Twenty-two years, six months and six days passed. The coexistence of Talleres, Belgrano and Instituto in the First Division of the AFA registers as the last and distant precedent on Sunday, July 23, 2000.
On that day of revalidations, El Pirata beat Quilmes 3-1 at the Córdoba Stadium (with a goal from Luis Fabián Artime, its current president) and remained in the highest category, while La Gloria drew 1-1 with Almagro in Alta Córdoba and surprisingly fell to B Nacional. A couple of weeks earlier, Albiazul had concluded their participation in the Clausura Tournament with a 2-2 draw against Boca Juniors at the Chateau.
Since then, none of the three Cordoba teams have planned to avoid the seesaw. Three relegations and two promotions for ‘B’, an ephemeral return of two seasons in the case of Albirrojo as the sole ambassador of Mediterranean football and the ups and downs that led ‘T’ first to discover the darkness of Argentino A and then to meet again the brilliance of its golden times. Until the planets aligned again.
double ascent
10 weeks ago, on November 20, Instituto consummated its return to the elite of Argentine soccer by drawing 1-1 with Estudiantes de Caseros in its redoubt and winning the Reduced for the second promotion of the First National. The first ticket to the Professional League, with title and Olympic return included, had been in the hands of Belgrano on September 25, after the 3-2 defeat against Brown de Adrogué in San Nicolás.
These successive consecrations of the casts of La Docta -added to the uninterrupted presence of Talleres since 2016- caused the phenomenon of confluence to be repeated which, with the current competition model, recorded a single precedent: the 1999/2000 season.
The three casts from the capital also shared the billboard in the 1981, 1984 and 1985 Nationals, although only Talleres and Instituto came to face each other. Both starred in the two interzonals of the ’81 contest (in the case of Belgrano, the pairing was with Racing de Nueva Italia) and in the round of losers of the final edition.
Return
Belgrano returns to the elite of Argentine soccer after three and a half years. His last match in the First Division was on April 7, 2019, at the Julio César Villagra Stadium, when he beat Godoy Cruz de Mendoza 1-0. That victory would not be enough to avoid relegation.
For Institute, the wait became much longer. The last match of ‘la Gloria’ in the main AFA category dates back to May 14, 2006: they drew 1-1 against Vélez Sarsfield at the Juan Domingo Perón Stadium. It was the epilogue of a campaign to forget: five wins, 13 draws and 20 losses throughout the season. In that meeting, the cast of Alta Córdoba wore a gold uniform and had Jorge Carranza in the goal, one of the architects of the return to the Professional League after 16 years.
INSTITUTE. The last rehearsal for ‘la Gloria’ was a week ago against Colón (0-3) at Kempes. Today he receives a Sarmiento in Alta Córdoba. /// PHOTO: INSTITUTE PRESS
The only antecedent
Talleres, Belgrano and Instituto shared the highest category of the AFA in the 1999/2000 season. In the Opening, the “T” finished in 5th place, the Gloria was in 16th and the “B” finished in 18th. In the Clausura, Albiazul classified 10th, while Gloria and Pirata were respectively in 12th and 14th places. Both tournaments were won by River Plate.
In the general table, those from the Jardín neighborhood were seventh (16 wins, 10 draws and 12 losses), those from Alta Córdoba were fifteenth (11-14-13) and those from Alberdi finished in 17th place (11-9- 18). In the averages they concluded respectively in the 9th, 17th and 18th positions.
These were the results in the classics: Workshops 2-Institute 2, Workshops 3-Belgrano 1 and Belgrano 4-Institute 1 (Opening 1999); Institute 2-Workshops 0, Belgrano 0-Workshops 0 and Institute 2-Belgrano 0 (Closure 2000).
four classics
- In the Professional League Tournament, which begins this weekend and will end on July 30, Instituto will be local in its two classics. La Gloria will host Workshops on the 9th date, scheduled for the weekend of April 2, and Belgrano on the 22nd day, which will be held between June 31 and July 3. The other meeting between Cordoba will be the Belgrano-Workshops of the 17th chapter, scheduled for May 21.
- In the League Cup, the event that will be played between August 20 and December 17, Talleres and Instituto will share Zone A and will meet for the 4th date, stipulated for September 17, with the Albiazul home team. There could be more Cordovan classics in the quarterfinals, semifinals or final of the second tournament of the year, and it could also happen that two teams from our province dispute the Champions Trophy on December 23.
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