Football Journey

Copa do Brasil. So, Brazil had a national cup tournament – on top of everything else. Gremio and Sport reached the final. The first leg in Recife ended scoreless 0-0. In Porto Alegre the hosts managed to extract victory: 2-1.
Sport (Recife) tried hard to win a trophy, but it was not their year… relegation to second level and no remedy with a cup.
Gremio (Porto Alegre) kept strong position in Brazilian football – they were unable to reach the championship final, but still won the Cup.
Well done, but it was somewhat of a last hurrah of a fading team – there best years were already in the past, the current squad was not that great. Still capable of winning, though.

Serie A. Format: First Stage
The 22 clubs were divided in 2 groups of 11 teams each, playing against the other teams of their respective groups once. The 8 best placed teams of each group qualified to the Second Stage, while the 3 last placed teams of each group competed in the Relegation Tournament.
Second Stage
The 16 qualified clubs were divided in two groups of 8 teams each, playing once against the other group teams. The points of this stage and of the first stage were summed. The champion of each group qualified to the final.
Relegation Tournament
The 6 clubs eliminated in the First Stage played against each other twice. The 4 last placed teams were relegated to the following year’s Série B.
Final
It was played between the champions of the two Second Stage groups. The two clubs played a maximum of 2 matches, but the club with the best performance in the competition had the option to choose where the first match would be played, and also need only two points (one victory or two draws) to be declared as the competition champions.
First stage:
Group A
Team
Pld
W
D
L
GF
GA
GD
Pts
Qualification
Corinthians
10
6
2
2
11
6
+5
14
Second Stage
Botafogo
10
4
3
3
10
8
+2
11

Atlético Mineiro
10
3
5
2
13
8
+5
11

Náutico
10
4
2
4
16
16
0
10

Internacional-SP
10
3
4
3
8
8
0
10

Flamengo
10
3
4
3
6
7
−1
10

São Paulo
10
2
6
2
11
11
0
10

Internacional-RS
10
3
3
4
6
6
0
9

Guarani
10
3
3
4
7
8
−1
9
Relegation Tournament
Atlético-PR
10
2
5
3
9
10
−1
9

Vitória
10
2
3
5
4
13
−9
7

Group B
Team
Pld
W
D
L
GF
GA
GD
Pts
Qualification
Palmeiras
10
6
2
2
13
5
+8
14
Second Stage
Vasco
10
5
4
1
14
7
+7
14

Portuguesa
10
3
5
2
12
7
+5
11

Grêmio
10
4
2
4
11
11
0
10

Goiás
10
4
2
4
10
12
−2
10

Fluminense
10
4
2
4
9
10
−1
10

Cruzeiro
10
3
4
3
8
8
0
10

Santos
10
2
5
3
6
7
−1
9

Sport
10
3
2
5
9
12
−3
8
Relegation Tournament
Bahia
10
1
3
6
9
17
−8
5

Coritiba
10
3
3
4
10
15
−5
4[a]

Coritiba forfeited the match against Santos, thus was punished with a 1-0 defeat, plus the loss of 5 points and the elimination of the competition.
Relegation tournament
Team
Pld
W
D
L
GF
GA
GD
Pts
Relegation
Vitória
8
4
2
2
10
7
+3
10

Bahia
8
3
4
1
6
5
+1
10

Atlético-PR
8
2
6
0
9
3
+6
10
Relegated to Série B 1990
Guarani
8
2
3
3
8
10
−2
7

Sport
8
0
3
5
3
11
−8
3

Coritiba
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0

Vitoria – remained in Serie A
Bahia – remained in Serie A
Atletico Paranaense – relegated
Guarani – relegated
Sport – relegated
Coritiba – relegated. Did not play in the relegation tournament.

Serie A – complition.
Second stage
Group A
Team
Pld
W
D
L
GF
GA
GD
Pts
Qualification
São Paulo
18
7
9
2
25
15
+10
23
Qualified to the final
Botafogo
18
9
4
5
20
16
+4
22

Corinthians
18
8
5
5
15
13
+2
21

Atlético Mineiro
18
6
7
5
21
13
+8
19

Flamengo
18
6
7
5
16
13
+3
19

Náutico
18
5
5
8
27
34
−7
15

Internacional-SP
18
4
7
7
13
19
−6
15

Internacional-RS
18
4
5
9
14
19
−5
13

Group B
Team
Pld
W
D
L
GF
GA
GD
Pts
Qualification
Vasco
18
8
8
2
26
16
+10
24
Qualified for the final
Cruzeiro
18
9
5
4
23
14
+9
23

Palmeiras
18
8
6
4
21
13
+8
22

Portuguesa
18
7
6
5
21
13
+8
20

Goiás
18
6
6
6
17
21
−4
18

Grêmio
18
6
5
7
19
19
0
17

Santos
18
5
6
7
13
16
−3
16

Fluminense
18
5
4
9
15
25
−10
14

Final:
Sao Paulo 0-1 Vasco da Gama
Morumbi, São Paulo
Attendance: 71,552
Referee: Wilson Carlos dos Santos
Goal: Sorato, 50 minute.
São Paulo: Gilmar; Netinho, Adílson, Ricardo Rocha and Nelsinho; Flávio, Bobô and Raí; Mário Tilico, Ney and Edivaldo (Paulo César). Head coach: Carlos Alberto Silva.
Vasco: Acácio; Luiz Carlos Winck, Quiñónez, Marco Aurélio and Mazinho; Zé do Carmo, Marco Antônio Boiadeiro and Bismarck; Sorato, Bebeto and William. Head coach: Nelsinho Rosa.
The second leg of the final was not played as Vasco had a better season record and won the first leg.
Participants by final standings – the last 6 already mentioned.
16 – Internacional (Limeira)
15 – Fluminense. Standing from left: Carlos André, Donizete, Rangel, Ricardo Pinto, Torres, Edgar;
Crouching: Fernando Cruz, Marcio Luiz, Hélio Fominha, Vander Luiz, Marquinho
14 – Internacional (Porto Alegre)
13- Nautico. Standing from left: Mauri, Lúcio, Ronilson, Levi, Muller, Junior.

Front: Newton, Marcão, Bizu, Aroldo, Augusto.
12 – Santos
11 – Gremio
10 – Goias
9 – Flamengo
8 – Atletico Mineiro
7 – Portuguesa.
6 – Corinthians
5 – Palmeiras
4 – Botafogo
3 – Cruzeiro. Possible photo of a 1989 eleven.
2 – Sao Paulo. Standing from left: Adilson, Gilmar, Vizolli, Ricardo Rocha, Nelsinho, Zé Teodoro. First row: Hélio Santos (masseur), Mário Tilico, Bobô, Ney Bala, Raí, Edivaldo.
Came close to the title, but was unable to win it.
And the champions: Vasco da Gama. Well deserved triumph of nice squad.
Great season of a squad bursting with talent. The most detectable feature of these players was their age – they were young! Most likely that was the ‘great secret’: Flamengo, coached by Tele Santana, was impressive on paper, may be even more impressive than Vasco, but it was aging team with aging coach – tired and may be tactically outdated. Vasco was current team and they won. After 15 years Vasco da Gama won its 2nd Brazilian title.

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.

Colombia. International success and fame, yes, but Colombian football sunk also to shameful disgrace this 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  .
Crouching: Juán Bautista Sanclemente, Raúl Humberto Mora, Juán Carlos Gutiérrez, Hernán Alzate, Danilo Robledo.
Atletico Junior
Deportes (Tolima)
Those were the ‘clean’ teams – may be true, may be not… And now the teams definitely belonging to the drug cartels:
Atletico Nacional (Medellin). Top row from left: Miguel Alfredo Nuñez, José Fernando “Chepe” Castañeda, José René Higuita Zapata, Hernán Torres Oliveros.
Forth row: Luis Carlos “Coroncoro” Perea, Juan Jairo “El Andino de oro” Galeano Restrepo, Jhon Jairo “La Turbina” Tréllez Valencia, Héctor Cortina Maestre, Albeiro “Palomo” Usuriaga(QEPD), Andrés “Seguridad” Escobar Saldarriaga (QEPD), Giovanis Cassiani Gómez, John Mario “Canino” Caicedo, Víctor Emilio Luna Gómez.
Third row: Hernán Jairo Luna Villamil (MD), Jhon Jairo “Maravillita” Carmona Rios, Gildardo Biderman Gómez Monsalve, Elkin Javier Sánchez Vásquez (PF), Nelson De Jesús Gallego Dautt(AT), Diego Alonso Barragán Rodríguez (PF), Hernán Darío “Bolillo” Gómez Jaramillo (AT), Francisco Antonio”Pacho” Maturana García (DT), Luis Fernando Suárez Guzmán(AT), Leonel De Jesús Álvarez Zuleta, Didí Alex Valderrama Pinedo, Wiston Tobón Ochoa (MD).
Second row: Jairo Grisales (KIN-QEPD), Jaime De Jesús”Jimmy” Arango Estrada, Alexis Enrique”El Maestro” García Vega, José Ricardo “Chicho” Pérez Morales,Luis Alfonso “El Bendito” Fajardo Posada, Jhon Jairo “Rata” Restrepo Toro (KIN), Francisco “Tara” Jaramillo (UT), Niver Arboleda (QEPD), Luis Fernando “Chonto” Herrera Arango, Víctor Manuel Zuñiga, Jorge Carmona Rios (QEPD), Ramón Elías “Ticho” Pabón (UT).
Front: Hernán Gustavo Arboleda, José Fernando Santa, Óscar “Galea” Galeano, José Durán, Iván Darío”Chumi” Castañeda Zapata, León Fernando “Pollo” Villa Arango, Gustavo Adolfo”Mísil”Restrepo Vásquez, Jaime Sierra Porras, Carlos Mario Maturana García, Víctor Hugo Marulanda Velásquez.
Well, this is the ‘primary’ club belonging to Pablo Escobar and the team with the great Colombian stars famous around the world, almost the whole national team plus coach Maturana and the brother of Carlos Valderama – Didi, by now an aging star. On top of the world at the moment, but not leading in the domestic championship, which certainly brought frustration to both ordinary fans and Pablo Escobar.
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)
The last four of the cartel-owed clubs were the leading teams when the championship was canceled:
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
To a point, those Colombian stars who were not playing for Atletico Nacional were with Independiente.
Well, that was the bitter end of otherwise great year for Colombian football.

Copa Libertadores. New formula was introduced this year – the tournament started with its 5 preliminary groups of 4 teams as ever, but the top 3 in each group qualified to the next stage. Next were the 1/8 finals and so on to the final. The 15 teams qualified in the first stage were joined by the 1988 Cup holder in the 1/8 finals. The change was not so great since only 5 teams were eliminated in the first stage, but on the other hand finally there were more games to be played – and watched – and the real thrill of direct eliminations all the way to the final. The final itself was slightly changed as well – the 2 legs remained, but in case of a tie there was third match on neutral ground, but penalty shoot-out. The first stage practically provided no surprises – perhaps Colo-Colo disappointed, but they played in the toughest Group 1 (Paraguay and Chile). Colo-Colo finished last only because of a goal less they scored compared to Olimpia (Asuncion). The new formula, it turned out, benefited teams which were not all that strong at first – neither of the this year finalists ended on top of their groups and in the previous years the first stage would have been the end for them – but not now. The other early eliminated teams were Sport Maritimo (Group 2, Venezuela), Emelec (Group 3, Ecuador), Sporting Cristal (Group 4, Peru), and The Strongest (Group 5, Bolivia). Boca Juniors and Racing Club finished with equal points – 7 each – in Group 4 and Boca was placed 1st on better goal-difference. Millonarios (Columbia) was the best in the first stage: they finished unbeaten with 10 points in Group 3. Bahia (Brazil) also finished unbeaten with 10 points in Group 2, but Millonarios had 12-3 goal-difference. They were the team scoring most goals and also receiving the least in the group stage.
In the 1/8 finals there was a bit of bad luck – Penarol (Uruguay) faced Internacional (Brazil). Instead of tough battle and penalty shoot-out, everything finished in the first leg in Porto Alegre, where Inter destroyed Penarol 6-2. For a good measure Inter won in Montevideo too – 2-1. Meantime Millonarios struggled against Bolivian Bolivar and prevailed only in the penalty shoot-out. Olimpia (Asuncion) made a minor surprise – having difficulties in the first stage and practically lucky to go ahead, now they eliminated Boca Juniors and that in Buenos Aires: Olimpia won 2-0 at home and then somewhat survived Boca’s assault – 3-5 – which brought them to the penalty shoot-out. It was long affair, which ended in Paraguayan favour 7-6. One more duel ended with penalty shoot-out: Sol de America (Paraguay) managed to get the upper hand over UA Tachira (Venezuela): 3-2. At the same time Atletico Nacional cut off the hopes of Racing Club (Argentina, with Ubaldo Fillol, Ruben Paz, Julio Olarticoechea and Ramon Medina Bello, coached by Alfio Basile) and the Montevideo derby ended with the elimination of Nacional by Danubio, a surprise of a kind.
In the ¼ finals Danubio continued to excite – they eliminated Cobreloa (Chile, beating them twice. The other three pairs were domestic clashes: Inter won over Bahia 1-0 and 0-0, Atletico Nacional prevailed over Millonarios 1-0 and 1-1 and Olimpia did not disappointed againt Sol de America – 2-0 and 4-4. The second leg was a fiesta of goals, which is always great for the fans.
In the ½ finals Danubio was finished. At home they managed 0-0 against Atletico Nacional, but in Colombia they were destroyed 0-6. The other semifinal was tougher – first Internacional won in Asuncion 1-0, but contrary to expectations Olimpia prevailed in Porto Alegre 3-2 and penalty shoot-out followed. The whole city was grieving after that – Olimpia won the shoot-out 5-3. And thus the unlikely finalists emerged: Atletico Nacional and Olimpia. Under the old structure of Copa Libertadores neither team would be finalist and for the first time in the history of the Cup the finalists were not group winners in the first stage.
Atletico Nacional reached the final for the first time, but Olimpia already won Copa Libertadores in 1979. Naturally, both finalists were highly motivated to win the trophy.
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.
Front: Rafael Bobadilla, Carlos Vidal Sanabria, Raúl Amarilla, Gustavo Neffa, Alfredo Mendoza. This is not a picture from the final, but from the battle against Sol de America much earlier, yet, Olimpia had a stable line, so the same players appeared in the final. Their Uruguyan coach Luis Cubilla did wonders rebuilding the team without losing its strength – only Jorge Guasch remained from the heroes winning Copa Libertadores 10 years earlier. Around him were young players now and only one import: the Argentine defender Roberto Krausemann. Ever Almeida was born in Uruguay, but by now he had Paraguayan citizenship and played for the national team. Given the limited resources of Paraguay, Olimpia made a very good team, thanks to Luis Cubilla and the dedication of the young players. Jorge Guasch was very proud of his teammates and pointed out that the offensive stile Cubilla employed was the key for their success – to a large degree, their style pleased South American crowds and Olimpia practically played as a home team everywhere. Did not work in Bogota, unfortunately, but there was always the next year.
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.

The Intercontinental Cup was played in Tokyo on December 17, 1989. AC Milan against Atletico Nacional. Both newcomers for the Japanese public.
Tradition suggested Italian victory. The Colombians were feeling cold, they were quite unknown internationally, even accidental, so famous Milan full of world-class stars should have no trouble beating Atletico Nacional even without Gullit.
But the intercontinental clash had its own tradition… and no matter how good an European team at the moment, their South American opponents were even or better.
This clash was no exception.
Atletico Medelin not only neutralized mighty Milan, but looked more dangerous.
The Colombians fought by every legal or illegal mean and Milan suffered, even its best players unable to prevail and finding themselves often tackled down.
Somehow the underdog managed to stay in the game and nobody scored a goal. The regular time ended 0-0.
Call it determination, call it pure luck, call it typical Italian football… it was at the very end of the extra time, when penalty shoot-out seemed sure, when Milan got a free kick and the substitute Evani was chosen to try his luck.
He managed to curve the ball around the wall and in the net. 1-0 in the 119th minute.
There was no time for anything else, it was victory!
Tokyo, National Stadium
December 17, 1989 Att: 60,228 Ref: Fredriksson (SWE)

Milan AC (ITA) 1-0 (0-0) aet Atl. Nacional Medellín (COL)
1-0 119′ Evani

AC Milan: Galli – Tassotti, Maldini, Fuser (65′ Evani), Costacurta, Baresi, Donadoni, Van Basten, Ancelotti, Rijkaard, Massaro (70′ Simone)
Atl. Nacional: Higuita – Escobar, Gómez, Cassiani, Herrera, Pérez, Arango (46′ Restrepo), Alvarez, Alboleda (46′ Usuriaga), García, Trellez
Franco Baresi lifted the Toyota Cup.
Alberigo Evani received the goal-scoring trophy – a brand new Toyota to fly home.
Milan started their triumphal round.
The players honoured the man behind their success – Arrigo Sacchi.
Milan won and ended 1989 triumphant.
Atletico Nacional (Medellin) lost. In a way, too bad – it was unfortunate loss and would have been nicer if the underdog won. But on the other hand… Milan was the classier team and scored a goal, unlike the Colombians. Also, a victory of a club related to the Colombian drug mafia would not have been pretty… better Berlusconi than the notorious Medellin clan. No matter – it was good effort, the boys stood their ground, did whatever they could, there was no shame. Only bitterness of the chancy way they lost.
Milan confirmed they were the best in the world even without Gullit. Nobody could doubt the greatness of this vintage – they won all international trophies this year. Certainly they were going to stay on top, a new dynasty shaping the football world and its development. Milan was back to the greatness it enjoyed in the 1960s and won its second Intercontinental Cup. 20 years passed from their first victory in 1969, the tournament was changed and called concurrently the Toyota Cup, so Milan won for the first time this format played in Tokyo – in a sense, climbing one more peak.

European Player of the Year. If only Ruud Gullit played the whole year… but he did not and and thus only 2 Dutchmen were in the top 3 – instead of 3 in 1988. If 1988 voting recognized the great success of Holland, this year it was recognition of Milan. But the players were the same… Frank Rijkard was 3rd with 43 points. Franco Baresi – 2nd with 80 points. Marco van Basten – number one with 129 points. No wonder – Milan won every international tournament they played in 1989 and these were its key stars.
To a large degree the prime decisive moment was the European Champions Cup final in which van Basten shined and scored 2 goals – here is his second. Milan was winning thanks to his fine play and great scoring ability. And he was a delight for the fans too – elegant, skillful, always motivated, not a dirty player, a real jewel.

So, for a second consecutive year Marco van Basten was voted the top player of Europe. It was just and fair, he was a great star and the only bitter taste was not about him, but about the fact that the three wonderful Dutchmen played together at the same time was no matter what two of them had to be ranked lower. Ruud Gullit already was a player of the year, but poor Frank Rijkard seemingly had no chance… Apart from that – Marco van Basten ruled. He not only played for the top teams – Holland and Milan – but always shined. No doubt about it.

The Golden Shoe. Once again, it was Romanian wonder – and thus continuing to build suspicions and tensions around the fairness of this trophy. Baltazar (Atletico Madrid and Brazil) finished 3rd with 35 goals. This was fair. Second was Marcel Coras (Victoria Bucharest and Romania) with 36 goals. By itself, possibly fair…
Dorin Mateut (Dinamo Bucharest and Romania) was the top European scorer with 43 goals. Great achievement, but… Romanians were already under big suspicion and this season 2 of the top 3 were Romanians. Not only that, but Coras was fairly unknown player, playing for what was practically second team of Dinamo Bucharest and he was beaten by player of the first team…
Mateut was awarded and there was no big fuss – the 24-years old was already a national team player, a rapidly rising star, playing for strong and high scoring team. What did not sit well was that Mateut’s goals came out of nowhere – before joining Dinamo, he scored about 35 goals in total for his previous club. And for all his years with Dinamo Mateut scored 80 goals – half of them this season. Somehow, it was either lucky great season in which every ball he touched ended in the net, or something else was ‘organized’. But there was nothing provable… Mateut was young talented player, may be he was a natural scorer after all. It is only after considerable time, when his career could be seen in full, possible to see he was not a great scorer at all. But this was impossible to know in 1989. In any case his numbers stay and his Golden Shoe was not contested.

The Supercup. It was played in two legs late in the year – in November and December of 1989, so Milan and Barcelona faced each other with their 1989-90 teams. Milan was without Gullit (injured), but Barcelona was with Ronald Coeman and Laudrup. Cruijff already had made Barca stronger, but this trophy was always secondary and it is difficult how much mattered for Barcelona – Cruijff did not field his key stars in the second leg, for instance. Instead of Coeman and Laudrup reserves played and Eusebio was moved from defense to midfield. Still Barca was too strong and although Milan prevailed, it was by just one goal – 1-1 in Barcelona and 1-0 at home.
1st Leg, Nou Camp Stadium, Barcelona, 23 Nov 1989, att 50000

FC Barcelona (0) 1 AC Milan (1) 1
44′ 0-1 M: Van Basten pen
67′ 1-1 B: Amor

FC Barcelona
Zubizarreta; Aloisio, Koeman, Serna, Eusebio, Milla, Baquero,
Amor, Laudrup, Salinas (Roberto 65), Beguiristain
AC Milan
Galli; Salvatore, Maldini, Fuser, Tassotti, Costacurta, Donadoni
(Stroppa 84), Rijkaard, Van Basten, Evani, Massaro (Simone 88)
Referee: Quiniou (France)

2nd Leg, San Siro Stadium, Milan, 7 Dec 1989, att 50000

AC Milan (0) 1 FC Barcelona (0) 0
55′ 1-0 M: Evani
Milan won 2-1 on aggregate

AC Milan
Galli; Carobbi, Maldini, Fuser, Tassotti, Costacurta, Donadoni,
Rijkaard, Van Basten, Evani, Massaro (Simone 65)
FC Barcelona
Zubizarreta; Lopez Recarte (Onesimo 74), Alesanco, Milla, Serena,
Roberto, Baquero, Jordi Roura (Soler 10), Eusebio, Salinas,
Bequiristain
Referee: Kohl (Austria)
Barcelona lost, but it is questionable how seriously Cruijff took the Supercup challenge. May be this trophy was not important for Barca, hard to tell. Yet, even with weakened team in the second leg they lost only by one goal to mighty Milan, which was good to note.
Milan, to a large degree, won the Supercup in the first leg in Barcelona – they were leading and the only thing Barca could do was to equalize.
Then it was mostly a question who really wanted the trophy – Milan, apparently wanted it more and at home managed to win. May be not much, but it was the first Supercup Milan won, one more trophy to display and, most importantly, this was the year Sacchi’s team established itself as really great one: they won all international competitions they played in, even when they were unable to use Ruud Gullit.

The European Champions Cup. The international season was entirely without surprises this time – the expected happened practically all the time. Only the draws provided variety – so Galatasaray reached the ½ thanks to particular draws, not that they surprised a favourite. And the draw shaped the finalists too – Steaua was lucky to meet Galatasaray and once again the expected stronger team won – 4-0 and 1-1. Thus, Steaua reached the Champions Cup final for a second time. The draw opposed Real Madrid to Milan, so one team had to go… if Real was playing against Steaua or Galatasaray, they most certainly were going to reach the final, but against Milan… Real was very strong at this time, yet, Milan was greater. How greater? Well, after 1-1 in Madrid, they destroyed Real 5-0 in Milan. Steaua, also very strong and led by Hagi, was no match to Milan of Gullit, van Basten and Rijkard, and lost 0-4.
Final, Nou Camp Stadium, Barcelona, 24 May 1989, att 97000

AC Milan (3) 4 Steaua Bucharest (0) 0
17′ 1-0 M: Gullit
26′ 2-0 M: Van Basten
38′ 3-0 M: Gullit
46′ 4-0 M: Van Basten

AC Milan (trainer Sacchi)
G.Galli; Tassotti, Costacurta (F.Galli 74), Baresi, Maldini; Colombo,
Rijkaard, Ancelotti, Donadoni; Gullit (Virdis 60), Van Basten
Steaua Bucharest (trainer Iordanescu)
Lung; Iovan, Petrescu, Bumbescu, Ungureanu; Hagi, Stoica, Minea,
Rotariu (Balint 46); Lacatus, Piturca
Referee: Tritschler (West Germany)
No second European Champions Cup for Steaua – it was quite predictable loss, even if such big loss was unexpected, and there was something symbolic losing at Nou Camp – in a sense, Barcelona took revenge for the humiliation suffered from Steaua in 1986. Perhaps Steau’89 was stronger team the the 1986 vintage, having Hagi, Lung, Lacatus, Piturca, Rotariu, Balint, Petrescu, Stoica, almost a full squad of national team players, all from arguably the greatest generation in Romanian football, but between 1986 and 1989 things shifted in Europe and Milan was really on top in everything.
Milan had more than confident campaign – they eliminated Vitosha (Sofia) in the first round 2-0 and 5-2, then had real difficulty against Crvena zvezda (Belgrade) – 1-1 and 1-1, so had to be lucky in the penalty shoot-out and they were: 4-2. Tough ¼ final against Werder (Bremen) 0-0 and 1-0, and really flying against Real Madrid – 1-1 and 5-0 – and against Steaua – 4-0. Arrigo Sacchi really made exceptional team in which the great Dutch trio played the key role. Milan did not have successful domestic season, but conquered Europe, a much more important triumph. Milan won its 3rd European Champions Cup and they were back on top for the first time since 1969. It was also clear that Milan’s success was not going to be a one-time-wonder – this team was going to stay on top.