Atletico Nacional have won Colombia’s national soccer championship title after a dramatic shoot-out before an animated crowd of 40,000 at the Atanasio Girardot stadium in Medellin.
Despite having lost to CPD Junior in the first leg of the Colombian soccer championships, Atletico Nacional rallied back to claim the national title in a spectacular shoot-out that came down-to-the-wire.
When it seemed that Junior would take the victory at the end of regulation, Jhon Valoy of Nacional scored on a header from a corner-kick in the third minute of stoppage time that sent the game into a sudden-death shoot-out.
From there, both teams exchanged goals until Nacional emerged victorious 4-2 after the shoot-out.
At the onset, Atletico Nacional did not take long to put their mark on the scoreboard against CPD Junior at the beginning of Colombia’s Liga Postobon championship when in the second minute, center back Alexis Henriquez scored the first goal against the Juniors in only two minutes of play.
Junior; however, responded with the equalizer just 15 minutes later when Edison Toloza scorched the net on a pass from teammate Juan Dominguez.
In a sudden turn of events, just 20 minutes after scoring for Junior, Toloza was injured on a play and taken away for medical evaluation.
It was quickly confirmed that Toloza could no longer play as a result of his wounds and was relieved at the 38th minute by teammate Michael Balanta.
The first half concluded with some excitement as Junior goalkeeper made a terrific save in the closing minutes against Nacional midfielder Edwin Cardona’s left-side kick that nearly gave Nacional the lead.
The second half commenced with little action until the ten-minute mark when Junior player Cesar Augusto was carried away on a stretcher when he received a cleat to the shins from Wilder Guisao.
At 81 minutes into the match, it seemed that Nacional would take the lead if it weren’t for an amazing block by Mario Viera, deflecting Jeferson Duque’s shot to the corner of the field.
But for all of Junior’s efforts, Valoy’s header in the final moments of regulation sent the game to a shoot-out, and Nacional claimed the 2014 Liga Postobon championship.
