Arrival of Iago Falque in Colombia: What are the Most Successful Signings in this League’s History?

Iago Falque is the new player of América de Cali for this semester. This news took many fans by surprise, as it is not usual for a Spanish player to decide to play in this league. However, he mentioned that it was a “life decision”, since he had the desire to play in a gigant of Latin America.

Thus, the 32-year-old player, with a long history in Serie A in Italy, arrives to reinforce América de Cali for the whole of 2022, having the possibility of extending his bond for a longer time. However, were there other similar cases? Here are other examples of success in Colombian soccer.

Alfredo Di Stéfano

One of the best players in history in Colombian soccer. At that time, Colombia had some of the best soccer players in South America. Therefore, in 1949 the Argentine arrived at Millonarios, where he played a total of 101 games and scored 87 goals that made him a figure for the fans.

There he knew how to obtain 3 League Championships in a row, between 1949 and 1952, in addition to a Cup in 1954. From there, he caught the attention of Real Madrid and the rest is known history: he became one of the players most emblematic of this team, but also of the entire Colombian League.

Ricardo Gareca

Currently, the coach of the Peruvian National Team. It must be remembered that in his time as a player, the Argentine also achieved great success, to the point of being considered one of the most successful foreigners in this country. This happened in 1985, when he arrived at América de Cali from River Plate.

AMÉRICA DE CALI,equipazo en la década del 80.Arriba de izq a der: Jairo Ampudia, Alvaro Aponte, Victor Luna, Hugo “ pitillo “ Valencia, Julio C Falcioni, Sergio Santin y Victor Espinoza. Abajo igual sentido : Willington Ortiz, Roberto Cabañas, Ricardo Gareca y Juan M Bataglia, pic.twitter.com/xYByU8FOKf

— Hernán Peláez Restrepo (@eldoctorpelaez) April 9, 2020

In this team he managed to win two First Division titles: in 1985 and in 1986, in addition to the subtitle in 1987 and the corresponding second place in the Libertadores in 1985, 1986 and 1987. His great performance led him to be considered for the Argentine National Team, in addition to being seen as one of the most talented in the rich History of the America of Cali.

Román Torres

Here we have another of the most successful soccer players in Colombia. The Panamanian arrived in Colombia in 2006, being hired by Cortuluá. However, throughout his career he would be in different teams, including La Equidad, Junior, Atlético Nacional or Millonarios.

“Millonarios es el equipo de mi alma. Ahora están todas las puertas abiertas, he quedado libre y puedo volver al fútbol colombiano”: Román Torres en el @VBarCaracol pic.twitter.com/k5LECC91ud

— Julián Capera (@JulianCaperaB) November 22, 2019

Well, the curious thing is that he is considered a kind of “talisman”, since he obtained titles in 4 of the 5 institutions in which he played in this country. That is, he won the 2008 Colombia Cup with La Equidad; the Apertura Tournament with Junior in 2010; the Apertura Tournament with Atlético Nacional in 2011; and the 2012 Clausura Tournament with Millionarios.

Also read: Why is the Colombian Women’s National Team More Exciting than the Men’s?

Sebastián Viera

In this case, we have a Uruguayan goalkeeper, whose current team is the Junior of the First A of Colombia. This is the goalkeeper with the most goals from free kicks in Category A, in addition to being considered one of the greatest idols of this institution, as he is the one who obtained the most titles, with a total of 7.

Viera arrived in 2011, after different steps through the Nacional of Uruguay, the Villarreal of Spain and the AE Larisa of Greece. His high level allowed him to be an option in the calls for the Uruguay National Team. At 38, he continues to be an undisputed starter in Junior’s starting eleven.

Franco Armani

Finally, another of the great foreign idols in Colombia. In this case, we are referring to the current River Plate goalkeeper, the Argentinian Franco Armani, who used to be one of the most beloved soccer players of Atlético Nacional. It was a very successful signing, since they bought him in 2010 from Deportivo Merlo, a team from the lower categories of Argentina.

Thanks to an outstanding performance in a friendly game, Armani arrived at Atlético Nacional. Although at first he did not have the confidence of the DTs, little by little and over the years, he consolidated and remained as a starter. For 3 years, he was considered the best goalkeeper in Colombia (2015, 2016 and 2017) and was on the Best Team in America (2016 and 2018). In addition, in 2016 he went 745 minutes without conceding in the Libertadores, which is the best record in this competition.

At Atlético Nacional he won 11 local titles, in addition to two international ones (the 2016 Copa Libertadores and the 2017 Recopa Sudamericana). For 2018 it was announced for River Plate, having an emotional farewell with more than 38 thousand fans at the Atanasio Girardot Stadium.

In short, many foreigners have had great achievements in Colombia. Will Iago Falque be one of them?