The Clásico Vallecaucano (
Spanish
Spanish might refer to:
* Items from or related to Spain:
**Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain
**Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas
**Spanish cuisine
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...
for "
Valle del Cauca Derby") is a football
local derby
A sports rivalry is intense competition between athletic teams or athletes, affecting participants, management, and supporters all to varying degrees.
One of the first known sports rivalries occurred in the Roman Empire between the Blues and th ...
contested between
América de Cali
América de Cali S. A., best known as América de Cali or América, is a Colombian professional football club based in Cali. It competes in the Categoría Primera A, the top-flight league of Colombian football. The team plays its home games at ...
and
Deportivo Cali
Asociación Deportivo Cali, best known as Deportivo Cali, is a Colombian sports club based in Cali, most notable for its football team, which currently competes in the Categoría Primera A.
Deportivo Cali is one of the most successful football t ...
, both clubs based in
Cali
Santiago de Cali (), or Cali, is the capital of the Valle del Cauca department, and the most populous city in southwest Colombia, with 2,280,522 residents estimate by National Administrative Department of Statistics, DANE in 2023. The city span ...
, Colombia. It is regarded as one of Colombia's oldest and most passionate rivalries, having been first played in an amateur regional championship in 1931, and with both contenders being closely matched in the all-time series. It has also been mentioned as one of the world's greatest football derbies by international media,
being ranked 40th in a list of the 50 biggest derbies in world football published by the
FourFourTwo
''FourFourTwo'' is an association football magazine published by British company Future. Issued monthly, it published its 300th edition in May 2019. It takes its name from the football formation of the same name, 4–4–2. Future acquired the ...
magazine in April 2021.
History
The rivalry between the two top clubs from Cali can be traced back to their cultural and social origins. Deportivo Cali, founded in 1912 as ''The Cali Football Club'' by a group of students returning from Europe, has always been considered the representative of the wealthy classes of the city and the
Valle del Cauca region. On the other hand, América de Cali (founded in 1927) attracted supporters from the poorest, working class and popular areas of the city since its beginnings. Their first meeting is reported to have been held in a regional tournament in 1931, and was won by Deportivo Cali 1–0 after América de Cali had two goals disallowed for offside. América de Cali protested against the refereeing of this match and the club was handed a one-year suspension from local tournaments as a result.
The first match between both teams in the professional league was played on 26 September 1948, with Deportivo Cali winning by a score of 4–3.
The performances of both clubs have also offered further reasons for contrast between them throughout time, with Deportivo Cali cementing their status as one of Colombia's top clubs by winning five
league
League or The League may refer to:
Arts and entertainment
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titles between
1965
Events January–February
* January 14 – The First Minister of Northern Ireland and the Taoiseach of the Republic of Ireland meet for the first time in 43 years.
* January 20
** Lyndon B. Johnson is Second inauguration of Lynd ...
and 1974, whilst América de Cali had to wait 35 years for their first domestic title in 1979. Furthermore, América de Cali's success during the 1980s in which the team won the domestic league five times in a row between 1982 and 1986 as well as reaching the
Copa Libertadores
The CONMEBOL Libertadores, also known as Copa Libertadores de América (), is an annual continental club football competition organized by CONMEBOL since 1960. It is the highest level of competition in South American club football. The tournam ...
final thrice in a row between
1985
The year 1985 was designated as the International Youth Year by the United Nations.
Events January
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** The Internet's Domain Name System is created.
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and
1987
Events January
* January 1 – Bolivia reintroduces the Boliviano currency.
* January 2 – Chadian–Libyan conflict – Battle of Fada: The Military of Chad, Chadian army destroys a Libyan armoured brigade.
* January 3 – Afghan leader ...
attracted fans from all over Colombia, greatly increasing América's supporter base. América de Cali's 1986 league title was clinched with a victory over their crosstown rival,
while Deportivo Cali clinched their sixth league title in 1996 (and first in 22 years) with a scoreless draw against América de Cali on the last day of the season.
With the adoption of
barra brava
() is the name of organized supporters' groups of association football, football teams in Hispanic America that provides fanatical support to their clubs in stadiums and provoke violence against rival fans as well as against the police.
Actio ...
culture by Colombian football fans in the early years of the 1990s, the rivalry between both sets of fans turned violent and matches between both teams started demanding an increased level of safety.
Statistics
Head-to-head
Honours
Records
*Record wins
**América de Cali:
***Home: América de Cali – Deportivo Cali 5–0,
Estadio Pascual Guerrero, 29 June 1961
***Away: Deportivo Cali – América de Cali 0–4, Estadio Pascual Guerrero, 14 November 1993
Deportivo Cali – América de Cali 0–4, Estadio Pascual Guerrero, 22 March 2008
**Deportivo Cali:
***Home: Deportivo Cali – América de Cali 5–1, Estadio Pascual Guerrero, 18 April 1951
Deportivo Cali – América de Cali 6–3,
Estadio Deportivo Cali
Estadio Deportivo Cali, also called Estadio de Palmaseca, is a football
Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, fo ...
, 10 October 2010
***Away: América de Cali – Deportivo Cali 1–4, Estadio Pascual Guerrero, 2 October 1949
América de Cali – Deportivo Cali 1–4, Estadio Pascual Guerrero, 3 March 1968
References
{{reflist
Football rivalries in Colombia
América de Cali
Deportivo Cali