3
Eliminated:
Ceara
Itaperuna
Criciuma
½
Remo lost to Bragantino 0-0, 0-0, and 1-4 in the penalty shootout.
Catuense was eliminated by Sao Jose 1-1 and 0-1.
Finals – so far the semifinals winners earned promotion to First Level and they played 2 legs to decide the Second Level champion. At home Sao Jose lost 0-1 and they also lost the second leg 1-2. Bragantino won the championship.
Sao Jose (Sao Jose de Campos) lost the final, but had excellent season and earned promotion to the top Brazilian level – quite an achievement for a small club.
Bragantino (Braganca Paulista) won the championship.
The champions were happy, of course: it was not often Bragantino won a trophy. As for the team, it is hard to tell how good they were, since transfers in Brazil were frequent. The emblematic Biro-Biro played at least in the finals, but he also played for first-level team this very year.
At October 1st, 1989, the referee Arturo Ortega was gunned down after officiating in Medellin a scoreless draw between Deportivo Independiente and America (Cali). Soon after the murder a journalist received an anonymous call from a man claiming to be one of the killers, who said ‘we and our patrons lost a lot of money’, blaming Ortega for the result of the match. The murder of Ortega was the last drop in the already dark reality of Colombia, football included, and the championship was canceled. At the moment 318 games were played and the championship was in the second phase, but it was canceled entirely – no champion, no any kind of final standing. To a point, it was a revolt against the narco-cartels and it was also without much significance. Seven clubs were run by narco-cartels at the time: Atletico Nacional and Deportivo Independiente (Medellin), America (Cali), Millonarios (Bogota), Independiente (Santa Fe), Union (Magdalena), and Deportivo (Pereira). It was hardly a secret… and football mirrored the grim Colombian reality: the country divided by narco-cartels with their influence, practices, and rivalries – a match between Deportivo Independiente and America was more than a football rivalry, but also a battle between narco-cartels not only for the title and it was impossible to tell what exactly was at stake: was it a war between cartels for bigger shares of the drug market or clash of egos? Most likely both, but there was another element equally strong: betting. The same people who were ready to do anything to put their team on top also bet money (legally and illegally) on the outcomes of games and when big money was to be won egos suddenly were not all that important – at least for a moment. In the eyes of Medellin’s fans (and not only theirs), Ortega unfairly favoured America in his last match. He was ‘guilty’… but was he? Was it just bad refereeing or was he controlled by the owners of America? Of course, the notorious Medellin cartel led by larger than life Pablo Escobar was blamed and most certainly he was behind the murder, yet… there were layers and layers so difficult to peel and reach definite truth. Criminals were involved in sports for a long time all around the world – there were money in sports. Money to be made and money to be cleaned – one of the most important reasons for drug cartels to get involved with football was because it provided easy way to launder money. There were also egos – the ‘big boss’ must be first in anything. And most drug lords were genuine fans of football and their teams too… Pablo Escobar was all of that and he was also the most flamboyant and controversial drug lord. He was uncharacteristically emotional watching the penalty shoot-out of Copa Libertadores final at the stands and cheering Atletico Nacional’s victory, according to his long-time bodyguard. Atletico Nacional’s triumph was his own doing – he not only made his beloved club strong, but treated players as friends. But he also took control of Atletico Nacional rival Deportivo Independiente (DIM) and was often seen at the stadium watching their games. Friends are friends, but… Escobar often invited rival drug lords to party and play private games – ‘come around, bring the best players you chose and let see who will win’. And bet on the outcome… There was no player-friend capable or refusing a call for private play from the boss… even Maradona flew to play for Escobar and that when the drug lord was in prison – Maradona always claims he had no idea why he had to fly to Colombia and who Escobar was, just going for the money offered and very much surprised to play a game in a prison. If only he knew, he would, naturally, have refused… but unfortunately he did not know. Right… at the time when Maradona was snorting cocaine like there was no tomorrow he had no idea where cocaine comes from and who was running it and was in the news almost daily. Friendlies and some man-to-man betting around the barbecue is one thing, winning a championship – quite another for the same protagonists. One could lose a few hundred thousands with a smile to a ‘buddy’ at home, but that thousands and more have to be legalized or just come back through official games and fixed betting on larger scale – and here there are no buddies. In general, Escobar was the most brutal among the drug lords – others preferred bribes to murder – but it was a small distinction. A few years later Andres Escobar, the great defender of Atletico Nacional was killed, presumably for his ‘shameful’ performance at the 1994 World Cup, but he was the only player among the Colombian stars uncomfortable with and quite openly critical to drug money – which effectively meant standing against his own boss Pablo Escobar. Escobar was ruthless, yet, he was also a saint even now to many in Medellin – he built housing and schools to the poor (and, to a point, it was genuine concern for bettering their lives). He gave them also a great team – and this was even patriotic, for to a large degree he was responsible for elevating Colombian national team to a world-class power. Except Andres Escobar all Colombian stars of the time, coach Maturana included, praise Pablo. Then again, almost all of them played for Atletico Nacional and personally benefited by ‘friendship’ with the drug lord. Escobar really loved football, that was sure. It was also a deadly love… Alvaro Ortega went against Medellin on two accounts: ‘robing’ DIM from a possible victory and thus robing Atletico Nacional as well in the battle against America (Cali). He had to die.. again, for two reasons (not counting the hint of lost money from betting): the usual fan’s anger at the real or imagined ‘crooked’ referee supporting the enemy and also a referee appearing to be in the crutches of a deadly rival (Cali drug cartel). Football became a part of the war between the war between Colombian government and the drug lords and there are doubts that even today the game is clean from drug money and influence. But in 1989 the championship was canceled – the scandal was too big, the crime too much. And because of that only photos of teams will be given – for the teams existed and played more than half of the season.
Once Caldas
Deportivo (Cali)
Atletico (Bucaramanga)
Deportivo (Cucuta). Standing from left: Chepe Torres, Pedro Nel Barbosa, Antonio ‘el gringo’ Palacios, Willian Mosquera, Luis Carlos ‘el panameño’ Sánchez, Carlos Mario Estrada .
Atletico Junior
Deportes (Tolima)
Atletico Nacional (Medellin). Top row from left: Miguel Alfredo Nuñez, José Fernando “Chepe” Castañeda, José René Higuita Zapata, Hernán Torres Oliveros.
DIM – as usually is written and called Deportivo Independiente (Medellin) in Colombia. Technically, their match against America brought ‘the revenge’ on the referee Ortega. Pablo Escobar was certainly ‘something else’ – he was the only drug lord owning two teams and supporting physically both. Yet, his major love was Atletico Nacional – DIM had a strong team, but nothing like the star-studded Atletico Nacional. It also serves as an example to question a claim often made in Colombia: that drug lords benefited the development of football by bringing top foreign talent. First, Colombian clubs imported great foreigners from the first day they created the professional league, so it was nothing new. Second, the drug lords did not hire the best foreigners even when the poured enormous money into their clubs – as the foreigners playing for DIM testify: Juan Carlos Letelier (Chile) and Jorge Jara (Paraguay) are not world-class stars. No matter what, Colombians could not compete with European clubs when it came to great stars – the reasons for that are not only monetary, of course.
Deportivo (Pereira)
Millonarios finished 2nd in the Torneo Apertura with 38 points. Standing from left: Sergio Goycochea, Luis Manuel Quiñones, Cerveleón Cuesta, Wilman Conde, Eduardo Pimentel. First row: Carlos Enrique “Gambeta” Estrada, Jair Abonía, Oscar “Pajaro” Juárez, Hugo Galeano, Alberto Gamero, John Jairo “Pocillo” Díaz.
America (Cali) won Torneo Apertura with 44 points. As the text shows, drug lords running the club did not banish them from playing in the USA. Then again, their owners kept lower public profile than Pablo Escobar and were more ‘refined’ – preferred bribes to gunning down referees.
Union (Magdalena) – was 2nd in Copa Colombia. The Argentine-born goalkeeper of national team Bolivia Carlos Trucco was the most recognizable player in the squad.
Independiente (Santa Fe) was leading the Copa Colombia stage when the championship was cancelled. Standing from left: Adolfo Valencia, Freddy Rincón, Manuel Rincón, Miller Cuesta, José Romeiro Hurtado, Fernando Hernández. First row: John Edison Álvarez, William “El Palmero” Morales, Héctor Ramón “El Rambo” Sossa, Sergio Vargas, Germán Morales
The first leg in Asuncion gave comfortable advantage to the hosts.
Olimpia scored twice. The lead was highly encouraging.
Olimpia had high hopes, because not only they went to Colombia with good lead, but also because the second leg was not played in Meddelin. The rules required a venue holding at least 50 000 and there was no such stadium in Meddelin, so the second leg had to be played in Bogota. In theory, the crowd there would be if not hostile, at least cool to Atletico Nacional.
But Colombian fans turned out to be mainly patriotic and enthusiastically supported Atletico Nacional, which was determined to win.
The advantage of Olimpia was neutralized.
The hosts equalized the result in the 65th minute and the match ended 2-0 Atletico Nacional. Penalty shoot-out followed and the public was kept on tiptoes for a long time.
The shoot-out started with immediate advantage to the hosts: in the duel of the goalkeepers, the Uruguayan-born Paraguayan national team goalkeeper Ever Hugo Almeida was beaten by flamboyant Rene Higuita in the first penalty. But it took 18 shoots altogether before there was a winner and if at first penalties were scored, eventually there were more and more misses.
And after Sanabria missed the net, Leonel Alvarez stepped in and scored. To the frenzied delight of the crowd Atletico Nacional won. 5-4.
Luis Carlos Perea received Copa Libertadores
It was wonderful moment of triumph.
Everybody deserved to hold the Cup.
Coach Francisco Maturana most of all.
Olimpia (Asuncion) lost its opportunity to win a second Copa Libertadores. Standing from left: Ever Almeida, Roberto Krausemann, Herib Chamas, Jorge Guasch, Gustavo Benítez, Fidel Miño.
This was the heroic line in Bogota, but photos of the Copa Libertadores winners around the world favoured the losing side of the first final leg.
In general, this is the most popular photo of the winners – a picture not from any final leg. Suarez, Galeano, and Villa did not play at the finals. But never mind – there are much more important things about the fresh conquer of Copa Libertadores. For the first time Colombian team won the trophy, a historic victory. It was the 4th attempt of Colombian team to win, but Atleitico Nacional reached the final for the first time and instantly won – thus, they came above America (Cali), which lost 3 consecutive finals. In local terms, the team from Medellin became more successful than famous rivals America (Cali, rightly the strongest Colombian club for a long time) and Millonarios (Bogota). That is, provincials topped the Colombian more important clubs and cities. And in quit unusual manner too: as rule of thumb, strong Colombian teams depended largely on foreign players and coaches – Atletico Nacional had Colombian coach and only Colombian players. Francisco Maturana was rapidly becoming world-wide famous and so were his players. Almost the whole squad were current Colombian national team players, which were coming to maturity – winning Copa Libertadores not only boosted confidence, but also propelled the national team to previously unreachable heights. Maturana is to be praised for building this squad and players like Hiquita, Escobar, Alvarez as well for their loyalty to club and coach, but there was something else, another side.
Did Pablo Escobar attended the final? At least in Bogota, if not in Asuncion? He was more than a fan – it was hardly a secret that he and the Medellin Cartel financed Atletico Nacional. The cocaine lord and his sinister ways were big trouble already – yes, he supported the poor in Medellin, he cared for football, and probably without drug money Atletico Nacional would not became great, but was the loyalty of coach and players real? Or fear kept them together and in Medellin? Under normal circumstances it was more than likely the stars would join bigger and more successful clubs. But it is academic – the fact is Maturana and the boys were playing with green and white to the delight of Medellin, Pablo Escobar included. The new fame also opened other avenues for the protagonists – Maturana became coach of the Colombian national team, some of the players moved to Europe right after conquering South America (perhaps those were the wisest – a few years later Andres Escobar will be killed by displeased mafia). To a point, Pablo Escobar and the Medellin Cartel masterminded Atletico Nacional’s success and such ‘benefactors’ are always whimsical and lethal. That was behind the scene – on the field strong, hungry and quite delightful team really put Colombian football on the world map. At last.
So, here are the heroes once again – they had no way to prove how good really were at home this season, thanks again to Pablo Escobar and his buddies.