It’s Never Too Cold For Soccer in Colombia

I always feel bad for the groundskeeper after these things.

There’s plenty of white powder in Colombia, just not the kind that gets soccer matches postponed. HIYOOO!

I suppose congratulations are in order, as Once Caldas won their fourth national title last night. This was actually a thrilling come-from-behind victory: Deportes Tolima had won the first leg 2-1, so the Caldeans (huh?) had to put up a 3-1 second leg scoreline to get the aggregate win.

Near the end of the first half, Caldas got some unexpected help when Tolima keeper Antony Silva was suddenly stripped of his shot-blocking skills and gave up a nasty rebound off a bouncing blast from Luis Nuñez. Jaime Castrillón was there to put the ball in the net as Silva dove the wrong way. He’ll have a long hot summer to remember that gaffe.

Caldas would score two more in the second half (Silva didn’t look too good on Caldas’ third goal either), leaving a dejected Tolima to pop in a consolation goal in the 87th minute, courtesy of Danny Aguilar.

Both teams have qualified for next year’s Copa Libertadores. Here’s the moving pictures, which hopefully make up in a small way for all the non-action in Europe this weekend.