Águilas Doradas

Águilas Doradas is a professional Colombian football team based in Rionegro that currently plays in the Categoría Primera A. They play their home games at the Alberto Grisales stadium. The club also has a futsal team.

History

On 16 July 2008, the club was founded as ''Itagüí Ditaires'' after a group of investors led by former football player José Fernando Salazar bought the team Bajo Cauca and relocated it to Itagüí.

Itagüí began playing in the Primera B's 2008 Finalización championship, where they finished sixth out of nine teams in their group. In the 2009 Apertura, Itagüí had a great performance; they finished second in their group during the regular season, then won their group in the playoffs, before losing the final to Cortuluá on penalties. In the 2009 Finalización, the club had the most points out of all 18 in the regular season, with 33, and were serious candidates to win the title. However, they faltered in the playoffs and finished last with only three points. For the 2010 season DIMAYOR changed the Primera B format to a year-long tournament. Itagüí topped the regular season table, advancing to the playoffs. In the playoffs, they won their group, winning five and only losing one, which qualified them for the final against Deportivo Pasto. In the finals, the club won 3–2 on aggregate, becoming champions and being promoted to the Primera A, mainly with the help of Luis Páez, who scored in both legs. In that same year, the club also reached the Copa Colombia finals, knocking Deportes Tolima, Atlético Nacional, and Millonarios out of the competition successively before losing to Deportivo Cali.

They made their Primera A debut in 2011, being the first time in the top-flight that four teams from the same department (Antioquia) competed for the grand prize.

The club was expelled from Itagüí in May 2014, following a dispute between the club's chairman and the city's mayor regarding the financial support received by the club from Itagüí's local government. The decision to expel the club from the city was made by the mayor after being publicly criticized by the club's chairman for the scarce support provided to the club. This incident meant the team would change its name to ''Águilas Pereira'', moving to the city of Pereira and playing its home matches at Hernán Ramírez Villegas stadium, a change approved by DIMAYOR's Assembly in an extraordinary meeting on 14 July 2014.

In March 2015, the club moved to Rionegro, changing its name to ''Águilas Doradas'', citing economic losses as the main reason. On 5 January 2016 the club announced it would be changing its name to ''Rionegro Águilas'' and its kit colour would be switched from its traditional golden to red. The club returned to its usual primary kit colours of golden and black for the 2020 season.

In April 2021, the club made world headlines when they were forced to play a league match with Boyacá Chicó using only seven players due to a rule imposed by DIMAYOR in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, which stated that a team had to play if they had at least seven players available. Águilas Doradas were unable to field an entire team due to fifteen players testing positive for COVID-19 and seven players out injured. As a result, the club sent a request to DIMAYOR to have the match postponed, which was declined. Eventually the game was called off after a player got injured with ten minutes remaining, leaving the team with only six players and below the minimum needed.

Since the 2022 Finalización tournament, in which they were managed by Leonel Álvarez, Águilas Doradas started making consistent campaigns in which they made it to the semifinal stage of the competition. In that tournament, they ended the first stage in second place behind Santa Fe, but failed to advance to the finals despite having won the first three matches in their semifinal group. For the following season, the club signed the debutant coach Lucas González, with whom they topped the first stage of the 2023 Apertura with 39 points in 20 matches, but the team failed to keep their momentum in the semifinals and they were eliminated after only collecting 2 points in their following 6 games. González was replaced by Venezuelan manager César Farías for the 2023 Finalización, in which Águilas ended the first stage in first place once again but also became the first team to achieve an unbeaten run in the first stage of the tournament. The team's unbeaten streak extended for 21 matches before being broken with a 4–0 home thrashing at the hands of Deportes Tolima, and Águilas failed to reach the finals of the competition, placing third in their group. However, the team's performance in both tournaments allowed them to qualify for the 2024 Copa Libertadores, after ending in first place in the season's aggregate table. The team entered the Copa Libertadores in the second stage, losing to Brazilian club Red Bull Bragantino on penalty kicks after two scoreless draws.

Prior to the start of the 2024 season, and due to disagreements with the local administration of Rionegro which included the eviction from their training venue, Águilas Doradas were granted approval by the General Assembly of DIMAYOR to seek a new venue for their home matches. Although the club stayed in Rionegro to play their home matches during the Apertura tournament, on 23 July 2024 it confirmed the relocation of its home matches to Sincelejo, Sucre Department, given the lack of support from the new local government as well as the difficulty in obtaining sponsorship by private enterprises. The club played its home matches during the 2024 Finalización tournament in Sincelejo, but the agreement with the local government was not renewed at the end of the season due to budget limitations.

Honours

Domestic

* Categoría Primera B
** Winners (1): 2010
* Copa Colombia
** Runners-up (1): 2010

Performance in CONMEBOL competitions

* Copa Libertadores: 1 appearance
::2024: Second stage

* Copa Sudamericana: 6 appearances
::2013: Quarter-finals
::2014: First stage
::2015: Second stage
::2017: First stage
::2019: Second stage
::2023: First stage

Players

First-team squad

World Cup players

The following players were chosen to represent their country at the FIFA World Cup while contracted to Águilas Doradas.
* Jhonny Acosta (2018)

Notable players

* Cleider Alzate (2008–2012), (2014–2015)
* Javier López Rodríguez (2008–2016)
* Jorge Aguirre (2009–2014)
* Luis Páez (2009–2010, 2012, 2015–2017)
* Carlos Mario Arboleda (2010–2016)
* Andrés Felipe Correa (2010–2013)
* Yessy Mena (2011–2014)
* Jhonny Vásquez (2011–2013, 2018)
* Luis Quiñones (2013)
* Édinson Palomino (2014–2018)
* Álvaro Angulo (2017–2022)
* Jhonny Acosta (2018)
* Kevin Castaño (2020–2023)
* Carlos Bejarano (2020–2021)
* Marco Pérez (2022–2023)

Managers

Source
Worldfootball.net
/small>

See also

* Águilas Doradas (futsal)

References

External links

*

Aguilas Doradas
at DIMAYOR.com (archived)

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rionegro Aguilas
Football clubs in Colombia
Association football clubs established in 2008
2008 establishments in Colombia
Categoría Primera A clubs
Categoría Primera B clubs
Unrelegated association football clubs