A Great One Retires

by Juan Arango for Mad About Fútbol    July 17, 2008

 Amid a full house at Atanasio Girardot,  one of the Nacional´s greatest idols said ¨adios¨ to the game and the team he loved so much.  He was accompanied by Colombian footballing greats like René Higuita, Carlos Valderrama, Mauricio Serna, Alex Aguinaga, Leonel Álvarez, Faustino Asprilla, and two guys named Enzo and Diego.  Víctor Hugo Aristizábal finally had his tribute game after deciding to step aside last season.  An ACL tear made the former Colombian international postpone this match as he planned on retiring in January of this year.  In the past 2008 Apertura, he was part of Héctor Quintabani´s coaching staff while he rehabbed.   His purpose solely was to play in this game.    

The match ended in a 2-2 draw but the highlight of the game was Valderrama´s free kick.  Let the video speak for itself.

In a career that spanned almost two decades, the 36-year-old striker made a name for himself in his native Colombia as well as in Brazil.  He was part of that generation of Nacional that was being considered for the club´s future as well as being part of the nucleus of the national team.  Aristi as well as Faustino Aprilla, Mauricio Serna, became the big stars that emerged from that second generation of the criollo (homegrown) policy put in place by the Nacional brass back in the mid’80´s. The club itself was going through a very successful era where they won the Copa Libertadores as well as the two domestic titles. 

After the disaster that was the 1994 World Cup, he would have a brief stint at Spanish side Valencia, he returned to Nacional, but then headed to what would be his second home.    In 1997, he arrived at São Paulo where he played for two seasons and then moved to Santos.   His performance in Brazil was worthy of headlines and earned him a spot on the Cafetero that went to France for the World Cup.   The Colombians´ performance once again disappointed as their lone goal came from youngster Léider Preciado in the dying minutes of the game against Tunisia.   In the third match of the group stages they would be overwhelmed by an England side led by Darren Anderton and David Beckham.  

If there was a consensual criticism of the player, it was his performance with the national team.  Many in Colombia said that the jersey ¨got heavy on him¨ when he wore it.  But for a brief period of time he erased that doubt as he was the goal scoring leader of the 2001 Copa América which was won by the host nation Colombia.  In seven matches he scored six goals as Colombia would go on to win their first international title.  That honeymoon would be short-lived as Colombia would not qualify for the 2002 World Cup.  

Aristi was had very came a legend at Cruzeiro where he was the leading scorer on the team that won the domestic treble (Cup, State, and National titles) back in 2003.   The following year he played Copa Libertadores and Brasileirão with Curitiba where the team won Paranaense state title.  Success in Brazil was immense, but he still longed to return to his beloved Verde. In 2005 he returned to Atlético Nacional- for good.  He was now being looked at in a different light, but his attitude on the field was much more polarizing.  To the Nacional fans he was that conquering hero that came back to make his team great again.  The club went through a five-year drought.  The team reached the final two consecutive times but were thwarted by cross-town rivals Medellín and Júnior and he was being looked at as the solution, he alongside Colombo-Argentine striker Sergio Galván Rey were going to be one of the big reasons why Nacional were expected to win it all.   For the next two years, these two were the leading scorers in Colombia, but controversies 

He was still scoring goals at a torrid pace, but he would try to intimidate younger players as well as referees.  This was the reason why fans from other teams s well as the Bogota media began to despise him even more.   

In November of 2007, in a the away leg of the Colombia finals against La Equidad he eventually played his final game.  His ACL tear would force him to miss the return match as well as the remainder of the 2008 Apertura.  

Honors

348 Career Goals

All-time leading scorer in Nacional history (206)

All-time leading foreign scorer in Brazilian first division history (47)

All-time leading scorer in Cruzeiro history (22)

Leading scorer in 2001 Copa América (6)

- Five Colombian League Titles (Atl. Nacional 1991, 1994, 2005 Apertura, 2007 Apertura, 2007 Clausura)

Brazilian National Title (Cruzeiro 2003)

Baiano League Title (Vitoria 2003)

Paranaense League Title (Curitiba 2004)

 Copa do Brasil Title (Cruzeiro 2003)

Mineiro League Title (Cruzeiro 2003)

Copa América (Colombia 2001)

Copa Merconorte (Atl. Nacional 2000)

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.

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