The Copa Sudamericana, a fleeting dream for Once Caldas or Millonarios (opinion)

After six years, the Palogrande stadium in Manizales will once again host an international competition match with Once Caldas. On Wednesday, March 5 (7:30 pm), the white team will host Millonarios in a unique match to determine who will qualify for the group stage, in that Conmebol invention to have more teams.

In this preliminary phase there are 32 teams, four from each of the eight federations other than Brazil and Argentina, countries that, in addition to not playing in phase 1, have six places in the group phase, meaning they are guaranteed three home games and the economic benefits that this entails. According to statistics, this means that Argentines and Brazilians have three times more chances of winning this tournament.

Nothing to do with the treatment of the qualifiers from other countries, such as Once Caldas, or, worse, Millonarios, who if eliminated would be left without even the box office that an international match could generate.

So in this monstrosity of Conmebol to give a sip of glory (money) to more teams, in the group phase of the South American there will be the six from Brazil, six from Argentina, 16 qualified from the previous phase, plus the four teams that lose the third phase of the previous rounds of the Copa Libertadores. And then the tournament begins as it is: eight groups of four teams each.

Getting there is the goal for Millonarios and Once Caldas, with more pressure on the blues due to the media and economic weight. Millonarios is one of the clubs with the highest investment in Colombia, which means that an international failure will be seen as a lack of correspondence between the budget and the results, especially when they managed to keep Radamel Falcao García on the payroll. A setback against a team that, in theory, has a smaller budget would be a huge blow to the credibility of the project and would leave coach David González in limbo.

The sporting touch of this duel is provided by Falcao and Dayro Moreno, scorers for Millonarios and Once Caldas respectively, who are still in the race to be the top Colombian scorers in history. With a one-goal advantage for the player from Santa Marta, the Copa Suramericana match will be another reason to celebrate at the Palogrande. It is not every day that you can see two top scorers in the same match.

The rivalry between Falcao and Dayro adds a special touch to this encounter. Both forwards, with outstanding careers both nationally and internationally, are looking to leave an indelible mark on the history of Colombian football. While Falcao has shone in European leagues and is recognised for his goalscoring ability, Dayro has left his mark, above all, at the local level, which has led him to equal this prestigious record.

It's a good time for Falcao to show his mettle, take the team on his shoulders and get a result, while for Dayro it's the opportunity to party again at the Palogrande, like 21 years ago when he won the Copa Libertadores with the champion white team.

Camila Espinosa Aristizabal