time in club history. 1991 was a year of near misses. Atlético Nacional knocked América out in the quarterfinals of the Copa Libertadores, then beat them to the title in the Colombian league. After the season, Gabriel Ochoa Uribe retired as manager, ending a career that had spanned fifteen years and seven league championships. América hired an equally high-profile manager to replace him: Francisco Maturana. Maturana had won the 1989 Copa Libertadores with Atlético Nacional and guided Colombia to the knockout stages of the 1990 World Cup, then managed Real Valladolid in Spain during the 1990–91 season. He was widely expected to continue his string of successes with América. The club won the 1992 Finalización and dominated the playoff stages, hoisting their eight championship and second in three years. But the agony continued in the Copa Libertadores. 1992 saw them reach the semi-finals again, and earn a meeting with Newell's Old Boys of Argentina. Both legs ended in a 1–1 draw, and so the match went into penalties. After a marathon round of penalties, Newell's prevailed, 11–10. In 1993, Maturana's final year with the club, the side slipped to fourth place domestically but still managed an impressive season in the Copa Libertadores. They became the first Colombian side to ever win at Brazil's legendary Maracanã Stadium and advanced all the way to the semi-finals. Once again, they were denied, losing out to a last minute goal by Chile's Universidad Católica. After the season, Maturana left to focus on managing the Colombia national team. Nonetheless, the club's era of success continued. They remained near the top of the Colombian league in 1994, 1995, and 1996, and qualified for the 1996 Copa Libertadores. That year, America mounted another legendary run through the tournament, charging all the way to Copa finals, where they once again faced River Plate. Antony de Ávila scored the winning goal in the first leg, poking the ball into the net from a seemingly impossible angle. In Argentina, however, River Plate prevailed 2–1, thanks to two goals from Hernán Crespo. Crespo's second goal came when keeper Óscar Córdoba left his area to try and clear a ball, only to have it return right to the possession of River Plate. Despite the Copa Libertadores disappointment, the 1996–97 season still brought some glory to América. Due to an upcoming change in format for the Colombian league, this was a marathon season,