Hi there,
For the last few years Fernando (@rocksendfm) has joined the blog before each new Football Manager game to introduce interesting South American clubs to manage in FM. This year, Fernando had the idea to conduct more in-depth case study pieces for one club from each nation. Due to word count, we’ll therefore be combining two nation’s case studies per blog.
This blog features case studies for Chile & Colombia. For a brief synopsis of the league systems visit the previous league guide here.
Massive thanks again to Fernando. Go check out his own website: www.rocksendfm.com, you won’t be disappointed!
We hope you enjoy,
Tony / FM Grasshopper
Chile
Club: CDP CuricĂł Unido
Key Details:
Nickname(s): Los Torteros
Founded: 1973
Ground + Capacity: Bicentenario La Granja / 8,000
Owner: Council
League: Campeonato AFP PlanVital (Chilean First Division)
2021 finish: 14th
Background:
Like so many provincial sides, the story of Curicó Unido, who literally have “Provincial” in their name, has plenty of foundings and refoundings, mergers and separations, promotions and relegations. Located almost 200 kms south of Santiago de Chile, Curicó is one of the biggest in the Maule Region, known for the export of fruits and vine.
There, footballing history goes all the way back to the 1910s, where a group of Spanish immigrants founded the Deportivo Alianza, with modest success in the 1950s. However, by the early 1970s things weren’t so good. Alianza had gone down into the local leagues, and attempts to form a club under a merger with a Santiago team had ended poorly. Therefore, in 1973, Club de Deportes Curicó Unido was formed as a purely Curicó team.
Success was found rather quickly, and by 1984 they were even promoted to the First Division… for a while until a change in direction in the Chilean Federation meant rules were changed and Curicó lost the right to their hard-earned promotion.
A small debacle would soon come, and they were even relegated back to the Third Division, missing out on salvation with a 4-1 win, where a single extra goal would’ve been enough to save them. Where sporting struggles appear, economic struggles quickly follow and by the late 90s it was the fans keeping the club afloat. Leading them was die-hard supporter Doña Edith Véliz who was selling raffles to pay club expenses and providing a roof for some players when she wasn’t busy being effectively the kit woman, fixing and mending any ruined shirts or shorts.
Salvation would come on April 26, 2001, when a merger with Provincial Curicó, a fourth tier side, was arranged. Overnight, this changed the situation. While the merger didn’t exactly go through (Provincial wasn’t technically a club and therefore could not merge), the institution changed its name to Club de Deportes Provincial Curicó Unido, debts were slowly paid and support started to gather. Provincial was a project dedicated to the development of players in the area, and they focused all their effort and economic resources on the new club.
Results quickly improved, and by 2004 the club had narrowly missed out on promotion to the Second Division four times. They finally managed in 2005, beating Deportes Iberia at home in the last matchday to win promotion. Three years later, promotion to the First Division was materialized, and even though it would only last a single year, the basis for a successful sporting project was put in place. In 2017, CuricĂł Unido returned to the top flight, and they have stayed there ever since.
Why them in FM23?
So far, so good. They’re a typical provincial side, with a typical provincial side story. But take a look at the Campeonato AFP PlanVital table this season. Yes, that’s them, in third. Curicó Unido have been the sensation team in Chile this season, defying all expectations to land a Copa Libertadores spot for next season, above the likes of Universidad Católica and Universidad de Chile.
So what, you may ask… shouldn’t that make them a great pick for FM24? Indeed, picking Curicó Unido in FM23 means you’re getting nothing more than a mid-table side with no continental competition, and if that’s what you’re after, I can suggest taking on (bitter rivals) Ñublense, who have a similar, if slightly more successful, story and will be on the Copa Sudamericana on FM23.
But wouldn’t you rather be part of the story than pick up after the fact? The potential is certainly there, some of their guys could do a job for any of the Chilean Big Three, while Curicó also have far better facilities than Ñublense, and they’re actually predicted to finish above their historic rivals. Taking on Curicó Unido is about taking on a chance to be a part of a club’s most successful season in their history. Are you up to the challenge?
Key Personnel:
Ok, so let’s say you’re a brave, brave manager and you decide to take on the challenge, who are your best guys?
Coming in first, I have to mention Rodrigo Holgado. The Argentine, who came through the youth ranks of San Lorenzo, has been in Chile for a while now. However, he’s at Curicó on loan from Gimnasia Esgrima La Plata, meaning he’ll be going back to Argentina at the end of the season unless you plan otherwise. He’s also your biggest earner, meaning if he does depart at the end of the season, you will get some cash to maneuver when signing a replacement.
However, while he’s there, you should make the best of him. A solid all-round striker, Holgado has all the right instincts and skills. Great Off the Ball, Decisions, Passing and Strength suggest he might be better used in a tandem as the dropping man, but he’s got useful Pace and his Finishing is good, so he may be able to lead the line.
Up next, it’s Juan Pablo Gómez. The 30 year old right back will be key to how you attack and how well your season goes. Owner of a lovely skill set, Gómez is fast, a two-way player who can tackle and create danger and a deadly crosser of the ball.
He’s capable of playing through almost the entirety of the right flank, but most importantly he’s nearly ambidextrous, meaning he can also do the job on the left in an emergency.
Last but not least, I wanted to discuss Yerko Leiva. Another loanee, but a Chilean player, the 23 year old creative midfielder should become your main source of joy should you take Curicó. Worthy of the “diminutive genius” tag with his 1,66m height, he’s a deadly corner taker, as well as a creative outlet. Unlike the usual creative but highly intermittent southamerican talents, Leiva has (mostly) the right mentals to showcase his talents often and can slot in a few positions depending on how you decide to set up.
A graduate of the Universidad de Chile academies, he’s on loan from Mexican side Necaxa, but unlike Holgado, he shouldn’t prove all that difficult to capture for another season, even when you’re only paying half his wages.
Want to manage in Chile but you don’t fancy CDP Curicó Unido?
If you’re determined to manage in the Andean country but you don’t mind disappointing Doña Edith Véliz, you have some options. If you're looking for a…
… great youth academy: O’Higgins
In Chile, like with most leagues, it’s hard to find a big academy outside a big club, but O’Higgins certainly cuts the bill with some of the best overall facilities in the country.
… fallen giant: Union Española (or Cobreloa in the Second Division)
Unión Española isn’t really a fallen giant, more of a runner up to the Big Three, but if you’re unwilling to take a lower divisions side, they’re your guys. Cobreloa, eight-time title winners and two-time Copa Libertadores runners-up are the real fallen giants of Chilean football.
… up and coming side: Union La Calera
Most Chileans aren’t really happy with ULC and their up and coming ways as they mostly relate to superagents in the area building up a side like a shop window for their players. Regardless, they’re the latest team to achieve runner up status for the first time and they’ve been Copa Libertadores and Sudamericana regulars.
… big side to win the Copa Libertadores: Universidad Católica
Thanks to those losses by Cobreloa, Chilean football only has one Copa Libertadores winner in Colo-Colo, arguably the biggest side in Chile. However, with the investment that’s gone into their stadium and their local dominance of late, if you’re going to challenge, you may as well try with Universidad Católica.
Colombia
Club: Deportivo Cali
Key Details:
Nickname(s): Los Azucareros
Founded: 1912
Ground + Capacity: Estadio Deportivo Cali / 52,000
Owner: Club
League: Liga BetPlay DIMAYOR (Colombian First Division)
2021 finish: 1st (Closing Stage)
Background:
The story of Deportivo Cali starts, like that of so many clubs in South America, with a trip to England; that of the brothers Nazario, Juan Pablo y Fidel Lalinde Caldas, to be more exact, who around 1905 travelled across the pond to complete their studies. There, like just about everyone in British Public Schools in the early 20th century, they fell to the football-craze, which they duly brought back to their native Santiago de Cali upon their return. In 1912, together with some friends, they formed the Cali Football Club.
Unity, however, would be short lived. In 1914 a dispute over who got to play goalkeeper (the guy asking to play in goal was 1,57m) meant that the team was split into two sides, Cali Football Club A and B. The A team (no pun intended) took the red and white of Arsenal as their colours, while the B side (again, no pun intended) took the green and white of Northern Ireland1. A game was played between them, ending in a 3-1 win to the A side, which established them as the main team. Between 1927 and 1931, they won the Liga Vallecaucana, the regional tournament for Cali teams, five straight with further wins throughout the 1930s, while the B team was also successful in the second division. However, by 1940 they would stop competing.
It would have to wait until 1945 for Cali football to make a return, with a merger with recently formed clubs Los Pingüinos and Aire y Sol (literally, “The Penguins” and “Air and Sun”, I swear I’m not making this up). Due to inner fighting, the decision was made to unify the two teams, which would finally take the name Deportivo Cali2.
Three years later, the Colombian First Division entered it’s professional era, and just one year later the El Dorado era started, where the Colombian League left the Colombian Football Federation (not unlike how the Premier League left the EFL) and became a pirate league outside of FIFA, poaching players from their clubs, most famously Alfredo di Stefano.
However, it would not be a very successful era for Deportivo Cali. Initially they enjoyed recognition and were praised for their game, leading to the 1949 2nd place in the league. Regardless, the team struggled economically throughout the decade and in 1956 the director of Boca Juniors de Cali sent a letter to the league asking that only two teams (the other being América de Cali) be chosen as representatives of the city. The league members debated, and Deportivo Cali was voted out of the league.
Only in 1959 a group led by businessman Alex Gorayeb would pay the club’s debts and (in an ironic twist) bought Boca Juniors de Cali’s league place. The following decade Deportivo Cali had their first golden age, winning three championship titles in 1965, 1967 and 1969. They also competed internationally for the first time, getting into the Copa Libertadores in 1968, and then again in 1969, going as far as the quarter finals.
The good times would carry into the 1970s, with titles in 1970 and 1974, but their biggest landmark would come in 1978 when they got all the way to the Copa Libertadores final under the management of Carlos Salvador Bilardo and becoming the first Colombian side in reaching that stage, albeit losing to Boca Juniors 4-0 on aggregate.
Titles would evade them for a long while. They would take six 2nd spots between 1976 and 1986, and it would take 22 years for Deportivo Cali to become Colombian champions once again in 1996, but by then they were already a force to be reckoned in an already growing Colombian league, which they won again in 2005, 2015 and 2021.
Notes:
1 Why exactly did they go for the Northern Irish colours I haven’t been able to find. Using red and white for Arsenal makes sense as the Lalinde Caldas brothers had seen the Gunners play in their time in Britain, but I’ve not been able to find any link with Northern Ireland. My very uneducated guess as to why they did it is that blue, red, white and green are the colours of the city of Santiago de Cali, so given that red and white were already taken, they went for green. That then poses the question of why blue was snubbed, but no amount of googling and digging into ISBNs has helped.
2 Quite why it is that when the teams were unified they took the green and white of the B team and not the red and white of the A team remains a mystery to me as well. However, a slightly more educated guess suggests that, by 1945, a club that wore those colours already existed in the city: América de Cali. Therefore it would’ve made sense to want to pick up a different kit.
Why them in FM23?
There’s a lot to be liked about Deportivo Cali in truth. They are the only club in Colombia who own their stadium, which also happens to be the one with the largest capacity in the country. They are also the only Colombian club that works as an association (like say Real Madrid and FC Barcelona), with the club being owned exclusively by its members and not some tycoon or businessman. They’re also the big club with the least links (or at least overt links) to drug dealing, with no links to cartel bosses unlike América de Cali or Atlético Nacional.
However, I chose them as my Case Study for Colombia because they could very soon become a sleeping giant. As of today, Deportivo Cali’s debts go as high as 90 billion Colombian pesos, or 18 million euros (£16 million). Sure, that’s about as much as a run of the mill Premier League side spends on a third striker, but in Colombian football it’s a ton of money. For context, Colombia’s single most expensive player sale was that of Miguel Borja to Palmeiras in 2016 at around 10 million euros.
While this doesn't make them instantly into a proper sleeping giant (look into the history of Boca Juniors de Cali for that) they could get wayward without a fine guiding hand… your hand. In FM23, Deportivo Cali start with a debt of around 15 million euros for you to chip away at, and projections look at 19 million by the end of the season. There’s some considerable amount to chip away at.
Key Personnel:
There’s only really one man to start this with: Teófilo Antonio Gutiérrez Roncancio, better known as Teo Gutiérrez. From trick shots and defence splitting passes to controversies with just about every club he’s played with and guns in the dressing room, there’s always fun with Teo around.
The man is getting into years at 36, and while he was never blisteringly quick, he’s less so now. Class, however, is permanent that exquisite Technique, the killer Passing, the eagle-eyed Vision and the showman’s Flair. He’ll need a few more days between matches and you’ll have to deploy him further back than during his heyday with River Plate and Junior, but he’ll do the job, don’t you worry about it.
The one doing all the running should be Kevin Velasco. At 24 he perhaps doesn’t have the upside of days gone, but he’s still young enough to put those lighting quick Pace and deadly Dribbling to use. With wicked Crossing from his left foot and an engine to run the entire flank, he might be a bit of a one trick pony but if it isn’t broken don’t fix it.
Last but not least, Guillermo Burdisso. One of only two non-Colombians in the side, the towering Argentine centreback is a set play exploit waiting to happen. Standing at 1,87m, with great Jumping Reach, Strength and Heading ability, you’ll do well to experiment with setplays so Teo or Velasco can find him in the box.
As is to be expected of a 33 year old tower building on foot, his Pace is weak and he will be exposed with balls in behind, but his game reading is decent, with good Anticipation and Decisions, so perhaps he’ll adapt. The only problem so far as I can see is that somebody convinced him he’s good on the ball, so you may have to work on his PTs.
Want to manage in Colombia but you don’t fancy Deportivo Cali?
What other challenges lie in Colombia? Well, as one of South America’s most competitive leagues, it turns out there’s plenty. So if you don’t quite feel like selling your best guys every season, try this if you’re looking for a…
… great youth academy: Envigado
A bit of an obvious choice as Envigado is by far one of the best “non-big side top academy” saves. If you’ve already played them or if they feel a tad predictable for you, Cortuluá has great facilities.
… plucky underdog side: Aguilas Doradas
The revelation team of the last Colombian league, they got a place in the Clausura Playoffs this season and have been reaching international competitions spots here and there for the last few years. Not bad for a team founded in 2008.
… up and coming side: Deportes Tolima
The up and coming side of Colombian football, if anyone is going to challenge for a spot among the big boys any time soon, it’s going to be them. They’re challenging for titles regularly and often take spots for international competitions, so maybe with a small push…
… big side to win the Copa Libertadores: Atlético Nacional
The first ones to ever do it are probably the only ones with a chance of doing it again in the near future. For a while it didn’t look like a Colombian side was ever going to win the Copa Libertadores with the failures of Deportivo Cali and then América de Cali (three finals back to back). But then 1989 rolled around and Atlético Nacional won it on their first try, and then won it again in 2016. It looks like a long shot right now, but if anyone’s gonna do it, it might as well be the original.