Leicester City Fairytale Continues in Uruguay
Leicester City Fairytale Continues in Uruguay
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MONTEVIDEO - Uruguayan club, Plaza Colonia completed a Leicester City like triumph after claiming its first ever top-flight championship on Sunday (30/5).
A 2-1 win over second placed Penarol saw Colonia move five points above the Uruguayan giant with one game left in the season. Miguel Murillo cancelled out Nicolas Milesi's first-minute opener for Colonia, before Alejandro Villoldo sealed the historic win with a 79th minute penalty.
Colonia was bottom of the Uruguayan second division in October 2014 before an 18 match unbeaten run saw it claim promotion to the top flight. After finishing 13th in the Apertura, Colonia went on to upstage giant Penarol and Nacional on its way to the Clausura championship.
Eduardo Espinel, who is qualified both as a carpenter and football coach, said his team had become the talk of Uruguay for their unlikely exploits in emulating Leicester's rise to the top of their respective leagues.
"I follow English football closely and for two weeks now we've been talking with the kids in the squad about Leicester," said Espinel, who as a player shared a centre-back partnership with former Uruguay captain, Diego Lugano 15 years ago at Colonia.
"We feel identified, hard work comes before anything else," he told to Argentine newspaper La Nacion echoing the sentiments of Leicester's Italian manager, Claudio Ranieri.
"In my town people already talk to me about the Uruguayan Leicester," said Espinel, who lives in Cardona, a 200 km round trip from Colonia, which is a small town on the banks of Rio de la Plata.
Espinel was handed the job in October 2014 when Colonia were bottom of the second division and took them on an 18-match unbeaten run that ended with promotion to the top flight in second place behind champions Liverpool of Montevideo.
"It was very sudden, crazy, the club had last been in the top flight 10 years previously. We were promoted with a small budget, with players from this town," the 43 year old said.
Colonia's top scorer is 24 year old striker, German Rivero who hails from Buenos Aires. Rivero, who has played for third-tier Argentine sides Fenix and Flandria, said he hoped to emulate compatriot Leonardo Ulloa, of Leicester, in helping his team win the championship.
"What Leicester are doing is crazy. They've been ploughing through from the bottom and here (at Colonia) the sacrifice is also enormous. Let's hope that somehow it can come off for me like Ulloa," he said.
"We'll see it within a few matches. We're full of hope."
It is Colonia's first top-flight championship in its 99 year history, after only being affiliated to the Uruguayan Football Association (AUF) in 2000. It will now face Penarol in the semi-final on June 14, and a win will see it move into the final against the overall table leader to decide who is crowned 2015-16 title winner.
Colonia is based in Colonia del Sacramento, a city in southwestern Uruguay just 50 kilometres across the Rio de la Plata from Buenos Aires. It has a population of just over 25,000.
A 2-1 win over second placed Penarol saw Colonia move five points above the Uruguayan giant with one game left in the season. Miguel Murillo cancelled out Nicolas Milesi's first-minute opener for Colonia, before Alejandro Villoldo sealed the historic win with a 79th minute penalty.
Colonia was bottom of the Uruguayan second division in October 2014 before an 18 match unbeaten run saw it claim promotion to the top flight. After finishing 13th in the Apertura, Colonia went on to upstage giant Penarol and Nacional on its way to the Clausura championship.
Eduardo Espinel, who is qualified both as a carpenter and football coach, said his team had become the talk of Uruguay for their unlikely exploits in emulating Leicester's rise to the top of their respective leagues.
"I follow English football closely and for two weeks now we've been talking with the kids in the squad about Leicester," said Espinel, who as a player shared a centre-back partnership with former Uruguay captain, Diego Lugano 15 years ago at Colonia.
"We feel identified, hard work comes before anything else," he told to Argentine newspaper La Nacion echoing the sentiments of Leicester's Italian manager, Claudio Ranieri.
"In my town people already talk to me about the Uruguayan Leicester," said Espinel, who lives in Cardona, a 200 km round trip from Colonia, which is a small town on the banks of Rio de la Plata.
Espinel was handed the job in October 2014 when Colonia were bottom of the second division and took them on an 18-match unbeaten run that ended with promotion to the top flight in second place behind champions Liverpool of Montevideo.
"It was very sudden, crazy, the club had last been in the top flight 10 years previously. We were promoted with a small budget, with players from this town," the 43 year old said.
Colonia's top scorer is 24 year old striker, German Rivero who hails from Buenos Aires. Rivero, who has played for third-tier Argentine sides Fenix and Flandria, said he hoped to emulate compatriot Leonardo Ulloa, of Leicester, in helping his team win the championship.
"What Leicester are doing is crazy. They've been ploughing through from the bottom and here (at Colonia) the sacrifice is also enormous. Let's hope that somehow it can come off for me like Ulloa," he said.
"We'll see it within a few matches. We're full of hope."
It is Colonia's first top-flight championship in its 99 year history, after only being affiliated to the Uruguayan Football Association (AUF) in 2000. It will now face Penarol in the semi-final on June 14, and a win will see it move into the final against the overall table leader to decide who is crowned 2015-16 title winner.
Colonia is based in Colonia del Sacramento, a city in southwestern Uruguay just 50 kilometres across the Rio de la Plata from Buenos Aires. It has a population of just over 25,000.
(rnz)
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