On October 9, 2018, the Roberto Meléndez Metropolitan Stadium vibrated with Junior’s stunning 4-3 win over Deportes Tolima.
At the end of the first half, the Rojiblanco team was 3-0 down to the Pijaos, who scored one goal each from Yohandry Orozco, Julian Quinones, and Marco Perez.
In this Tolima, which was led by Alberto Gamero, was traded Luis ‘Cariaco’ Gonzalez, who went to Junior the following year. That night, the Venezuelan was one of the party’s figures.
The story changed in the second half when Julio Comesaa, the junior coach, ordered the entry of Teofilo Gutiérrez by Sebastián Hernandez.
Junior came out like a whirlwind and rolled over Tolima with goals Jarlan Barrera (13′), after expiry of Luis Diaz; Theophilus (21′); Marlon Piedrahita (32′) and again Teófilo (37th), after the habilitation of Díaz to seal the Rojiblanca victory.
This triumph, recognized by the protagonists themselves, was key to Junior’s conquest of the Eighth Star, as it united them as a group and convinced them that they were capable of accomplishing important things.
On August 23, 2023, It will also go down in history as the date Junior suffered another 3-0 defeat, this time against Cali America.
The shark group was led by their captain in the field, Carlos Bacca They bounced back from a poor result and celebrated their first Liga II win.
Junior was very bad. I had changed technicians (Hernán Darío Gómez left and Arturo Reyes returned), He had scored just one goal, conceded four straight draws and was bottom of the table.
His players were the subject of criticism, in the first half when the game was 3-0 the fans demanded everyone’s head but everything started to change when Bacca scored, from a maximum penalty to a tee shot against the Play the Scarlets in injury time.
For the complementary part with the income from “Cariaco” González and Deiber Caicedo for the discreet Pablo Rojas and Gonzalo Lencina, Junior was a different team on the court, sharper, braver, deadlier.
And the second goal came quickly after a great maneuver by Caicedo, who fired in a cross that caught his hand Edwin Cardona. Penalty in favor of Junior. The referee Andres Rojas He didn’t have to resort to VAR.
“Cariaco” stormed and increased the game to 3:2. On the opposing side Lucas González I didn’t know what to do to contain the young avalanche.
Then came a great joint move that Peña started, Bacca and Vladimir continued and Caicedo completed to 3-3.
But Junior went on for a long time, making it 4-3 in stoppage time, after another maximum penalty which, after reconsideration by the VAR, the referee penalized Rojas in favor of the Shark Box for a hand inside the box. kevin andrade, after an auction of Jermein Pena.
After several minutes of American claims, ‘Cariaco’ He stormed with supreme coldness and sealed another historic comeback for Junior
at the end of the game, Arthur Reyes He rushed to the dressing room. He didn’t wait for the acclaim of the audience, who were delighted with his team’s triumph. He preferred all the cheering to go to his players, who had received nothing but insults from fans up until Wednesday.
The distrust sparked by Reyes’ appointment as junior manager for a third time lingers among the Rojiblancos fans. However, victory over America was a balm that made them reconsider the possibility of qualifying and, why not, repeating history from 2018.
