Nacional win Cup in Style

Colombians win their second Libertadores title after beating Independiente del Valle

- Tim Vickery

Ten wins, three draws and just a single defeat; Atletico Nacional’s triumphant Libertadores campaign reads like one of the best in the history of the competition – and some of the Colombian team’s football was as impressive as the statistics. Reinaldo Rueda’s men played in the tradition of their 1989 predecessors who, under coach Francisco Maturana, helped put Colombian football on the map with a patient and attractive passing game.

Changes of rhythm in possession – slow build-ups suddenly culminating in quick combinations – came together for Rueda’s side with flashes of individual talent. And though the line-up had to be reconstructed both immediately before and during the competition, the team retained a collective identity which proved too strong for their opponents in the Final: the fairy-tale team from Ecuador, Independiente del Valle.

Emerging from their country’s third division less than a decade ago, tiny Independiente have come a long way in a short time with a strong identity of their own. The club, from the outskirts of Quito, specialise in youth development and the fact that they lack a mass following perhaps makes it easier for them to achieve continuity, with Uruguayan coach Pablo Repetto in charge for four years before stepping down after the Final.

His side had much in common with the current Ecuador national team, with a game plan based on swift transitions to quick and skilful wingers. Throughout the knockout rounds they built up a narrow lead in the home leg – first in their ramshackle little stadium and then in the capital – and protected it in the away leg with a mixture of valiant defence and counter-thrusts.