Envigado Fútbol Club (Spanish pronunciation: [embiˈɣaðo ˈfuðβol ˈkluβ]) is a Colombian professional football team based in Envigado, that currently plays in the Categoría Primera A. They play their home games at the Estadio Polideportivo Sur.
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| Full name | Envigado Fútbol Club S.A. | ||
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| Nickname(s) | El Equipo Naranja (The Orange Team) Cantera de Héroes (Quarry of Heroes) | ||
| Founded | 14 October 1989 | ||
| Ground | Estadio Polideportivo Sur | ||
| Capacity | 11,000[1] | ||
| Chairman | Ramiro Ruiz | ||
| Manager | Alexis Márquez | ||
| League | Categoría Primera A | ||
| 2023 | Primera A, 19th of 20 | ||
| Website | Club website | ||
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The club is renowned for the quality of its youth development and the number of international stars who have begun their careers with the team including James Rodríguez, Fredy Guarín, Juan Fernando Quintero, Jhon Córdoba, Mateus Uribe, Giovanni Moreno among others. It is frequently considered one of the best youth academies in South America, which is why it is known as "Cantera de Heroes" (Quarry of Heroes).[2]
History edit
The club was founded on 14 October 1989 and became the first team to earn promotion to the Colombian top flight as they won the inaugural Categoría Primera B tournament, held in 1991.[3] In that tournament, they topped the final group ahead of Alianza Llanos, Club El Cóndor, and Atlético Huila.[4]
Envigado were able to consolidate themselves as a Primera A team, reaching the final stages of the league for the first time in 1994 after placing eighth. They were eliminated in the semifinals, placing third in their group. They also made it to the final stages of the competition in the 2002 Apertura, in which they also placed third in their semifinal group, and the 2005 Apertura, in which they placed second in their group, one point behind the eventual finalists Santa Fe.[5]
Envigado were relegated from the Primera A on 12 November 2006 after a 1–0 loss to Cúcuta Deportivo on the final round of the 2006 Finalización tournament,[6] thus ending a 15-year spell in the top flight, but quickly bounced back by winning the 2007 Primera B tournament with a team led by debutant playmakers James Rodríguez and Giovanni Moreno and managed by Jesús Barrios. Envigado secured promotion back to the top flight by beating Academia in the finals of both of the season's short tournaments.[7] The team has not been relegated ever since, although they played relegation play-offs in 2008 and 2010, defending successfully their Primera A status in both of them.
They made their best campaign in the top flight in the 2011 season, when they made it to the quarter-finals of both the Apertura and Finalización tournaments, which helped them place third in the season's aggregate table and achieve their first qualification for an international tournament, the 2012 Copa Sudamericana. There they were eliminated at the second stage after beating Unión Comercio from Peru 2–0 on aggregate and losing to Liverpool from Uruguay 2–1 on aggregate.[5]
In November 2014, Envigado F.C. and its major shareholder Juan Pablo Upegui were included into the Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons List (also known as the Clinton List) by the United States's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) due to their links with the drug cartel Oficina de Envigado (Envigado Office). Although not all of the club's transactions were found to be illicit, the U.S. Treasury verified that the club had been used by the organization for money laundering, after 10 years of investigations.[8] Envigado was removed from the list on 26 April 2018, and shortly after it was announced that 55% of the club's shares had been sold to the equity fund ProFútbol.[9][10]
Honours edit
- Categoría Primera B
- Winners (2): 1991, 2007
Players edit
Current squad edit
- As of 15 February 2024[11]
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
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Out on loan edit
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
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Managers edit
Hugo Castaño (1989 – 1991)- Luis Augusto García (1992)
- Fernando Castro (1993 – 1995)
- Gabriel Gómez (1995 – 1997)
- Norberto Peluffo (1997 – 1998)
- Carlos Navarrete (2002 – 2004)
- Orlando Restrepo (2005)
- Carlos Navarrete (2006)
- Jesús Barrios (2007 – October 2008)
- Óscar Aristizábal (Dec 15, 2008 – Nov 1, 2009)
- Ruben Dario Bedoya (Nov 2, 2009 – Jun 1, 2010)
- Pedro Sarmiento (Jul 30, 2010 – Apr 15, 2013)
- Juan Carlos Sánchez (April 2013 – May 2016)
Ismael Rescalvo (June 2016 – August 2017)- Rubén Darío Bedoya (August 2017 – August 2018)
- Juan Carlos Ramírez (September 2018 – December 2018)
- Eduardo Lara (January 2019 – December 2019)
References edit
- ^ "Estadio". Archived from the original on 2016-02-13. Retrieved 2015-11-30.
- ^ "James Rodriguez, Envigado FC , and the Long Shadow of Pablo Escobar". Vice.com. 30 September 2014.
- ^ "Fue fundado el Envigado F.C." [Envigado F.C. was founded] (in Spanish). El Cinco Cero. 12 February 2023. Retrieved 27 December 2023.
- ^ "Envigado sí ascendió" [Envigado did promote] (in Spanish). El Tiempo. 1 December 1991. Retrieved 27 December 2023.
- ^ a b "Envigado FC" (in Spanish). Vavel. Retrieved 27 December 2023.
- ^ "Cúcuta 1 vs 0 Envigado: El naranja vuelve a La Primera B" [Cúcuta 1 vs 0 Envigado: The orange returns to La Primera B] (in Spanish). Colombia.com. 12 November 2006. Retrieved 27 December 2023.
- ^ "Envigado regresa a la primera división del fútbol colombiano" [Envigado returns to the first division of Colombian football] (in Spanish). Caracol Radio. 10 November 2007. Retrieved 27 December 2023.
- ^ "Envigado Fútbol Club entra a la 'lista Clinton'" [Envigado Fútbol Club enters the "Clinton list"] (in Spanish). Semana. 18 November 2014. Retrieved 27 December 2023.
- ^ "Treasury Lifts Sanctions on Colombian Professional Soccer Team After Ties Severed to Designated Crime Group" (in Spanish). U.S. Department of the Treasury. 26 April 2018. Retrieved 27 December 2023.
- ^ "Envigado salió de la Lista Clinton y anunció nuevo dueño" [Envigado left the Clinton List and announced new owner] (in Spanish). Antena 2. 26 April 2018. Retrieved 27 December 2023.
- ^ "Envigado". Dimayor. Retrieved 20 July 2019.
External links edit
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