Previously on La Plata: Colombia, Hugo Ojeda looked towards Junior’s bright future and encountered a ghost final.
Intro
The Ghost Finals did appear! As a result, this post covers the brief conclusion to the 2022 Apertura campaign before moving straight into the Clausura Stage: that’s both 2022 domestic titles up for grabs in the timespan of this post. I will then muse about how and why I seem to have devoted all my foreign player slots to a new generation of Uruguayan talent, before concluding this post with a bit of CreativeFM™. After all, it’s been two years now in Barranquilla…it’s time to see what Don Hugo Ojeda is up to.
If you care about any of the above, then please read on…
The Ghost Final(s)
So, the 2022 two legged Opening Final was a repeat of the same teams from the 2021 Closing Stage: Millonarios Vs Hugo Ojeda’s Junior Club. Only this time, the winner would be guaranteed entry to the Copa Libertadores Group Stage, so it’s even more important. I was slightly worried that the new Misery 4-4-2 tactic wasn’t so good away from home…yet, after a 1st leg 3-1 home victory, we held firm with a 2-0 away win in Bogotá’s El Campín. Two good performances, 5-1 on aggregate and the second final running where we’ve beaten Capital Club Millonarios. Got to love the rivalry that’s developed between the two sides so far in this save.
The Ghost Finals.
It also means that Junior Club hold both the Opening and Closing stage titles concurrently for a short period…something that doesn’t happen as often as you would think in Colombia during the two title calendar year.
Season 2022: Clausura
The finals arrived amongst the Closing Stage calendar, so I [unintentionally] sacrificed a few games with heavy rotation in order to have my best XI fit for the finals. Nevertheless, it was a solid campaign with a 3rd place finish and qualification to the playoffs with a game to spare (thus removing the stress of a final day battle akin to what we saw in my Misery post). Towards the end of the normal season, and in keeping with club traditions, I even managed to introduce several youth players into the side as the U20 domestic season finished a few weeks earlier. This allowed 15-year-old Charles Asprilla to become the club’s youngest player and goalscorer, netting a free kick in a 3-0 Vs Cúcuta Deportivo. Wonderful.
Clausura results.
We, and in particular Jhon Durán, started the Semi Finals in electric form. Four straight wins and two hat-tricks for Colombia’s GoldenBoy, saw us romp to the lead of the mini-league. Surely Junior wouldn’t finish anywhere but 1st in the group? Well, in truth it went down to the final game. Depo Cali beating Millonarios to spare the blushes of Barranquilla’s premier team, who went down 2-0 in Cali. Phew.
Great start, awful finish.
Now onto the second set of two legged finals in four months: Junior Club Vs Atlético Nacional. Scheduled three days after the Semi Final Groups had finished, Ojeda’s Junior would go straight into battle against Colombia’s most successful club…
2022 Closing Final(s).
Atlético Nacional ended up conceding just 8 goals in 28 Closing Stage games, and their defence was impenetrable in the finals. I had both Opening and Closing Stage top scorers at my disposal (Durán-Arezo), yet we blanked each time…awful to see. The title winning goal was also an abomination on our part too…is it time for 39-year-old Sebastián Viera to call time on his career?
This could easily be the opening scene in a Paranormal Activity movie.
Copa Colombia
To compound the FM Misery, and remind me that I am still capable of implosions, we exited the Copa Colombia in the 2nd Round (our entry stage). A credible 2-1 away win against the three central striker formation of Cortuluá…to sadly self-destruct at home and lose 3-0. Absolute disaster and once again a failure in the domestic cup competition.
La Celeste
Colombian league rules allow squads to have four foreign players registered, and a restriction of three on the field at any one time. It may seem restrictive compared to a lot of other leagues, but I like that it forces clubs to go down the route of developing homegrown players.
Another side-effect of the restriction is that I’ve found signing foreign players more sacred, almost as if they walk in as de-facto MVPs of the team. This is probably due to my approach, where the foreign player coming in must be guaranteed First Team minutes (otherwise what’s the point?). They therefore need to have something special about them, something that can’t be sourced from the Caribbean Coast (or wider afield in Colombia). For me in FM21 that special quality is, more often than not, Garra Charrú.
Instead of an Englishman (me) trying to write about what it is, I’ll simply quote the last Uruguayan to play for my beloved Arsenal:
‘Garra charrua’ means that we give all we have inside. We give all we have to our football, our jersey and our country. We do our best because every time we enter the pitch we represent our family and friends, the most important people for us. (Lucas Torreira, 2018).
Yesterday’s yerba mate, to fuel the garra charrua spirit 🧉
I ‘think’ Uruguayans appeal to me in FM because of my love for mentally strong players (see fibra). Stereotypically, Uruguayan players work hard for the team (Teamwork & Work Rate) and get amongst it on the field (Aggression, Bravery & Determination). It’s no wonder then that four of the six foreign players I’ve signed so far in FM21 are from La Celeste: Matías Arezo, Manuel Ugarte, Joaquín Piquerez and Ignacio Laquintana. But garra charrua is perhaps demonstrated best in the man I inherited in FM21: Club Captain, and record Junior Club league appearance holder (471), Sebastián Viera.
Sebastián Viera - Goalkeeper - Junior Club (2011-present)
I alluded to it earlier in the post, I am considering bringing an end to Sebastián Viera’s run in the side…but I can’t help admire the Uruguay ‘keeper that has started every game of the save so far (that’s 140 games in two years). I feel as if he should be immortalised on the blog, as one of the standout heroes of FM21 so far. For a Goalkeeper he is a great leader, but it’s also his Aggression, Bravery & Determination that are dreamy. There’s been good, bad and ugly moments (like in the 2022 Closing Final), and I am in two minds as to whether I should pre-emptively replace him before he becomes too old. But let’s just admire him for one more time. 39-year-old club icon.
Matías Arezo - Striker - Junior Club (2021-present)
Arezogol! After 27 goals in 2022 (all comps), I’m sure that Arezo will only get better over the next Decade. Sadly, that probably won’t be with us. A measly €2.1m release clause sits over his head (after being reduced by €400k when our Director of Football handled Arezo’s latest contract extension). It’s probably time to find him a move, especially now that Argentine giants Boca Juniors are interested. I would love to see what he can do there, before assumingly taking Europe by storm one day.
Jhon Durán has already shown he can be relied upon for goals, and a few of the Barranquilla FC boys can hopefully chip in with some too. But Arezo will always have a special place in FM21 FMG lore. The kid plucked from the shores of Río de la Plata, replacing Miguel Borja as our No.9 and going on to win us two league titles. Gracias Matías xoxo
Manuel Ugarte - Central Midfielder - Junior Club (2022-present)
Probably one of the better known South American Wonderboys of FM21, simply due to his bargain status at the start of the game (available for a pre-contract agreement from January 2021). I couldn’t miss out on signing Manuel Ugarte, even if he uses us as a stepping stone; before eventually moving to Mexico, USA or even Europe. Similar to Arezo, a €2m release clause sits on Manuel’s contract.
Since switching to the Misery 4-4-2, Ugarte has been a mainstay in the side as our Deep Lying Playmaker on Support. He makes some glorious central through balls and has even started chipping in with a few goals. I would like to keep him for one more season, but let’s see what happens here.
Joaquín Piquerez - Left Wing Back - Junior Club (2022-present)
My next two Uruguayan signings are guys that won’t necessarily always play in the same position, they’re good but their wide versatility is what appealed to me the most. Joaquín Piquerez joined from Peñarol for a big €1.5m. In the five months he’s been here, he has rotated with Jaminton Campaz as the left sided Inverted Winger and with Gabriel Fuentes as the left sided Wing Back.
He’s a bit of a luxury player to have, because he’s lacking in some places…but then gorgeously gifted in other areas. Perhaps the Wing Back to play when I feel I have the license to take more risks and get him further up the pitch in order to make use of that Crossing, Dribbling, Flair, Long Shots & Technique. I love him already, I think you should too.
Ignacio Laquintana - Right Wing Back - Junior Club (from 2023)
Soon-to-be Junior Player, Ignacio Laquintana, is our second wide utility player. Played mostly as a Wing Back at Defensor, Laquintana does not possess as much of the Garra Charrú Warrior Spirit as the guys mentioned already. But he does look like a good option down the flanks, either at Right Back or more advanced as a Winger.
Laquintana joins us on a Free Transfer and I am excited about seeing him eat into some untapped Potential Ability and become a really good option for us. He will train in the Attacking Unit, in order to fill a similar attacking option (like with Piquerez) for when I am feeling confident. I cannot wait to use him.
The Celestial City
Hugo Ojeda was seen as the posterboy for the new South American manager: young, ambitious and, most of all, successful. His ties to shadier affairs in Colombia and Mexico were just rumours, for now, and he would need to keep it this way. The Great Ángel Bastardo had once told him that “Being a Drug Lord is a bit like being a poisoner. You are either successful or well known”. The seemingly apparent Celestial City of Barranquilla had been good to Hugo Ojeda. Business had rapidly accelerated to further Don Hugo Ojeda’s stranglehold over Latin America’s legitimate and illegitimate affairs and, on the football pitch, Junior Club led the way with domestic successes in each of the two years he had been in Colombia.
However, the two captured Russian spies knew the truth. Ojeda was a poisoner. Bound and kneeling close together in the confides of Ojeda’s private chamber, they accepted their fate with silence. After a heavy interrogation the two men had revealed nothing about why they were here in Barranquilla, and who had sent them. But Ojeda suspected they were sent to kill him, after all the Russian Black Bear (Ruslan Chepiga) had been trying to do this for most of Hugo’s life. It was time to end the investigation and introduce the Russian spies to El Silencio, Ojeda’s legendary golden pistol. The single shots to each of the men’s torsos would likely not kill them, but the laced poison inside the shells would be enough to kick-start the impending fever and subsequent convulsions. It was a horrible death, and Hugo never particularly liked seeing his foes in their final moments like this…but “Being a Drug Lord is a bit like being a poisoner” Hugo mused.
After a few minutes, the men lay motionless on the floor; with only the poison’s effects quietly bubbling up from their mouths. Hugo Ojeda looked up to the stained glass window that overlooked him and the room’s former inhabitants. A single drop of blood ran slowly down the stained glass from top to bottom. The window’s tiles grew a darker shade of red as the droplet moved downwards over them, before splitting off into several smaller tributaries covering more of the window’s surface.
Hugo Ojeda closed his eyes. Where he once felt the fiery embers radiating from the window, he now only felt the cold.
As always, thanks for reading/sharing/caring.
FM Grasshopper