This Saturday, America de Cali will try to win the Colombian championship title for the first time since 2008, three years after returning to the first division.
They will host the 2nd leg of the finals against back-to-back champions Junior de Barranquilla. In the first leg, America managed to pull off a very good 0-0 draw, meaning that any victory will suffice for them to win the title. But whenever America’s fans see their club playing a title match, they are mostly scared of the “Garabato curse”.
One of the characteristics shared by football fans from across the world is superstitions. We all know people who never wore the same shirt twice as long as their team kept on winning, or someone who always steps into the stadium with their right foot forward. But when it comes to America de Cali, the case seems to be much worse. The “Garabato curse” is well-known throughout South America, and many of the club's fans believe it is a significant factor in any let-down their club has experienced throughout its history.
America is considered one of the best clubs in Colombia, and despite never winning the Copa Libertadores competition, their name is well known throughout the southern continent as well. In fact, until 1979 they have never won any title. Let's look at what happened that year and understand the “Garabato curse” a little bit better.
Benjamin Urrea, also known by his nickname Garabato, was a player and later the coach of the then-amateur club America de Cali. In 1948, the club's management decided to join the new professional league, but Urrea disagreed and strongly opposed to the idea. There are several versions to the curse, but according to the most reliable one, when America joined the league and Garabato had to leave, he cursed the club, the staff and every player in it that they will never win any title. Someone who is not superstitious might laugh, but the curse "came true" and indeed America didn’t win a single title for 30 years. They actually managed to get quite far in their campaigns several times, but always lost the title in the final stages of the competition. After 30 years the fans had enough, and in 1978 they came to Urrea’s house and begged him to remove the curse. The former coach finally agreed, and the whole team organized a mass at the Pascual Guerrero stadium. The result? A year later, America won their first-ever championship title. Perhaps the red devil depicted on the team's logo was not chosen coincidentally.
Despite "removing" the curse, winning the Colombian championship five times in a row between 1982 and 1986, and having one of the best squads in the continent, America couldn’t win the continental title. In that period of time, they reached the Copa Libertadores finals three consecutive times, but unfortunately lost it every year. The last time they qualified to the Copa Libertadores finals was in 1996. There was no consolation in winning another continental title in 1999, the Copa Merconorte. It’s nowhere near the prestigious Libertadores.
America’s troubles didn’t end there. Their strong team who dominated the league during the 80’s was mostly paid for by ‘dirty money’ from the local drug cartel. It was actually until the mid-90’s that the drug cartels heavily influenced Colombian football. Pablo Escobar, the head of the Medellin drug cartel, made Atletico Nacional the best in the continent. Following his footsteps, brothers Gilberto and Miguel Rodriguez Orejuela of the Cali cartel tried to the same with America. Their money enabled the club to land world-class talents such as Julio Cesar Falcioni, Ricardo Gareca and Juan Manuel Battaglia. America became a major powerhouse within Colombia but also in South America. Unlike Escobar, who was killed while trying to escape from the DEA (Drug Enforcement Administration) agents, the Rodriguez Orejuela brothers were captured and later extradited to the United States. Their connection with America put the club into the ‘Clinton List’ followed by grave financial consequences.
The Clinton List was a body of the American treasure department created in 1995 by president Bill Clinton. Its main objective was to impose heavy sanctions on private persons or companies who were involved with the drug cartels and their money laundering operations. Lamentably, the club was added to the list during its most successful era (second-best club in the world according to the IFFHS back in 1996). Beyond hurting the club's reputation, the club's inclusion in the list prevented it from signing contracts with sponsors or playing friendly matches in the United States, usually a popular mean to increase income.
But the team did not collapse at once. Early in the new millennium America was still the major force in the Colombian league, winning three consecutive domestic titles between 2000 and 2002, reaching the Copa Libertadores semi-finals in 2003. International matches allowed for the sponsor's logo to be displayed on the uniform, but this was banned in local competitions. The professional and financial burden became heavier. The most successful club in Colombian football history alongside Bogota's Millonarios could not qualify for the league's semi-finals for 4 consecutive years. Each year, the management struggled to pay the player's salaries. But in 2008, America finally smelled the sweet smell of success after a magnificent season, resulting in their last championship title to this day. Despite the success, the next couple of years led to the club's financial and professional collapse. The 2011 season was shadowed with a constant risk of relegation. At the end of the season America played Patriotas of the 2nd division and lost in a penalty shoot-out. The unbelievable happened, and the great America de Cali relegated and became the first major club in Colombia to play in the second division.
It was a total shock not only for their fans but also for Colombian and South American football. Maybe not like the relegation of River Plate, but close enough. Unlike River, America's return to the 1st division was not a quick one. While playing in the 2nd division, a new association called “The New America” was formed in order to take the control of the club from the current management. Their goal was to create a fresh start and have the club taken out of the ‘Clinton List’. Even the league's managing body tried to help them by inventing bizarre playoff matches in order to give America a second chance to return to the 1st division. But shortcuts never were the answer and America failed to take advantage of this opportunity. Only at the end of 2016, five years after the relegation, America managed to beat Tigres and return to the first division.
America's return to the first division did good service for the league, who was missing one of the largest crowds in the country. Despite being a promoted team, America battled to enter the playoff almost in every tournament and now, three years later, they are 90 minutes away from their 14th championship title. When River Plate returned from the second division, they returned stronger than ever. America de Cali hopes to get the same inspiration and begin a new era of success for the "New America".