Nacional Beats Peñarol at Campeón del Siglo Thanks to Francisco Calvo Goal

A header from Javier Cabrera nearly changed the course of history, and another header, this one from Francisco Calvo, ended up writing it. Nacional beat Peñarol in Sunday's clásico at the Campeón del Siglo by a score of 0-1, in a match for the fourth round of the Torneo Clausura. The detail matters when you consider the context: it was the first time Nacional had won at that stadium in Uruguayan league play since it opened in 2016. Before this result, Nacional had only celebrated once before on Peñarol's home turf, and that came in the 2021 CONMEBOL Sudamericana, when it won the round of 16 second leg 1-0 but was eliminated because Peñarol had won 2-1 in the first leg at the Gran Parque Central. Since the Campeón del Siglo was built, eleven clásicos have been played there. With Sunday's win, the tally now stands at five draws, four wins for Peñarol and just two for Nacional, this being the first of those two that counted for the domestic league title. The goal came from Calvo, the Costa Rican defender, who not only settled the match on the field but also left behind an emotional conversation with club leadership. That's how Flavio Perchman, Nacional's vice president, described it in an interview with the program "La mañana del fútbol" on El Espectador Deportes.

"We hugged and he told me: 'I came here for this, this is the dream of my life.' He had offers that were much bigger than ours... He's an exceptional guy, and I hope he can stay a long time, he has everything it takes to be the club's next captain"Flavio Perchman

For Perchman, the win came at a critical moment. The team had been through a difficult year and needed a result like this to stay in contention for spots in international tournaments.

"It was the last train leaving the station for us to fight for anything. If we had lost, it would have been three months of sweating it out just to see how we'd make it into the international cups"Flavio Perchman

A clásico "in reverse"

The club official compared the match to the one played earlier in the Torneo Apertura at the Gran Parque Central, which Peñarol won 1-0 with two missed saves against Matías Arezo. According to Perchman, this time everything repeated itself but in reverse: Nacional held the ball without creating much danger, Peñarol got chances through Cabrera and a header from Abel Hernández off a throw-in, and this time it was Luis Mejía who held the fort in goal without needing to make any major saves. Nacional's coach, Daniel Carreño, earned praise from the vice president for his tactical setup, which included a sharp read on the changes Diego Aguirre had made in Peñarol's midfield. As for the team's standout performers, Perchman singled out Luciano Boggio as the best player on the pitch, though he noted it was hard to pick a podium because no player fell below the expected level. With this result, Nacional now has its sights set on finishing the year strong. The next challenge will be against Juventud, with an eye on fighting for the Clausura title until the very end.