Somewhere up in that Parque Central up in the sky my wife's grandmother is smiling. I remember when I was courting my beautiful wife I tried to earn brownie points and got burned for it. "Grandma, you look like a Peñarol fan."

Suddenly her Jedi powers took effect. "Peñarol! You must not like yourself too much!" I felt like someone grabbed my throat and put me to the wall. Old ladies and Jedi powers. Yep. Who knew 87-year-old ladies had them. On Wednesday she smile from above as Nacional reaches the semis of the Copa Libertadores for the first time in 21 years. A road goal against Brazilian side Palmeiras was all they needed to earn a seat amongst the greats of South America once again.

The 1988 team came into this tournament as an underdog with an overhaul, similar to its 2009 counterpart. Hugo De León was the only survivor of the club's second Copa Lib title against the mighty Internacional side back in 1980. De León was coming back from being abroad for well over a decade. He was a journeyman that played for clubs like Gremio, Corinthians, and Santos s well as Spanish side Logroñés. Roberto Fleitas would come take over a club that would not have many big name players, yet they would become one of the most dominant teams in South America. One of the most recognized names would be that of central defender Santiago Ostolaza. The mainstay of the Uruguayan side that won the Panamerican gold in Caracas in 1983 was a young defender domestically, but would become the anchor of this ragged bunch of no names that had some big shoes to fill- equalling what their hated rivals did the year before.

Not even the legendary beauty of the Calean women and the intimidating tactics of the América fans could distract the team from their ultimate destiny.

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Part 2



Part 3


Part 4



That squad from 1988 was among one of the most historic and succssful in the 110-year history of the club. They won the Copa Libertadores by beating Argentine side Newell's Old Boys 3-0 at the mythical Estadio Centenario. They would also become the first team in history to win three Intercontinental Cups without losing. That feat would be equalled in 2005 when São Paulo would do that in World Club Cup final against Liverpool. Nacional would also win the Recopa as well as the Interamerican Cup.

With that stretch players like De León re-established themselves. De León as well as Ostolaza and Felipe Revelez were selected for national team duty and ended up on Oscar Washington Tabárez side in Italy 1990 which went through to the second round on a last-gasp goal by then-Cagliari man Daniel Fonseca. Fonseca was part of the Recopa side that won the title for Nacional in 1988. Players like Jorge Cardaccio, Yubert Lemos, Ernesto Vargas began household names as well as great players at the domestic level.
Nacional's Road To The Title

Group III
29/06/88: Wanderers 0-0 Nacional

08/07/88: Nacional 2-0 América
NAC: Lemos, Vargas

15/07/88: Nacional 4-1 Millonarios
NAC: Lemos (2), Cardaccio, Castro
MIL: Iguarán

19/07/88: Nacional 1-0Wanderers
NAC: Morán

29/07/88: Millonarios 6-1Nacional
MIL: Vargas
NAC: Juárez, Iguarán (2), Vanemerak (2), Lasarte (og)


03/08/88: América 0-0 Nacional

Teams Qualified: América, Nacional

Second Round Llave 1
07/09/88: Universidad Católica 1-1 Nacional 1 (Revelez)
UCH: Espinosa
NAC: Revelez

14/09/88: Nacional 0, Universidad Católica 0
NAC adv. on away goals Third Round
22/09/88: Newell's 1 (Pautasso), Nacional 1 (J. C. De Lima)
NOB: Pautasso
NAC: De Lima

28/09/88: Nacional 2-1 (Cardaccio e/c)
NAC: Ostolaza, Lemos
NOB: Cardaccio (og)
Qualified Team: Nacional (Newell's would advance as best loser)

Semifinals
05/10/88: Nacional 1-0 América
NAC: Lemos

12/10/88: América 1-1 Nacional
AME: D'Avila
NAC: De Lima
Finals
19/10/88: Newell's Old Boys 1-0 Nacional
NOB: Gabrich

26/10/88: Nacional 3-0 Newell's Old Boys
NAC: Vargas, Ostolaza*, De León*
*Goals in aet