Argentina 0 Colombia 5: The great victory in the Monumental of 1993

Last update 25 September, 2024 by Alberto Llopis

That Argentina 0 Colombia 5 football history undoubtedly passed. He 5 September 1993 one of the biggest wins in the history of Argentine football at the national team level. Not so much the result itself, but its meaning: he 0-5 from Colombia to Argentina in the River Monument during the qualifying phase of the USA World Cup 1994. A demonstration of superiority, efficacy, talent and collective game of a group of men who that day seemed to be the Brazil of the 70.

Argentina 0 Colombia 5: A painful defeat for history

Colombia went to Buenos Aires with the need to win or draw to keep the first position and avoid the play-off. To Argentina, he was only worth winning. On the grass, the best of both teams: Simeone, Ruggeri, Redondo, Batistuta, Goycoechea They formed a guaranteed albiceleste eleven to receive a group of players who had amazed with their game and who responded to the name of Asprilla, Valderrama, Corner, Córdoba, Perea, etc..

A full field, 75 passionate souls was the witness of one of the great exhibitions that are remembered. Maturana y Coco Basile on the benches and Maradona in the stands. And suddenly, the exhibition. The unexpected. Despite going out eager to score, Argentina goes to rest with an unfair 0-1 thanks to a goal from Freddy Rincón.

A preview of what's to come in the second half. A current of football that ends with four more goals, an outraged public and a team cheered by a combination football of association and touch. A football from another era at that time. Guardiola's Barcelona, Pelé's Brazil, the Cruyff's Holland in the hands of Maturana.

Beyond a football game, that Argentina 0 Colombia 5 it meant a lot of things: the biggest win in history at home received by Argentina that remained after 19 years undefeated at home, Maradona's return to the albiceleste for the 'play-offs'’ against Australia and the recognition that Colombia and the coffee growers had entered the football legend.

Both teams would finally qualify for the World Cup in the United States in 1994. And both teams would have a disappointing tournament full of misfortunes. Argentina with the expulsion for doping of Diego Armando Maradona and Colombia with the murder of Andrés Escobar. But that, These are other stories.

Argentina 0 (0)	Colombia 5 (1)
5 September of 1993, 19:00 UTC-3 Liberti Estadio Monumental Antonio Vespucio, Buenos Aires 75.000 viewers approx. (Lap Final)
1 BY Sergio Goycochea 20 DEF Julio Saldaña 15 DEF Jorge Borelli 6 DEF Oscar Ruggeri 3 DEF Ricardo Altamirano 17 WITH Gustavo Zapata 5 WITH Fernando Redondo 69′ 10 WITH Diego Simeone 21 WITH Leonardo Rodriguez 54′ 18 OF THE Ramon Medina Bello 9 OF THE Gabriel Batistuta DT Alfio Basile	1 BY Oscar Cordoba 4 DEF Luis Fernando Herrera placeholder image 15 DEF Luis Carlos Perea 3 DEF Alexis Mendoza 20 DEF Wilson perez 14 WITH Leonel Alvarez 8 WITH Gabriel Jaime Gomez 19 WITH Freddy Rincon 10 WITH Carlos Valderrama 11 OF THE Faustino Asprilla 13 OF THE Adolfo Valencia DT Francisco Maturana
Substitutions
OF THE Claudio Garcia 54′ OF THE Alberto Acosta placeholder image 69′
Goals
	41′ Freddy Rincon 0-1 49′ Faustino Asprilla 0-2 72′ Freddy Rincon 0-3 74′ Faustino Asprilla 0-4 84′ Adolfo Valencia 0-5
Referee Ernesto Filippi Assistant referees Pedro Risso Juan Kerekes Fourth official Saul Feldman Observers referees Guido Loayza