MundoAndino Home : Andes Colombia Guide at Mundo Andino
Deportes Tolima
Deportes Tolima, is a Colombian football club based in the city of Ibague. The club was founded December 18, 1954 and play their home games at the Manuel Murillo Toro stadium, which has a capacity of approximately 31,000.
History
Foundation
Deportes Tolima was founded by Manuel Rubio Chavez in the year 1954 when he gave Juan Barbieri a sum of $5.000.oo Colombian pesos for him to hire soccer players in his native Argentina. Barbieri went back to Colombia with players Jorge Ariel Gandulfo, Oscar Enrique Ferrari, Jose Oscar Jamardo, Enrique Laino and Carlos Robelle. With those players and some Colombians, Deportes Tolima competed for the first time in the Colombian league in 1955 using a uniform similar to the one currently used by the Argentina National Team. Deportes Tolima finished 7th in the league competing with 9 other teams.
Beginning of the 80s
In the late 1970s and beginning of 1980s Deportes Tolima had, according to many people, their best team. Senator Gabriel Camargo Salamanca was offered some shares in the team and he accepted making him the biggest stock holder of the team. He brought important players to the team like Victor Hugo del Rio, Francisco Maturana, Cristiano Centurion, Oscar Hector Quintabani, Gustavo Mendoza, Hugo Gallego, Osvaldo Redondo, Heberto Carrillo, Aparezido Dozinette de Oliveira aka "Sapuka", Arnoldo Iguaran, Oscar Lopez, Tito Ramon Correa, and Janio Cabezas. With this team Deportes Tolima finished second in the years 1981 and 1982. Participating for the first time in the Copa Libertadores in 1982 getting to the semifinals, and in 1983.
2003 Title
Deportes Tolima had a very interesting group of players for the second half of 2003. These players included Ricardo Ciciliano, Henry Zambrano, Rogerio Pereira, Yulian Anchico, Oscar Briceno, John Charria, Jorge Artigas, Hernando Patino, Nelson Rivas, and Diego Gomez among others. Deportes Tolima played in the semifinals against Atletico Nacional, Atletico Junior, and Independiente Medellin. When everyone predicted Atletico Junior would finish first in the mini league and would go to the final, Deportes Tolima beat Atletico Nacional 2-0 in Ibague and Atletico Junior lost 1-0 to Independiente Medellin in Medellin. Deportes Tolima played against Deportivo Cali in the finals winning the first game 2-0 in Ibague with an exceptional performance by Rogerio Pereira, scoring both goals. In the second game of the final Deportes Tolima lost 3-1 forcing penalty shots, with an aggregate score of 3-3. In the penalty shots Deportes Tolima won after only missing one shot and the golie Diego Gomez blocking two from Deportivo Cali, this way Deportes Tolima was crowned champion of Colombia for the first time in their 49 year history.
2006 Runners Up
2006 was a great year for Deportes Tolima, the team was second on the reclasificacion (overall points in the year), was the team with the most goals scored in the year, over 80, and were runners up in the Copa Mustang II. At the begenning of 2006 Deportes Tolima did not seem like a very strong team for the season as it did not sign any players. The coach was Ibague's own Jorge Luis Bernal who had been the coach for the reserve team for many years. Deportes Tolima played amazing both home and away games which included victories against Envigado 7-3, Nacional 5-1, and Millonarios 3-0. They reached the semifinals of the Copa Mustang I and was placed in a Group with Deportivo Pereira, Deportivo Cali, and Once Caldas but did not made it into the finals. The Copa Mustang II was even better than the first one. Tolima finished first in the league, and played the semifinals against Nacional, Pasto, and Chico. Nacional were leaders of the Group for most of the time while Deportes Tolima remained a point behind. A dramatic 2-1 away win over Nacional made them leaders, they advanced the final against Cucuta Deportivo after a 2-0 win over Chico. The first game was away and Tolima lost 1-0 then in Ibague the game ended tied 1-1 with Yulian Anchico scoring Tolima's goal.
Apertura 2007 and Copa Libertadores
For the 2007 season Deportes Tolima signed very important players like Nicolas Ahyr, Diego Cochas, Gustavo Savoia, Gustavo Bolivar, Leiner Rolong, Jorge Perlaza, Hernando Patino, Roller Cambindo, Javier Arizala, Bramhan Sinisterra, Ricardo Alvarez, and Haider Arboleda. With new coach Jaime de la Pava started competing in the Copa Libertadores and the Copa Mustang. In the Copa Libertadores Tolima defeated Deportivo Tachira in 2 games, that way Tolima entered to the group of Gremio, Cerro Porteno and curiously Cucuta.
Current Squad
As of March 6, 2008
Source: http://www.dimayor.com.co/equipos/nomina_tolima.jpg
2007 Transfers
In:
Cristian Marrugo From Independiente Santa Fe
Out:
Agustin Julio to Independiente Santa Fe
Yulian Anchico to Independiente Santa Fe
Roller Cambindo to Atletico Junior
Carlos Quintero to FC Krylya Sovetov Samara
Juan Carlos Escobar to FC Krylya Sovetov Samara
National Honors
Futbol Profesional Colombiano champions: 2003-II
Primera B champions: 1994
Futbol Profesional Colombiano finalists: 1957, 1981, 1982, 2006-||
International Honors
Competed in Copa Libertadores 2007
Competed in Copa Libertadores 1982 Semifinalist
Competed in Copa Libertadores 1983
Competed in Copa Libertadores 2004
Competed in Copa Sudamericana 2006 Round of 16
Competed in Copa Conmebol 1996
Competed in Copa Conmebol 1997
External links
Guerreros Pijaos - La Web de los verdaderos hinchas
Deportes Tolima.com - Official Website
Need more information for your travel research or homework?
Ask your questions at the forum about Colombian football clubs or help others to find answers.
This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article Deportes Tolima
