Atletico Tucumán Plays With Argentina Kit And Borrowed Boots in Copa Libertadores

Yesterday was a really epic night for Argentinian club Atletico Tucuman, who played for the first time in the Copa Libertadores. Here is the whole story.

In order to avoid the effects of the dreadful altitude of the Ecuadorian city Quito, the team's management decided that Atletico would reach Quito only shortly before the game against El Nacional, which would decide if the reach the group stage of the Copa Libertadores. What the management have likely not thought about is that there could be unforeseen events, which could hamper their plan. So when the team arrived in Guayaquil, which is 269 km from the Ecuadorian capital, they were very surprised to learn that the flight that would take them to the game had been canceled due to lack of authorization.

Atletico Tucumán Could Play The Game Either With Argentina's Kit or the Opponents' Away Jersey

From there it was a race against time. Atletico managed to charter another flight to Quito and sent only the 11 holders plus the coach, without uniforms or cleats, who had stayed in Guayaquil. Meanwhile, he was negotiating with Argentina's U-20 squad, which plays the South American in the capital, loaning the material and trying to explain to El Nacional and Conmebol. There was also the option of using the uniform reserve El Nacional.

In the meantime, El Nacional announced that they would wait for the team 45 minutes after the start time of the match.

Atletico Tucumán's home kit features a design inspired by the kit of the Argentina national team

Atletico landed in Quito 15 minutes after the official kick off time, and it took them another 30 minutes to get from the runway to the bus. Heading to the stadium (the bus reached 130 km/h on the highway), the team arrived 54 minutes after the official kick off at the stadium.

In the end, the game began 90 minutes later than expected, with Atletico Tucumán playing with shirts of the Argentine national team and borrowed football boots (from Argentina's U-20, who are currently playing in the 2017 South American Youth Football Championship in Ecuador).

Atletico Tucumán won the match with 1-0 with a goal in the 85 minute and progressed to the Copa Libertadores main stage after a 2-2 draw in the first match.