Atlético Nacional S. A., best known as Atlético Nacional, is a Colombian professional
football
Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...
club based in
Medellín
Medellín ( or ), officially the Municipality of Medellín ( es, Municipio de Medellín), is the second-largest city in Colombia, after Bogotá, and the capital of the department of Antioquia. It is located in the Aburrá Valley, a central re ...
. The club is one of only three clubs to have played in every first division tournament in the country's history, the other two teams being
Millonarios
Millonarios Fútbol Club is a professional Colombian football team based in Bogotá, that currently plays in the Categoría Primera A. They play their home games at the El Campín stadium.
Millonarios was initially created in 1937 by students f ...
and
Santa Fe.
Atlético Nacional was founded on 7 March 1947 as ''Club Atlético Municipal de Medellín'' by Luis Alberto Villegas López, a former president of the football league of
Antioquia. The current owner,
Organización Ardila Lülle Organización Ardila Lülle is one of the most important conglomerates in Colombia. After positioning his company in the beverage sector, Carlos Ardila Lülle founded and consolidated the Organización Ardila Lülle, today comprising over 80 compan ...
, officially acquired the team in 1996. According to
CONMEBOL
The South American Football Confederation (CONMEBOL, , or CSF; es, Confederación Sudamericana de Fútbol; pt, Confederação Sul-Americana de Futebol) is the continental governing body of football in South America (apart from Guyana, Suri ...
, Atlético Nacional is the club with the largest number of fans in Colombia.
Atlético Nacional plays its home games at the
Atanasio Girardot stadium, which has a capacity of 40,043. They share the stadium with their local rivals,
Independiente Medellín
Deportivo Independiente Medellín, also known as Independiente Medellín or DIM, is a Colombian professional football club based in Medellín that currently plays in the Categoría Primera A. They play their home games at Estadio Atanasio Girardo ...
. The teams face each other in a local derby known as ''
El Clásico Paisa
''El Clásico Paisa'' is the name for the rivalry between the teams of Atlético Nacional and Independiente Medellín. They share the Atanasio Girardot stadium, with a capacity of over 40,000, infamous for its aggressive background. Commonly, th ...
'', which is considered one of the most important local derbies in the country. Atlético Nacional also has a rivalry with
Millonarios
Millonarios Fútbol Club is a professional Colombian football team based in Bogotá, that currently plays in the Categoría Primera A. They play their home games at the El Campín stadium.
Millonarios was initially created in 1937 by students f ...
and
América de Cali, one of the most important rivalries in Colombian football and South America.
Considered to be one of the strongest clubs from Colombia, it is one of the most consistent clubs in the country. Atlético Nacional has won 17 league titles, five
Copa Colombia
The Copa Colombia ( en, Colombia Cup, link=yes); officially known as Copa BetPlay Dimayor is an annual football tournament in Colombia. It is contested by the 36 professional clubs of DIMAYOR and is the nation's domestic cup competition, equiva ...
and two
Superliga Colombiana, for a total of 24 domestic titles, making it the most successful team in Colombia. It was also the first Colombian club to win the
Copa Libertadores
The CONMEBOL Libertadores, also known as the Copa Libertadores de América ( pt, Copa Libertadores da América), is an annual international club football competition organized by CONMEBOL since 1960. It is the highest level of competition in S ...
in 1989 and, after winning the title again in 2016, the most successful Colombian side in that tournament. It also has the most international titles of any Colombian club, having also won the
Copa Merconorte
The Copa Merconorte () was an international football competition organized by CONMEBOL from 1998 to 2001 by clubs from Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Venezuela and starting in 2000 clubs from the CONCACAF confederation were invited in ...
twice, the
Copa Interamericana
The Copa Interamericana ( en, Interamerican Cup) was an annual club football competition contested between a representative from North America (CONCACAF) and South America (CONMEBOL). Established in 1969, it was discontinued in 1998 after CONCACA ...
twice, and the
Recopa Sudamericana
The CONMEBOL Recopa Sudamericana ( pt, CONMEBOL Recopa Sul-Americana), known also as the Recopa Sudamericana or CONMEBOL Recopa, and simply as the Recopa (, ; "Winners' Cup"), is an annual international club association football, football compe ...
once, for a total of seven international trophies.
In 2016, Atlético Nacional was ranked by
IFFHS
The International Federation of Football History & Statistics (IFFHS) is an organisation that chronicles the history and records of association football. It was founded in 1984 by Alfredo Pöge in Leipzig. The IFFHS was based in Abu Dhabi for so ...
as the best football club in the world, becoming the first South American club, and the first outside Europe, to receive such an honor in that ranking. It ranks 58th in the world ranking of the best clubs of all time according to the IFFHS, being the second best ranked Colombian team on the list. It is also ranked as the second best Colombian club of the 20th century and as the best Colombian club so far in the 21st century. Nacional is also credited as the best Colombian team in the
CONMEBOL
The South American Football Confederation (CONMEBOL, , or CSF; es, Confederación Sudamericana de Fútbol; pt, Confederação Sul-Americana de Futebol) is the continental governing body of football in South America (apart from Guyana, Suri ...
club tournaments and ranks seventh in the official club ranking of the
Copa Libertadores
The CONMEBOL Libertadores, also known as the Copa Libertadores de América ( pt, Copa Libertadores da América), is an annual international club football competition organized by CONMEBOL since 1960. It is the highest level of competition in S ...
.
History
Atlético Nacional was founded as ''Club Atlético Municipal de Medellín'' on 7 March 1947 by a partnership led by Luis Alberto Villegas López, former president of the football league of
Antioquia. The club was created to promote sports in the city, especially football and basketball. It was based on ''Unión Indulana Foot-Ball Club'', an amateur club from the ''Liga Antioqueña de Fútbol'', the local amateur football league. Officially, the founding members were: Luis Alberto Villegas Lopera, Jorge Osorio, Alberto Eastman, Jaime Restrepo, Gilberto Molina, Raúl Zapata Lotero, Jorge Gómez Jaramillo, Arturo Torres Posada and Julio Ortiz.
Atlético Nacional joined the professional league for its first edition in
1948. For that tournament, each club had to pay a fee of 1,000
pesos
The peso is the monetary unit of several countries in the Americas, and the Philippines. Originating in the Spanish Empire, the word translates to "weight". In most countries the peso uses the same sign, "$", as many currencies named "dollar" ...
(at that time, approximately US$1,050).
Atlético Nacional played the first match of the history of the tournament, a 2–0 victory over
Universidad. The tournament had ten participants that season and Atlético Nacional was 6th with seven victories, four draws and seven defeats.
Atlético Municipal changed to its current name, Atlético Nacional, for the
1951 season. The name change was made as a way to reflect the main philosophy of the club: to encourage the national sportsman. That philosophy also reflected in the policy of signing only national players. This policy held special meaning during Colombia's El Dorado period, a time when most Colombian clubs were aggressively pursuing foreigners.
It was not until 1953 that the club signed the first foreign player, the Argentine Atilio Miotti.
![Atletico Nacional 1954](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/04/Atletico_Nacional_1954.jpg)
Atlético Nacional won its first league title in
1954
Events
January
* January 1 – The Soviet Union ceases to demand war reparations from West Germany.
* January 3 – The Italian broadcaster RAI officially begins transmitting.
* January 7 – Georgetown-IBM experiment: The fir ...
. Manager
Fernando Paternoster
Fernando Paternoster (24 May 1903 – 6 June 1967) was an Argentine footballer and manager. He played for the Argentina national football team and helped promote football across South America in countries such as Colombia and Ecuador.
Playing c ...
(who managed the team from 1948 to 1951 and from 1954 to 1957) guided the team through a season in which they lost just once (to
Boca Juniors de Cali
Boca Juniors de Cali is a professional football club which represented the city of Cali since its creation in 1937 until its exit from professional football in 1957 and again from 2019 onwards competing in the Categoría Primera B, the second t ...
). The star was Argentine striker Carlos Gambina, who led the league with 21 goals.
Economic troubles plagued the team in the late 1950s, and during 1958 the club was briefly forced to merge with crosstown rivals Independiente Medellín.
These financial problems and occasional returns to the club's policy of only signing Colombian players hampered results, and the club failed to win another title for nineteen years.
The drought was finally broken in 1973. The revival had actually started after the 1970 season, with the hiring of manager José Curti and the signing of midfielder
Jorge Hugo Fernández
Jorge Hugo Fernández (born 24 February 1942) is an Argentine former footballer. He played in four matches for the Argentina national football team from 1963 to 1967. He was also part of Argentina's squad for the 1963 South American Championshi ...
. In 1971, Nacional won the Apertura title and only narrowly lost the national championship to Santa Fe (they fell 3–2 in a second replay of a bitterly fought championship playoff). Following a strong finish in 1972, Nacional won its second league title in 1973. They qualified for the final stage by winning the ''Torneo Finalización'' with 34 points, then finished first in a three-way round robin against
Millonarios
Millonarios Fútbol Club is a professional Colombian football team based in Bogotá, that currently plays in the Categoría Primera A. They play their home games at the El Campín stadium.
Millonarios was initially created in 1937 by students f ...
and
Deportivo Cali
Asociación Deportivo Cali, best known as Deportivo Cali, is a Colombian sports club based in Cali, most notable for its football team, which currently competes in the Categoría Primera A.
Deportivo Cali is one of the most successful footba ...
. This championship was followed up by a runner-up finish in 1974.
1976 saw a new era for the club begin, with the hiring of Argentine manager
Osvaldo Zubeldia. With his strong emphasis on conditioning and physical play, Zubeldia was able to manage the club to two further titles, 1976 and 1981, as well as regular finishes towards the top of the table. During the Zubeldia era, the heart of the team was
César Cueto, central midfielder and team captain from 1979 to 1983. During the 1981 championship season, Cueto was voted the league's player of the year. This successful era ended with Zubeldia's sudden death of a heart attack in January 1982. Nacional remained a power in Colombia, but the death of their manager, the departure of Cueto, and the rise of América de Cali (the Red Devils won five straight championships in the 1980s) left its fans dissatisfied.
Determined to break their stranglehold, the club made a significant change in 1987. First, they appointed
Francisco Maturana
Francisco Antonio Maturana García, also known as ''Pacho'' Maturana (born February 15, 1949) is a Colombian ex-football player and football manager. Under his management, Atletico Nacional was the first team of the nation to win the Copa Liber ...
as manager. A regular in the team's defense during the 1970s, Maturana was considered a rising star in Colombian football management and had just been named manager of the national team. Maturana was thus simultaneously trying to lead the club to a domestic title and assemble a national side that could qualify for the World Cup. The two goals were complementary; Atletico's traditional preference for Colombians over foreigners made them a natural base for Maturana to build his national team upon. However, there was also another development of more questionable legality; in the 1980s, Nacional was linked to the
Medellín Cartel
The Medellín Cartel ( es, Cartel de Medellín) was a powerful and highly organized Colombian drug cartel and terrorist organization originating in the city of Medellín, Colombia that was founded and led by Pablo Escobar. It is often considered ...
. Its leader,
Pablo Escobar
Pablo Emilio Escobar Gaviria (; ; 1 December 19492 December 1993) was a Colombian drug lord and narcoterrorist who was the founder and sole leader of the Medellín Cartel. Dubbed "the king of cocaine", Escobar is the wealthiest criminal in h ...
, who was also the most prominent of Colombia's drug lords, was a fan of both football and betting, and also wanted to invest in a local club and find a way to launder his drug money. Although Escobar never took a public role, the money he poured into the club made a major impact. In Maturana's words, "The introduction of drug money into soccer allowed us to bring in great foreign players. It also kept our best players from leaving. Our level of play took off. People saw our situation and said Pablo was involved. But they couldn't prove it".
Regardless of how the club was assembled, by 1987 they certainly had a strong roster featuring a collection of Colombian internationals. In goal was
René Higuita
José René Higuita Zapata (; born 27 August 1966) is a Colombian former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. He was nicknamed ''El Loco'' ("The Madman") for his high-risk ' sweeper-keeper' playing style and his flair for the dr ...
, the flamboyant keeper known for his tendency to leave his area. In the defense they had the cool, calm, and collected
Andrés Escobar
Andrés Escobar Saldarriaga (; 13 March 1967 – 2 July 1994) was a Colombian footballer who played as a defender. He played for Atlético Nacional, BSC Young Boys, and the Colombia national team. Nicknamed ''The Gentleman'', he was known ...
and veteran
Luis Fernando Herrera The midfield featured
Leonel Álvarez (capped over 100 times for Colombia) and
Alexis García (team captain and Medellín native). In the attack, the club could count on
John Jairo Tréllez
John Jairo Tréllez Valencia (; born 29 April 1968) is a retired Colombian footballer. A striker, he played most of his career with Atlético Nacional of Medellín. He has a son, also a striker, Santiago Tréllez.
Career
Tréllez was born in ...
, one of the country's most prolific goal-scorers. This lineup was good enough to finish second in both the Apertura and Finalización, qualifying for the championship round, in which they finished fourth.
The
1988 season was even better, as the club qualified for the championship round again, finishing as runners-up behind
Millonarios
Millonarios Fútbol Club is a professional Colombian football team based in Bogotá, that currently plays in the Categoría Primera A. They play their home games at the El Campín stadium.
Millonarios was initially created in 1937 by students f ...
. That result was good enough to qualify the team for the
1989 Copa Libertadores.
The entire focus of the 1989 campaign was on the Copa Libertadores, which Atlético Nacional hoped to become the first Colombian club to win the competition. In the group stage, ''Los Verdolagas'' were placed with fellow Colombian side Millonarios, as well as Ecuadorian clubs
Deportivo Quito
Sociedad Deportivo Quito is an Ecuadorian non-professional club football club based in Quito. For most of its existence, it competed in Serie A, the highest level of the Ecuadorian professional football league. And currently competes in the Seg ...
and
Emelec. Two wins and three draws allowed Nacional to advance out of the group stages for the first time in five attempts. In the round of 16, they defeated
Racing Club of Argentina by an aggregate score of 3–2. That sent them into the quarterfinals for an all-Colombian matchup with Millonarios, their group stage opponent. Nacional won the first leg 1–0, then held out for a 1–1 draw in a controversial match in Bogotá, advancing to the semifinals. In the semifinals the team faced
Danubio
Danubio Fútbol Club is a Uruguayan football club based in Jardines del Hipódromo, Montevideo that currently plays in the Uruguayan Primera División.
Founded in 1932, the club's home stadium is Jardines del Hipódromo, which has a capacity o ...
of Uruguay. The away match ended in a 0–0 draw, but four goals from
Albeiro Usuriaga sparked a 6–0 rout in the return match to send the club into the finals. In the finals, they faced Paraguay's
Olimpia, who had already played two Libertadores finals in their history. The first leg, played in
Asunción
Asunción (, , , Guarani: Paraguay) is the capital and the largest city of Paraguay.
The city stands on the eastern bank of the Paraguay River, almost at the confluence of this river with the Pilcomayo River. The Paraguay River and the Bay of ...
, saw Olimpia shoot ahead 2–0 on goals by
Rafael Bobadilla and
Vidal Sanabria
Carlos Vidal Sanabria Acuña (born 11 April 1967 in San Lorenzo, Paraguay, San Lorenzo, Paraguay) is a former Association football, football midfielder from Paraguay.
Club
Sanabria started his football career in the youth divisions of Club 13 ...
. Nacional answered in the second leg (played in
Bogotá
Bogotá (, also , , ), officially Bogotá, Distrito Capital, abbreviated Bogotá, D.C., and formerly known as Santa Fe de Bogotá (; ) during the Spanish period and between 1991 and 2000, is the capital city of Colombia, and one of the larges ...
on the grounds that the Estadio Atanasio Girardot in Medellín was too small) with a 2–0 win of their own. An own goal from
Fider Miño got one, and
Albeiro Usuriaga provided the other. The tie went into penalty kicks, where Nacional won 5–4, giving the club its first Copa Libertadores title, while becoming the first Colombian club to win the competition as well.
On 17 December, Nacional played the
1989 Intercontinental Cup against
Milan
Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...
, champion of the
1988–89 European Cup
The 1988–89 European Cup was the 34th season of the European Cup football club tournament. The competition was won for the first time since 1969, and third time overall, by Milan comfortably in the final against former winners Steaua Bucureșt ...
. The result was a 1–0 defeat with a 119-minute free kick goal from
Alberigo Evani
Alberico Evani (; born 1 January 1963), sometimes misspelled as Alberigo Evani, is an Italian football manager and former player, who was deployed as a midfielder. He started his club career with Milan, where he spent the majority of his playin ...
. As champion of the Copa Libertadores, Nacional also played the 1989
Copa Interamericana
The Copa Interamericana ( en, Interamerican Cup) was an annual club football competition contested between a representative from North America (CONCACAF) and South America (CONMEBOL). Established in 1969, it was discontinued in 1998 after CONCACA ...
against
Pumas UNAM
Club Universidad Nacional, A.C., commonly referred to as UNAM, is a professional football club based in Ciudad Universitaria of Mexico City, Mexico. The club competes in the Liga MX, the top division in the Mexican football league system. Fo ...
, winner of the
1989 CONCACAF Champions' Cup. The cup was played in 1990 in two legs, with Nacional winning it with an aggregate score of 6–1. They also played the
1990 Recopa Sudamericana against
Boca Juniors
Club Atlético Boca Juniors () is an Argentine sports club headquartered in La Boca, a neighbourhood of Buenos Aires. The club is mostly known for its professional football team which, since its promotion in 1913, has always played in the A ...
, champion of the 1989 Supercopa Libertadores (that they also played), which finished in a 1–0 defeat.
The involvement of Pablo Escobar in the club remained strong.
Some referees were threatened in the league and even in the Copa Libertadores, for which
CONMEBOL
The South American Football Confederation (CONMEBOL, , or CSF; es, Confederación Sudamericana de Fútbol; pt, Confederação Sul-Americana de Futebol) is the continental governing body of football in South America (apart from Guyana, Suri ...
banned Colombian clubs from the
1990 Copa Libertadores, with the exception of Nacional who was admitted as champion of the previous edition. However, the team had to play its home matches in Chile.
Juan Daniel Cardellino
Juan Daniel Cardellino de San Vicente''(March 4, 1942 – September 8, 2007) was a football (soccer) Referee (association football), referee from Uruguay, who officiated at two FIFA World Cups: 1982 FIFA World Cup, 1982 (two matches) and 1990 F ...
, an Uruguayan referee, confessed to receiving death threats and $20,000 during the 1990 Copa Libertadores match between Nacional and Vasco da Gama. Nacional had won the match 2–0, but the result was annulled. A replay was ordered to be played in
Santiago
Santiago (, ; ), also known as Santiago de Chile, is the capital and largest city of Chile as well as one of the largest cities in the Americas. It is the center of Chile's most densely populated region, the Santiago Metropolitan Region, whose ...
, and Nacional won 1–0. However, all Colombian clubs were banned from playing at their home venues for the 1991 Copa Libertadores.
In 1989, the domestic league season was cancelled due to the
assassination of referee Álvaro Ortega on 1 October after a match between Independiente Medellin and America de Cali. Escobar did not murder the ref, but it is believed that one of Escobar's hitmen did. In October, the team played the
Supercopa Libertadores
The Supercopa Libertadores (English: ''Libertadores Supercup''), also known as the Supercopa Libertadores João Havelange, Supercopa João Havelange or simply Supercopa, was a football club competition contested annually between 1988 and 1997 by t ...
and were eliminated in the quarterfinals by
Independiente. Nacional was banned from playing the Supercopa Libertadores in
1990
File:1990 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1990 FIFA World Cup is played in Italy; The Human Genome Project is launched; Voyager I takes the famous Pale Blue Dot image- speaking on the fragility of Humankind, humanity on Earth, Astroph ...
and
1991
File:1991 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Boris Yeltsin, elected as Russia's first president, waves the new flag of Russia after the 1991 Soviet coup d'état attempt, orchestrated by Soviet hardliners; Mount Pinatubo erupts in the Phil ...
due to the incidents in the match against Vasco da Gama. Nacional returned for the
1992 edition, but performed very badly, and were eliminated in the first round with a humiliating 8–0 defeat to Cruzeiro.
In the next two editions of the Copa Libertadores,
1990
File:1990 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1990 FIFA World Cup is played in Italy; The Human Genome Project is launched; Voyager I takes the famous Pale Blue Dot image- speaking on the fragility of Humankind, humanity on Earth, Astroph ...
and
1991
File:1991 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Boris Yeltsin, elected as Russia's first president, waves the new flag of Russia after the 1991 Soviet coup d'état attempt, orchestrated by Soviet hardliners; Mount Pinatubo erupts in the Phil ...
, Nacional was eliminated in the semifinals, both times by its rival in the 1989 final: Olimpia from Paraguay. In
1991
File:1991 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Boris Yeltsin, elected as Russia's first president, waves the new flag of Russia after the 1991 Soviet coup d'état attempt, orchestrated by Soviet hardliners; Mount Pinatubo erupts in the Phil ...
, Nacional won its fifth title in the Primera A after placing first in the final round against
América,
Junior
Junior or Juniors may refer to:
Arts and entertainment Music
* ''Junior'' (Junior Mance album), 1959
* ''Junior'' (Röyksopp album), 2009
* ''Junior'' (Kaki King album), 2010
* ''Junior'' (LaFontaines album), 2019
Films
* ''Junior'' (1994 ...
and
Santa Fe. The ''Verdolagas'' won two more domestic titles in the 1990s: in 1994 they won their sixth league title after topping the championship round against Millonarios, América, and Independiente Medellín, whilst in 1999 they won their seventh title after beating América on penalties in the final. In 1996, Atlético Nacional was bought by the
Organización Ardila Lülle Organización Ardila Lülle is one of the most important conglomerates in Colombia. After positioning his company in the beverage sector, Carlos Ardila Lülle founded and consolidated the Organización Ardila Lülle, today comprising over 80 compan ...
, becoming the first Colombian football club with corporate backing.
Nacional left again the practise of a team with no foreign players in 2004, when the team signed the Venezuelan
Jorge Rojas and the Argentine
Hugo Morales
Hugo Alberto Morales (born 30 July 1974 in Buenos Aires) is an Argentine retired footballer who played as a midfielder
A midfielder is an outfield position in association football.
Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive rol ...
. Nacional is the only Colombian club that has won the two domestic short-format tournaments in a single year, Apertura and Finalización, since the format was established in 2002, winning the titles of the
2007
File:2007 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Steve Jobs unveils Apple's first iPhone; TAM Airlines Flight 3054 overruns a runway and crashes into a gas station, killing almost 200 people; Former Pakistani Prime Minister of Pakistan, Pr ...
and
2013 seasons.
In
2009
File:2009 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The vertical stabilizer of Air France Flight 447 is pulled out from the Atlantic Ocean; Barack Obama becomes the first African American to become President of the United States; 2009 Iran ...
, Nacional played the worst season of its history, where the team placed 17th in the Torneo Apertura with three victories in eighteen matches. In the Torneo Finalización, the team did a lot better, finishing seventh in the regular season and qualifying to the playoffs, where they finished second failed to qualify for the finals.
In 2011, Atlético Nacional won their eleventh championship after beating
La Equidad
Club Deportivo La Equidad Seguros, also known as La Equidad, is a professional Colombian football team based in Bogotá, that currently plays in the Categoría Primera A. They play their home games at the Metropolitano de Techo stadium.
History ...
over two legs in the finals of the Apertura tournament, but in the Finalizacion, Nacional was 12th in the Torneo Apertura and failed to qualify to the next round, with the same thing occurring in the 2012 Apertura. During the Apertura, they were knocked out by
Vélez Sársfield in the Copa Libertadores round of 16. Due to this, the team signed manager
Juan Carlos Osorio
Juan Carlos Osorio Arbeláez (; born 8 June 1961) is a Colombian professional football manager and former footballer who played as a midfielder.
Osorio began his playing career with Deportivo Pereira in 1982, and went on to play for Brazilian c ...
, who was manager of
Once Caldas
Once Caldas S.A., simply known as Once Caldas, is a professional Colombian football team based in Manizales, that currently plays in the Categoría Primera A. They play their home games at the Palogrande stadium.
They were the surprise winne ...
between 2010 and 2011 and was champion with the team in the
2010 Torneo Finalización. However, Osorio was coming off a poor season with his previous club
Puebla
Puebla ( en, colony, settlement), officially Free and Sovereign State of Puebla ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Puebla), is one of the 32 states which comprise the Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided into 217 municipalities and its cap ...
, with just two victories in eleven matches. For the Torneo Finalización, Nacional placed fifth and qualified to the next round. There the team could not advance to the finals, placing second of the group conformed by
Independiente Medellín
Deportivo Independiente Medellín, also known as Independiente Medellín or DIM, is a Colombian professional football club based in Medellín that currently plays in the Categoría Primera A. They play their home games at Estadio Atanasio Girardo ...
,
Itagüí
Itagüí () is a city of Colombia, located in the south of the Aburrá Valley in the Antioquia Department. It is part of The Metropolitan Area of the Aburrá Valley.
Demographics
The population at the 2005 census was 230,272. Its density is 17&nb ...
and
La Equidad
Club Deportivo La Equidad Seguros, also known as La Equidad, is a professional Colombian football team based in Bogotá, that currently plays in the Categoría Primera A. They play their home games at the Metropolitano de Techo stadium.
History ...
. That year, Nacional won its first
Copa Colombia
The Copa Colombia ( en, Colombia Cup, link=yes); officially known as Copa BetPlay Dimayor is an annual football tournament in Colombia. It is contested by the 36 professional clubs of DIMAYOR and is the nation's domestic cup competition, equiva ...
title, beating
Deportivo Pasto
Asociación Deportivo Pasto, also known as Deportivo Pasto, is a Colombian professional football team based in the city of Pasto, that currently plays in the Categoría Primera A. They play their home games at the Estadio Departamental Libertad. D ...
with an aggregate score of 2–0. The team also won the first edition of the
Superliga Colombiana, defeating
Junior
Junior or Juniors may refer to:
Arts and entertainment Music
* ''Junior'' (Junior Mance album), 1959
* ''Junior'' (Röyksopp album), 2009
* ''Junior'' (Kaki King album), 2010
* ''Junior'' (LaFontaines album), 2019
Films
* ''Junior'' (1994 ...
with an aggregate score of 6–1.
The next year, Nacional won for the second time the two tournaments of the league, Apertura and Finalización. In the Apertura, Nacional beat
Santa Fe in the finals. In the Finalización, they defeated
Deportivo Cali
Asociación Deportivo Cali, best known as Deportivo Cali, is a Colombian sports club based in Cali, most notable for its football team, which currently competes in the Categoría Primera A.
Deportivo Cali is one of the most successful footba ...
. In total, the team got 29 victories, 16 draws and 7 defeats that year. The team also won its second
Copa Colombia
The Copa Colombia ( en, Colombia Cup, link=yes); officially known as Copa BetPlay Dimayor is an annual football tournament in Colombia. It is contested by the 36 professional clubs of DIMAYOR and is the nation's domestic cup competition, equiva ...
title defeating
Millonarios
Millonarios Fútbol Club is a professional Colombian football team based in Bogotá, that currently plays in the Categoría Primera A. They play their home games at the El Campín stadium.
Millonarios was initially created in 1937 by students f ...
with an aggregate score of 3–2. In the
2013 Copa Sudamericana
The 2013 Copa Sudamericana (officially the 2013 Copa Total Sudamericana for sponsorship reasons) was the 12th edition of the Copa Sudamericana, South America's secondary international club football tournament organized by CONMEBOL. The winner qu ...
, the team was eliminated by
São Paulo
São Paulo (, ; Portuguese for 'Saint Paul') is the most populous city in Brazil, and is the capital of the state of São Paulo, the most populous and wealthiest Brazilian state, located in the country's Southeast Region. Listed by the GaWC a ...
in the quarterfinals.
In 2014, the team won the
Apertura
The ' and ' tournaments is a split season format for Spanish-speaking sports leagues. It is a relatively recent innovation for many Latin American football leagues in which the traditional association football season from August to May is div ...
tournament, winning its third consecutive league title, defeating Junior in the finals 4–2 on
penalties
Penalty or The Penalty may refer to:
Sports
* Penalty (golf)
* Penalty (gridiron football)
* Penalty (ice hockey)
* Penalty (rugby)
* Penalty (rugby union)
* Penalty kick (association football)
* Penalty shoot-out (association football)
* Penalty ...
after a 2–2 draw on aggregate score. In the Finalización, the team was eliminated in the semifinals, where they ended in third place in a group comprising
Atlético Huila
Atlético Huila is a professional Colombian football team based in Neiva, that currently plays in the Categoría Primera B. The club was founded on November 29, 1990, making it one of the youngest professional football clubs in Colombia. The club' ...
,
Once Caldas
Once Caldas S.A., simply known as Once Caldas, is a professional Colombian football team based in Manizales, that currently plays in the Categoría Primera A. They play their home games at the Palogrande stadium.
They were the surprise winne ...
and
Santa Fe. As champion of the previous season, Nacional played against
Deportivo Cali
Asociación Deportivo Cali, best known as Deportivo Cali, is a Colombian sports club based in Cali, most notable for its football team, which currently competes in the Categoría Primera A.
Deportivo Cali is one of the most successful footba ...
for the
2014 Superliga Colombiana. The team lost 4–3 on penalties after tying 2–2 on aggregate.
In the
2014 Copa Libertadores, Nacional was eliminated in the quarterfinals at the hands of
Defensor Sporting
Defensor Sporting Club is a sports club based in Montevideo, Uruguay. Founded in 1913, Defensor has several sports sections, with football and basketball being the most important and the ones in which the club has achieved significant achievemen ...
. In the
2014 Copa Sudamericana
The 2014 Copa Sudamericana (officially the 2014 Copa Total Sudamericana for sponsorship reasons) was the 13th edition of the Copa Sudamericana, South America's secondary international club football tournament organized by CONMEBOL. Lanús were t ...
, Nacional faced
River Plate in the finals. The first leg, played in Medellín, was a 1–1 draw. The second leg, played in Buenos Aires, was won by River Plate with a score of 2–0.
In the
2015
File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the Apri ...
Torneo Apertura, Nacional was eliminated in the quarterfinals by
Deportivo Cali
Asociación Deportivo Cali, best known as Deportivo Cali, is a Colombian sports club based in Cali, most notable for its football team, which currently competes in the Categoría Primera A.
Deportivo Cali is one of the most successful footba ...
. After the tournament ended, Osorio left the team after getting signed by
São Paulo
São Paulo (, ; Portuguese for 'Saint Paul') is the most populous city in Brazil, and is the capital of the state of São Paulo, the most populous and wealthiest Brazilian state, located in the country's Southeast Region. Listed by the GaWC a ...
, being replaced by
Reinaldo Rueda
Reinaldo Rueda Rivera (born 16 April 1957) is a Colombian Association football, football coach.
When he was the coach of the Colombia national under-20 football team, Colombia U-20 team, they finished 3rd at the 2003 FIFA World Youth Championsh ...
, who previously managed the
Ecuador national team and got them to the
2014 FIFA World Cup
The 2014 FIFA World Cup was the 20th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for men's national football teams organised by FIFA. It took place in Brazil from 12 June to 13 July 2014, after the country was awarded the hosting ri ...
, doing the same with the
Honduras national team in 2010. In the Torneo Finalización, Nacional was champion, defeating Junior in the finals on
penalties
Penalty or The Penalty may refer to:
Sports
* Penalty (golf)
* Penalty (gridiron football)
* Penalty (ice hockey)
* Penalty (rugby)
* Penalty (rugby union)
* Penalty kick (association football)
* Penalty shoot-out (association football)
* Penalty ...
with a score of 3–2 after a 2–2 draw on aggregate.
Jefferson Duque
Jefferson Andrés Duque Montoya (born May 17, 1987) is a Colombian professional footballer who plays for Colombian club Atlético Nacional as a forward.
Honours
Club
Atlético Nacional
*Categoría Primera A (4): 2013-I, 2013-II, 2014-I, 2 ...
was top goalscorer of the team and the tournament with 15 goals. With this title, Nacional became the team with the most league titles with fifteen and a total of twenty-five titles including international tournaments.
The start of 2016 brought a second
Superliga Colombiana title, beating
Deportivo Cali
Asociación Deportivo Cali, best known as Deportivo Cali, is a Colombian sports club based in Cali, most notable for its football team, which currently competes in the Categoría Primera A.
Deportivo Cali is one of the most successful footba ...
, thus qualifying for the
2016 Copa Sudamericana
The 2016 Copa Sudamericana ( pt, Copa Sul-Americana 2016) was the 15th edition of the Copa Sudamericana, South America's secondary club football tournament organized by CONMEBOL.
The finals were originally to be played between Brazilian team Ch ...
. Nacional placed second in the
2016 Torneo Apertura with 39 points, just one point behind rivals Independiente Medellín. With this result, the team qualified to the quarterfinals, where they faced
Rionegro Águilas
Rionegro () is a city and municipality in Antioquia Department, Colombia, located in the subregion of Eastern Antioquia. The official name of the city is "Ciudad Santiago de Arma de Rionegro". Rio Negro means "Black River" in Spanish, as the c ...
, winning on penalties and advancing to the semifinals. In the semifinals, Nacional was eliminated by Junior, losing 4–2 on penalties.
In the
2016 Copa Libertadores, Nacional was first of its group, winning five of its six matches conceding no goals. The group consisted of
Huracán,
Peñarol
Club Atlético Peñarol (; English: ''Peñarol Athletic Club'') —also known as ''Carboneros'', ''Aurinegros,'' and (familiarly) ''Manyas''— is a Uruguayan sports club from Montevideo. The name "Peñarol" comes from the Peñarol neigh ...
and
Sporting Cristal
Club Sporting Cristal S.A. is a Peruvian sports club located in the city of Lima, best known for its association football, football team. It was founded on 13 December 1955 in the Rímac District, Rímac district by engineer Richard Bentín Mujica ...
. Nacional faced Huracán again in the round of 16. In the first leg in Buenos Aires the teams got a 0–0 draw, while in the second leg in Medellín Nacional won 4–2, conceding its first goals of the tournament. In the quarterfinals, they faced
Rosario Central
Club Atlético Rosario Central () is a sports club based in Rosario, Argentina, that plays in the Argentine Primera División. The club was officially founded on December 24, 1889, by a group of railway workers, taking its name from the Englis ...
. The first leg ended with Nacional's first defeat, with
Walter Montoya scoring the only goal in the fifth minute. In the second leg in Medellín,
Marco Ruben
Marco Gastón Ruben Rodríguez (born 26 October 1986) is an Argentine former professional footballer who played as striker.
He spent the better part of his 18-year career with Rosario Central, scoring 105 goals in all competitions. He also pla ...
scored a penalty goal in the eighth minute, thus forcing Nacional to score at least three goals to advance, something they accomplished. The first goal was scored by
Macnelly Torres in injury time of the first half. In the second half
Alejandro Guerra
Alejandro Abraham Guerra Morales (born 9 July 1985) is a Venezuelan former professional footballer who played as an attacking midfielder.
Club career Caracas
Born in Caracas, Guerra started his senior career at hometown club Caracas FC, making ...
scored the second in the 50th minute and
Orlando Berrío
Orlando Enrique Berrío Meléndez (born 14 February 1991) is a Colombian professional footballer who plays as a winger or forward for Paraguayan Primera División club Tacuary. He also represented Colombia national football team in six intern ...
scored the goal to eliminate Rosario in the last minute of the match, shortly before a huge brawl began which eventually extended the match by 10 more minutes. In the semifinals, Nacional faced Brazilian club
São Paulo
São Paulo (, ; Portuguese for 'Saint Paul') is the most populous city in Brazil, and is the capital of the state of São Paulo, the most populous and wealthiest Brazilian state, located in the country's Southeast Region. Listed by the GaWC a ...
. The team won both matches; the first a 2–0 win in the
Estádio do Morumbi
Estádio Cícero Pompeu de Toledo, widely known as Morumbi (), is a football stadium located in the eponymous district in São Paulo, Brazil. It is the home of São Paulo Futebol Clube and its formal name honors Cícero Pompeu de Toledo, who w ...
with a brace from
Miguel Borja, who was bought by Nacional after becoming the top goalscorer of the Torneo Apertura with 19 goals in 21 matches for
Cortuluá
Cortuluá, officially named Cortuluá Fútbol Club S. A. and previously known as Corporación Club Deportivo Tuluá, is a Colombian football club from the municipality of Tuluá in the Valle del Cauca. It was founded in 1967 and plays in the Cate ...
, and was playing his first match with the team. The second leg was a 2–1 win, with an early
Jonathan Calleri goal for the Brazilian team and again with a brace of
Miguel Borja for the local team. The victory meant Nacional reached the finals of the Copa Libertadores for the first time since
1995
File:1995 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: O.J. Simpson is O. J. Simpson murder case, acquitted of the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman from the 1994, year prior in "The Trial of the Century" in the United States; The ...
. In the finals, they beat
Independiente del Valle
Club de Alto Rendimiento Especializado Independiente del Valle, known simply as Independiente del Valle, is a professional football club based in Sangolquí, Ecuador, that currently plays in the Ecuadorian Serie A.
Founded in 1958, the club play ...
2–1 on aggregate, winning their second cup and becoming the very first Colombian club to win the competition multiple times. In 2016, Nacional also won its third Copa Colombia title after beating Junior in the finals with an aggregate score of 3–1, becoming the most successful club in the tournament.
The participation of Nacional in the
2016 Copa Sudamericana
The 2016 Copa Sudamericana ( pt, Copa Sul-Americana 2016) was the 15th edition of the Copa Sudamericana, South America's secondary club football tournament organized by CONMEBOL.
The finals were originally to be played between Brazilian team Ch ...
began on 11 August, facing Peruvian club
Deportivo Municipal
Club Centro Deportivo Municipal, commonly known as Deportivo Municipal, is a Peruvian football club based in Lima, Peru. They are among Peru's most recognizable clubs and enjoy considerable popularity. The bulk of their success was won a few ye ...
at
Estadio Alejandro Villanueva
The Alejandro Villanueva Stadium, popularly known as Matute, is a soccer stadium located in the Matute neighborhood of the La Victoria District, Lima, La Victoria district in Lima, Peru. The venue is owned by Alianza Lima, Club Alianza Lima, and ...
in
Lima
Lima ( ; ), originally founded as Ciudad de Los Reyes (City of The Kings) is the capital and the largest city of Peru. It is located in the valleys of the Chillón River, Chillón, Rímac River, Rímac and Lurín Rivers, in the desert zone of t ...
for the first stage. The team beat the Peruvian side 5–0. In the second leg, the team got a 1–0 victory, advancing to the second stage. In this round, Nacional faced
Bolívar of Bolivia. In
La Paz
La Paz (), officially known as Nuestra Señora de La Paz (Spanish pronunciation: ), is the seat of government of the Bolivia, Plurinational State of Bolivia. With an estimated 816,044 residents as of 2020, La Paz is the List of Bolivian cities ...
, the club got a 1–1 draw, and at home, the club won 1–0 with a goal from
Miguel Borja, his second in a row. In the round of 16, Nacional eliminated Paraguayan club
Sol de América, drawing 1–1 away before winning 2–0 at home. In the quarterfinals, the team faced Brazilian club
Coritiba
Coritiba Foot Ball Club, commonly known as Coritiba and colloquially referred to as "Coxa-Branca" or "Coxa", is a Brazilian football club from Curitiba, capital city of the Brazilian state of Paraná. Founded in 1909, it is the oldest f ...
. The first match was played in
Curitiba
Curitiba () is the capital and largest city in the state of Paraná (state), Paraná in Brazil. The city's population was 1,948,626 , making it the List of cities in Brazil by population, eighth most populous city in Brazil and the largest in ...
. Borja scored a 13th-minute goal; however, Coritiba's
Iago Dias scored the equalizer goal in the last minutes of the match. In the second leg, in
Medellín
Medellín ( or ), officially the Municipality of Medellín ( es, Municipio de Medellín), is the second-largest city in Colombia, after Bogotá, and the capital of the department of Antioquia. It is located in the Aburrá Valley, a central re ...
, Nacional got a 3–1 victory. Coritiba started winning the match, with a 43rd-minute free kick goal from
César González, but the ''Verdolagas'' came back and got the victory with a hat-trick from Borja, who became the top goalscorer of the tournament with six goals. In the semifinals, Nacional faced Paraguayan club
Cerro Porteño
Club Cerro Porteño is a professional Paraguayan football club, based in the neighbourhood of Obrero in Asunción. Founded in 1912, Cerro has won 34 Primera División titles and is one of the most popular football clubs in Paraguay. Its presi ...
, who had eliminated two Colombian sides in the previous rounds,
Santa Fe (the winner of the
previous edition) and
Independiente Medellín
Deportivo Independiente Medellín, also known as Independiente Medellín or DIM, is a Colombian professional football club based in Medellín that currently plays in the Categoría Primera A. They play their home games at Estadio Atanasio Girardo ...
. The first leg, played in
Asunción
Asunción (, , , Guarani: Paraguay) is the capital and the largest city of Paraguay.
The city stands on the eastern bank of the Paraguay River, almost at the confluence of this river with the Pilcomayo River. The Paraguay River and the Bay of ...
, ended in a 1–1 draw (the same result Nacional got in their last three matches away). The second leg was a 0–0 draw and Nacional advanced to the finals for the third time in its history on
away goals
The away goals rule is a method of tiebreaking in association football and other sports when teams play each other twice, once at each team's home ground. Under the away goals rule, if the total goals scored by each team are equal, the team that ...
.
For the finals, Nacional had to face Brazilian team
Chapecoense. It was the first final in an international competition for the Brazilian side, who had eliminated
Cuiabá
Cuiabá () is the capital city of the Brazilian state of Mato Grosso. It is located near the geographical centre of South America. Also, it forms the metropolitan area of Mato Grosso, along with the neighbouring town of Várzea Grande. The city' ...
,
Independiente,
Junior
Junior or Juniors may refer to:
Arts and entertainment Music
* ''Junior'' (Junior Mance album), 1959
* ''Junior'' (Röyksopp album), 2009
* ''Junior'' (Kaki King album), 2010
* ''Junior'' (LaFontaines album), 2019
Films
* ''Junior'' (1994 ...
and
San Lorenzo
San Lorenzo is the Italian and Spanish name for Lawrence of Rome, Saint Lawrence, the 3rd-century Christian martyr, and may refer to:
Places Argentina
* San Lorenzo, Santa Fe
* San Lorenzo Department, Chaco
* Monte San Lorenzo, a mountain on t ...
to reach that round. The matches for the finals were scheduled to be played on 30 November in
Medellín
Medellín ( or ), officially the Municipality of Medellín ( es, Municipio de Medellín), is the second-largest city in Colombia, after Bogotá, and the capital of the department of Antioquia. It is located in the Aburrá Valley, a central re ...
and 7 December in
Curitiba
Curitiba () is the capital and largest city in the state of Paraná (state), Paraná in Brazil. The city's population was 1,948,626 , making it the List of cities in Brazil by population, eighth most populous city in Brazil and the largest in ...
. However, on 28 November, two days before the first leg,
LaMia Flight 2933
LaMia Flight 2933 was a charter flight of an Avro RJ85, operated by LaMia, that on 28 November 2016 crashed near Medellín, Colombia, killing 71 of the 77 people on board. The aircraft was transporting the Brazilian Chapecoense football squad a ...
crashed in Cerro Gordo,
La Unión, just a few miles from
Medellín
Medellín ( or ), officially the Municipality of Medellín ( es, Municipio de Medellín), is the second-largest city in Colombia, after Bogotá, and the capital of the department of Antioquia. It is located in the Aburrá Valley, a central re ...
, with the Chapecoense team on board. 71 people died, including 19 Chapecoense players, and the finals were suspended as a result.
Two days later, Atlético Nacional requested
CONMEBOL
The South American Football Confederation (CONMEBOL, , or CSF; es, Confederación Sudamericana de Fútbol; pt, Confederação Sul-Americana de Futebol) is the continental governing body of football in South America (apart from Guyana, Suri ...
to award Chapecoense with the title. On the planned date of the match, Nacional and the City Council of
Medellín
Medellín ( or ), officially the Municipality of Medellín ( es, Municipio de Medellín), is the second-largest city in Colombia, after Bogotá, and the capital of the department of Antioquia. It is located in the Aburrá Valley, a central re ...
organised a memorial to honor the victims of the tragedy. About 45,000 people were present inside the stadium and thousand more in the streets. On 5 December, CONMEBOL awarded Chapecoense the title of the 2016 Copa Sudamericana, as requested by Atlético Nacional,
who received the "CONMEBOL Centenario Fair Play" award for their gesture.
In the
2016 Torneo Finalización, Nacional placed first with 37 points and qualified for the quarterfinals. The team was eliminated in the semifinals by
Santa Fe (who won the tournament beating
Deportes Tolima
Club Deportes Tolima S.A., commonly known as Deportes Tolima, or simply as Tolima, is a Colombian professional football club based in Ibagué, Tolima Department that currently plays in the Categoría Primera A.
Founded in 1954, the club has wo ...
in the finals): the first match ended in a 1–1 draw but the second was a 0–4 defeat, with Nacional playing with its youth squad due to its first-team squad competing in the Club World Cup. Nacional qualified to the
2016 FIFA Club World Cup as the champion of the 2016 Copa Libertadores, representing South America in the competition. The team began its participation in the semifinals, facing Japanese team
Kashima Antlers
are a football club in Kashima, Ibaraki, currently playing in the J1 League, top tier of Japanese professional football leagues. The name ''Antlers'' is derived from the city name, Kashima, which literally means "deer island". The club has fi ...
, who defeated Nacional 3–0 and became the first AFC team to reach the final. The first goal of the match, a penalty scored by
Shoma Doi
is a Japanese professional footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder for club Kashima Antlers. He has 2 caps for the Japan national football team.
Club career
Doi is currently a one-club player, having played exclusively for Kashim ...
, became the first use of video replay for awarding a penalty in a FIFA competition. Nacional got third place after beating
CONCACAF Champions League
The CONCACAF Champions League, known officially as the Scotiabank CONCACAF Champions League for sponsorship reasons, is an annual continental club football competition organized by CONCACAF. The tournament is contested by clubs from North Ameri ...
winner
Club América
Club de Fútbol América S.A. de C.V., commonly known as Club América or simply América, is a professional football club based in Mexico City. Nicknamed ''Las Águilas'' (The Eagles), it competes in Liga MX, the top tier of Mexican football ...
4–3 on penalties after a 2–2 draw in regulation time.
Atlético Nacional got its first title of 2017 after beating Brazilian team
Chapecoense in the
Recopa Sudamericana
The CONMEBOL Recopa Sudamericana ( pt, CONMEBOL Recopa Sul-Americana), known also as the Recopa Sudamericana or CONMEBOL Recopa, and simply as the Recopa (, ; "Winners' Cup"), is an annual international club association football, football compe ...
. The Brazilian side won the first leg with a 2–1 score; however, Atlético Nacional got a 4–1 victory in the second leg, achieving a 5–3 win on aggregate therefore winning the tournament.
In the
2017 Copa Libertadores, Atlético Nacional crashed out of the competition in the group stage. They were last of its group with six points, in which the club faced Argentine club
Estudiantes de La Plata
Club Estudiantes de La Plata ( lit. "Students from La Plata"), simply referred to as Estudiantes de La Plata , is an Argentine professional sports club based in La Plata. The club's football team currently competes in the Primera División, wh ...
, Brazilian club
Botafogo
Botafogo (local/standard alternative Brazilian Portuguese pronunciation: ) is a beachfront neighborhood (''bairro'') in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. It is a mostly upper middle class and small commerce community, and is located between the hills of M ...
and Ecuadorian club
Barcelona
Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...
. As the fourth out of four in the group, they were not eligible to participate in the second stage of the
2017 Copa Sudamericana, which would have required them to place at least third in the group. Although Nacional won its sixteenth league championship in the
2017 Apertura, Reinaldo Rueda left his post as manager on 21 June 2017, being replaced by
Spanish
Spanish might refer to:
* Items from or related to Spain:
**Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain
**Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries
**Spanish cuisine
Other places
* Spanish, Ontario, Can ...
manager
Juan Manuel Lillo
Juan Manuel "Juanma" Lillo Díez (born 3 November 1965) is a Spanish football manager, currently in charge of Qatar Stars League club Al Sadd SC.
Having started coaching before his 20s, he was the youngest manager in charge of a La Liga club, h ...
.
Rivalries
Atlético Nacional has had a long rivalry with local team
Independiente Medellín
Deportivo Independiente Medellín, also known as Independiente Medellín or DIM, is a Colombian professional football club based in Medellín that currently plays in the Categoría Primera A. They play their home games at Estadio Atanasio Girardo ...
, known under the name of ''El Clásico Paisa'', with the word "Paisa" meaning something originating in the
Antioquia Department
)
, anthem = Himno de Antioquia
, image_map = Antioquia in Colombia (mainland).svg
, map_alt =
, map_caption = Antioquia shown in red
, image_ma ...
. It is considered one of the most important rivalries in Colombia, and recognised by FIFA as one of the most important match-ups in the country, mainly due to the frequent brawls in between both fanbases. Nacional currently leads this rivalry in terms of wins, with a 30+ win margin. They also have much more titles, with 31 to Medellin's 9. However, Independiente Medellin beat them in the final of the 2004 Apertura, which is something Medellin can regard as a great achievement, since throughout history Nacional's squads have almost always had a larger value than that of Medellin's.
The rivalry between Atlético Nacional and
Millonarios
Millonarios Fútbol Club is a professional Colombian football team based in Bogotá, that currently plays in the Categoría Primera A. They play their home games at the El Campín stadium.
Millonarios was initially created in 1937 by students f ...
is one of the most important matches in Colombia, with the two clubs holding the most league titles in Colombia (17 and 15, respectively). Dubbed by Colombian media as well as
CONMEBOL
The South American Football Confederation (CONMEBOL, , or CSF; es, Confederación Sudamericana de Fútbol; pt, Confederação Sul-Americana de Futebol) is the continental governing body of football in South America (apart from Guyana, Suri ...
as one of the most important ''clásicos'' or a "''superclásico''" of Colombian football, this rivalry is also considered one of the greatest classic matches in South America by the international press. The rivalry is fueled by a social, cultural and regional character, since it evokes the historical rivalry between two of the most developed regions of Colombia: the Antioquia Department (specifically its capital city Medellín) and the nation's capital Bogotá.
Atlético Nacional also has a strong rivalry with
América de Cali which involves the two Colombian clubs with the largest fanbases, and has been called by Colombian and international media as one of the most important ''clásicos'' or a ''superclásico'' of Colombian football, just like the rivalry with Millonarios. This rivalry is considered as an extension of the historical sociocultural and sporting rivalry between the
Antioquia and
Valle del Cauca departments, represented by Atlético Nacional and América, respectively. This match gained importance starting from the decade of the 80s, when both América de Cali and Atlético Nacional began to stand out in local competition and continental tournaments. The two teams have faced each other in final stages 15 times and have played five league title-deciders between them: in 1981, 1984, 1991,
1999
File:1999 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The funeral procession of King Hussein of Jordan in Amman; the 1999 İzmit earthquake kills over 17,000 people in Turkey; the Columbine High School massacre, one of the first major school shootin ...
, and the
2002 Apertura, with Nacional winning three of these (1981, 1991, 1999) and América the remaining two.
Badge and colors
Atlético Nacional's current badge was adopted in 2000. The badge consists of a rectangle elongated downward, with the initials A and N inside, and the tower of a castle above symbolizing "grandeur, tradition, strength and hierarchy", similar to the city's
coat of arms
A coat of arms is a heraldry, heraldic communication design, visual design on an escutcheon (heraldry), escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the latter two being outer garments). The coat of arms on an escutcheon forms the central ele ...
. The colors of the team are derived from the flags of the
Antioquia Department
)
, anthem = Himno de Antioquia
, image_map = Antioquia in Colombia (mainland).svg
, map_alt =
, map_caption = Antioquia shown in red
, image_ma ...
and the city of
Medellín
Medellín ( or ), officially the Municipality of Medellín ( es, Municipio de Medellín), is the second-largest city in Colombia, after Bogotá, and the capital of the department of Antioquia. It is located in the Aburrá Valley, a central re ...
.
The club's main nickname, ''Verdolagas'' (
purslanes) was coined early in the club's history. This plant is endemic to the
Paisa region
A Paisa is someone from a region in the northwest of Colombia, including part of the West and Central ''cordilleras'' of the Andes in Colombia. The Paisa region is formed by the departments of Antioquia, Caldas, Risaralda and Quindío. S ...
since pre-Columbian times. The plant blooms a diminutive yellow, white or red flower; the white variety is the most common in the region, giving the color scheme to the team. It is also noteworthy that
Antioquia has a great tradition regarding the cultivation of flowers, displayed annually during the
Festival of Flowers.
File:Escudo de Unión Indulana Foot-Ball Club.svg,
File:Escudo de Atlético Nacional (1947-1950).svg,
File:Escudo_Atlético_Nacional_1950.png,
File:Escudo_Atlético_Nacional_1954.png,
File:Escudo_Atlético_Nacional_1989.png,
File:Escudo_Atlético_Nacional_1995.png,
File:Escudo_Atlético_Nacional_1996.png,
File:Escudo Atlético Nacional.png,
Stadium
Atlético Nacional plays its local games at the Atanasio Girardot Stadium, which is part of the Atanasio Girardot Sports Complex and is owned by the Municipality of
Medellín
Medellín ( or ), officially the Municipality of Medellín ( es, Municipio de Medellín), is the second-largest city in Colombia, after Bogotá, and the capital of the department of Antioquia. It is located in the Aburrá Valley, a central re ...
. The stadium is shared with crosstown rivals
Independiente Medellín
Deportivo Independiente Medellín, also known as Independiente Medellín or DIM, is a Colombian professional football club based in Medellín that currently plays in the Categoría Primera A. They play their home games at Estadio Atanasio Girardo ...
. It is located in the Northwestern part of the city and has a capacity of 45,087 spectators.
It was inaugurated on 19 March 1953 with a game between Nacional and Alianza Lima, which finished in a 2–2 draw.
[ pp. 26]
Before 1948, when the team was known as ''Unión Indulana Foot-Ball Club'', they played its local games at Los Libertadores Racecourse. With the creation of the
professional league
Professional sports, Professional sports leagues are organized in numerous ways. The two most significant types are one that developed in Europe, characterized by a tiered structure using promotion and relegation in order to determine participati ...
, they moved to San Fernando Racecourse in
Itagüí
Itagüí () is a city of Colombia, located in the south of the Aburrá Valley in the Antioquia Department. It is part of The Metropolitan Area of the Aburrá Valley.
Demographics
The population at the 2005 census was 230,272. Its density is 17&nb ...
, where they played until the inauguration of the Atanasio Girardot in 1953.
[ pp. 13]
Honours
*
* shared record
Performance in international competitions
Players
Current squad
Out on loan
Notable players
Managers
External links
Nacional official website
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Atletico Nacional
Football clubs in Colombia
Association football clubs established in 1947
1947 establishments in Colombia
Categoría Primera A clubs
Unrelegated association football clubs
Copa Libertadores winning clubs
Copa Merconorte winning clubs
Recopa Sudamericana winning clubs
Copa Interamericana winning clubs