Atlético Junior

Junior
Full name	Club Deportivo Popular; Junior Fútbol Club S.A.
Nickname(s)	Los Tiburones (The Sharks); El Equipo Tiburón (The Shark Team); Los Rojiblancos (The Red-and-Whites); Los Quilleros (The Quilleros); Los Reyes de la Costa (The Kings of the Coast); Los Curramberos (The Curramberos);
Short name	JUN
Founded	7 August 1924; 98 years ago as Juventud Infantil
Ground	Estadio Metropolitano Roberto Meléndez
Capacity	46,692
Owner	Fuad Char
President	Alejandro Arteta
Manager	Hernán Darío Gómez
League	Categoría Primera A
2022	Primera A, 5th of 20
Website	Club website
Home colours	Away colours

Club Deportivo Popular Junior F.C. S.A.^[1] (American Spanish: [ˈʝunjoɾ]), commonly known as Junior de Barranquilla, by its old name Atlético Junior, or simply as Junior, is a Colombian professional football team based in Barranquilla, that currently plays in the Categoría Primera A. Junior is the main Caribbean team in the top flight of Colombian football. In present day they are sitting in the 25th place in best South American team as of 2022.^{[citation needed]}

The club was founded on August 7, 1924. Known as Los Tiburones (The Sharks), or El Equipo Tiburón (The Shark Team). Junior have won the Colombian professional football championship nine times (1977, 1980, 1993, 1995, 2004 Finalización, 2010 Apertura, 2011 Finalización, 2018 Finalización and 2019 Apertura). Some of the most notable players that have played for the club include Heleno de Freitas, Garrincha, Dida, Juan Ramón Verón, Efraín Sánchez, Carlos "El Pibe" Valderrama, Iván Valenciano, Teófilo Gutiérrez, Carlos Bacca, Julio César Uribe, Giovanni Hernández, Sebastián Viera and Luis Díaz.

HistoryEdit

In the early 1920s a team named Juventus came into being at the Colegio Salesiano in the San Roque neighborhood of Barranquilla, unsurprisingly given the name made up primarily of Italian immigrants. Soon after its launch the name was changed to the Spanish Juventud, though both translate the same in English: youth. In August 1924 some of the younger members of Juventud along with other young men from San Roque created an offshoot of Juventud: Juventud Infantil.

Around the 1940s (and the club's name was shortened to simply Junior) they became known as one of the country's best clubs. In 1945 the players of Junior were selected to represent Colombia at the South American Championship (now known as the Copa América), finishing a respectable fifth (though losing 7–0 to Uruguay and 9–1 to Argentina along the way). In 1949 they were again selected to represent Colombia (finishing last place) but this time their decision to play would have its consequences.

In 1948 Junior were founder members of División Mayor del Fútbol Profesional Colombiano (commonly known as the Dimayor). Their debut match as a professional outfit came at home on August 15, 1948, against Deportivo Cali, which ended in a 2–0 victory for the home side. Early the following year they were again chosen to play as the de facto Colombia national team. Because of ongoing strife between Adefutbol (the original amateur Colombian football association) and the Dimayor, Junior were threatened with expulsion from the Dimayor if they participated. They went ahead and did so and were initially given a two-year suspension from the league. This was later reduced to one year and they returned to the Dimayor for the 1950 season.

This was the golden age of Colombian football commonly referred to as El Dorado, a time when the Dimayor was a "rebel league" unaffiliated with FIFA and many high-profile players from around the world broke their contracts and came to play. Junior were no exception, picking up players from Brazil, Argentina, Hungary and the Czech Republic in these years. But El Dorado eventually came to an end for Colombian football.

A way ahead surfaced in the mid-1960s when a rift had again developed in Colombian football, this time between Adefutbol and the newly created Federación Colombiana de Fútbol, an organization devoted to developing professional football in the country. Adefutbol was still the official body in the eyes of FIFA and organized the national team in this period and additionally Colombian clubs did not enter the Copa Libertadores. Peace was finally made and the bulk of the amateur team that had attempted to qualify for the England World Cup signed up for Junior, who returned to the Dimayor in 1966. Junior have remained in the top level ever since.

In 1977 Junior won their first Colombian championship, finishing first place in the Apertura. They won further championships in 1980, 1993, 1995, the 2004-II (Finalización), the 2010-I (Apertura), and the 2011-II (Finalizacion). Junior have appeared in the Copa Libertadores nine times (reaching the semi-finals in 1994), and the Copa Sudamericana and Copa CONMEBOL once each.^{[citation needed]}

SymbolsEdit

BadgeEdit

The team's badge has a Swiss shape; it's 6 cm wide by 8 cm tall, divided into two horizontal stripes. The inferior stripe is divided into 9 vertical white and red stripes. The superior part is another horizontal blue stripe where the stars are placed. The stars have 9 points; each star represents a league championships the team has won.

FlagEdit

Junior's flag is composed of 9 horizontal stripes representing the 9 stars they have now, 5 red and 4 white ones which alternate, the superior and the inferior ones are red. Overlapped on top of the strips there is a blue triangle. This triangle occupies all the wide of the flag on its vertical side. The white stars are superimposed on the triangle.

Flag of Atlético Junior

HonoursEdit

DomesticEdit

Categoría Primera A

Winners (9): 1977, 1980, 1993, 1995, 2004–II, 2010–I, 2011–II, 2018–II, 2019–I

Runners-up (10): 1948, 1970, 1983, 2000, 2003–I, 2009–I, 2014–I, 2015–II, 2016–I, 2019–II

Copa Colombia

Winners (2): 2015, 2017

Runners-up (1): 2016

Superliga Colombiana

Winners (2): 2019, 2020

Runners-up (1): 2012

InternationalEdit

Copa Sudamericana

Runners-up (1): 2018

Reebok Cup

Winners (1): 1997

Performance in CONMEBOL competitionsEdit

Copa Libertadores: 13 appearances

Best: Semi-finals in 1994

Copa Sudamericana: 5 appearances

2004: Quarterfinals

2015: Second stage

2016: Quarterfinals

2017: Semi-finals

2018: Runners-up

Copa CONMEBOL: 1 appearance

1992: Quarter-finals

PlayersEdit

Current squadEdit

As of 25 January 2023^[2]^[3]^[4]

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.


No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
1	GK	URU	Sebastián Viera (captain)
2	DF	COL	Howell Mena
3	DF	COL	Edwin Herrera
4	MF	COL	Carlos Sierra
6	MF	COL	Didier Moreno
7	MF	VEN	Luis González
8	MF	COL	Fredy Hinestroza
9	FW	COL	Brayan León
10	MF	COL	Juan Fernando Quintero
12	DF	COL	Gabriel Fuentes
13	DF	COL	Nilson Castrillón
14	MF	COL	Homer Martínez
15	DF	COL	Iván Scarpeta
16	MF	COL	Vladimir Hernández
18	MF	COL	Leider Berrío


No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
19	FW	COL	Luis Sandoval
21	DF	COL	Walmer Pacheco
22	GK	COL	Sebastián Araújo
24	DF	COL	Dany Rosero
28	MF	COL	Enrique Serje
29	MF	COL	Omar Albornoz
30	GK	COL	Jefersson Martínez
31	DF	COL	José Ortíz
70	FW	COL	Carlos Bacca
—	DF	COL	César Haydar
—	DF	COL	Alfonso Simarra
—	DF	COL	Amaury Torralvo
—	MF	COL	Leider Berdugo
—	MF	COL	Jhon Vélez

PersonnelEdit

Technical staffEdit

Position	Staff
Manager	Arturo Reyes^[5]
Assistant manager	Luis Grau^[6]
Assistant manager	José María Pazo^[7]
Fitness coach	César Gaitán^[8]

Source:^{[citation needed]}

Notable playersEdit

Most appearancesEdit

Rank	Player	Appearances
1.	Sebastián Viera	627
2.	Dulio Miranda	445
3.	Hayder Palacio	432
4.	Alexis Mendoza	417
5.	José María Pazo	392
6.	Gabriel Berdugo	379
7.	Víctor Pacheco	367
8.	Jesús Rubio	363
9.	Luis Grau	341
10.	Othon Dacunha	333

Most goalsEdit

Rank	Player	Goals
1.	Ivan Valenciano	180
2.	Victor Ephanor	86
3.	Nelson Silva Pacheco	81
6.	Teófilo Gutiérrez	90
4.	Víctor Pacheco	78
5.	Carlos Bacca	73
7.	Martín Arzuaga	70
8.	Vladimir Hernández	61
9.	Orlando Ballesteros	56
10.	Marcos Cardoso	55