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December 27, 2020 – 08:00 pm
Newsroom of El País
If there is someone who knows how to take risks, receive criticism and finally win, that is Tulio Gómez, the largest shareholder of América de Cali.
Thanks to that character, the businessman born in Manizales achieved the promotion of the team at the end of 2016 and the fourteen and fifteen stars in the ‘devil’ shield achieved in 2019 and yesterday in El Campín de Bogotá.
Beyond the questions that the red fans and even the sports press have made him, Tulio has shown in the long term that his decisions have ended up being the most correct.
From Guimaraes to Cruz Real
The history of the most recent successes of América began in mid-2019, when coach Alexandre Guimaraes arrived at the club.
The American team came from an irregular campaign in the first tournament of the year, and Tulio opted for a coach with World Cup experience (he managed Costa Rica in Korea and Japan 2002 and Germany 2006), but little known in the middle, so he it generated great uncertainty in the red fans.
However, the top red shareholder had his way and that bet turned out well for him, because on December 7 the team lifted its title 14 showing an effective and tactically applied football.
But the relationship with Guimaraes ended with the pandemic, because the veteran strategist had a juicy salary that America could not continue to pay him in a time of low income.
Then, the club made the decision to look for a cheaper coach, and the folder of the red leadership arrived the resume of Juan Cruz Real, who at 44 years was only remembered in the country for some poor campaigns with Alianza Petrolera and Jaguars.
As expected, the criticism fell heavily on Tulio, who, however, in the media explained a theory that for many, at that time, made no sense.
“When Guimaraes arrived they criticized him and when he left, too. With Juan Cruz we have made a good choice. If we are wrong, time will tell. The technicians do not work miracles, and he in Jaguares and Alianza had a performance according to the resources he had, “said Gómez in September.
“At the beginning of the season we added nine reinforcements, so I think America has a good team to fight in the League,” he said at the time.
This reading of the situation was supported by the Spanish Álvaro Rius, the team’s sports director.
Defending the Cruz Real process, however, was not easy, especially when the press began to question him strongly because of the painful international elimination at the hands of the Porto Alegre Gremio at the last minute.
On many occasions it was even said that whatever happened with the team in this semester, the decision not to have the Argentine strategist for 2021 was taken, until it was Tulio himself who made it clear what was the support that he He gave his coach: “We are not going to take him out nor is he going to resign as they are saying.”
That risk, finally, was worth it, because America not only won the two-time championship, but will also return to play the Copa Libertadores, a tournament that it hopes to face with greater height next season.
“They have given Tulio Gómez a lot of trouble, but we must recognize the good things. I, for example, was one of those who criticized Guimaraes’ departure,” said ex-flyer Fabián Vargas on the radio program Zona Libre de Humo.
Tulio celebrated and will continue to celebrate, because his decisions have conquered stars.
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