Inside the Bogotá Clásico | Part 1: The Passion

Here is the first installment in a four-part special on the historic Bogotá derby I produced for NTN24, a Colombian-based international news outlet. Everyday we'll post another part in the series, which starts off with an in-depth look at the wild passion of both Millonarios and Independiente Santa Fe fans.

If you aren't familiar with Colombian soccer, it's ridden a roller coaster in the past few decades, which this special aims to capture through the scope of this huge rivalry in the capital. Considered one of the best leagues in the world in the late 80s and early 90s thanks to the backing of drug cartels, Colombian soccer suffered after the government stepped in to clean up the game. Today, it's enjoying a resurgence. Despite tumultuous times, the passion of these fútbol crazy fans has never wavered. 

The special features interviews in both Spanish and English with Millos and Santa Fe club presidents, legendary Colombian football journalist Henry 'Bocha' Jimenez, and fans of both clubs. That dude with the goofy walk at 1:08? That's me.

Also, this is somewhat similar to what we're going for with American Fútbol. As informative, with similar club access, but less newsy and more artistic. Obviously, there's no way we gain access to an archive of footage like NTN24 has, but it's more stories like these we'll produce on our trip.