Atlético Nacional
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| Full name | Club Atlético Nacional S.A. | |||
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| Nickname(s) | Los Verdolagas (The Purslanes), El Verde (The Green), El Verde y Blanco (The Green and White), Rey de Copas (King of Cups), El Verde de la Montaña (The Green from the Mountains), El Verde Paisa (The Paisa Green) | |||
| Founded | 1947 As Atlético Municipal | |||
| Ground | Estadio Atanasio Girardot Medellín, Colombia | |||
| Capacity | 52,872 | |||
| Chairman |  Juan Carlos De la Cuesta | |||
| Manager | Juan Carlos Osorio | |||
| League | Fútbol Profesional Colombiano | |||
| 2011 | 4th | |||
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Club Atlético Nacional S.A., also known as Atlético Nacional, is a proffesional Colombian football team based in Medellín, Colombia that currently plays in the Categoría Primera A. Atlético Nacional was founded in 1947 by Julio Ortiz, Jorge Osorio Cadavid, Jorge Gómez, Arturo Torres, Gilberto Molina, Alberto Eastman, Raúl Zapata Lotero y Luis Alberto Villegas Lopera.[1] They play their home games at the Estadio Atanasio Girardot stadium.
It is one of the most successful teams in Colombia (with eleven local league championships won), and an important football soccer club in South America having won multiple international championships; Among them, the 1989 Copa Libertadores is the most relevant trophy won by this team which also marked an era among South American football and Colombian football.
Overview
The club Unión, now known as Club Atlético Nacional, was founded in 1947 by 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 was the first Colombian team to win the Copa Libertadores de América, which they did in 1989. They were also runners-up in 1995. The winning of this cup was done in a special manner, since all of the team's players were Colombian; thus Atlético Nacional earned the nickname "Puros Criollos" (Pure Colombians). The late 1980s to mid-1990s teams are considered as the best individual teams of all time in Colombia, partly because of contributing to forming the framework for the teams that disputed the 1990 and 1994 FIFA World Cups, considered the best Colombian national teams of all time. The club is the most successful team of the short tournaments, first instituted in 2002, with five titles out of nineteen that have been played to date (2012-I).
The team has won the Fútbol Profesional Colombiano eleven times, in 1954, 1973, 1976, 1981, 1991, 1994, 1999 (when there was only one champion per year), 2005, 2007-I, 2007-II, and 2011-I. For fifteen years, from 1989 to 2004, the team was the only Colombian team to win the Copa Libertadores (until Once Caldas defeated Boca Juniors). Until 1999, it was the only Colombian team to win any major international tournament (when América de Cali defeated Independiente Santa Fe in the Copa Merconorte). The team is also the only Colombian club to reach the final stage of the Copa Sudamericana, losing against Argentina's San Lorenzo in 2002. Regarding the Copa Libertadores, it was the first out of only four South American teams representing a country with a Pacific Ocean coastline to win the tournament, followed by Colo-Colo from Chile in 1991, Once Caldas in 2004 and LDU Quito from Ecuador in 2008.
Atlético Nacional has been home to international stars like Faustino Asprilla, René Higuita, Víctor Aristizábal, Andrés Escobar, Iván Córdoba, Leonel Álvarez, Alexis García, Albeiro Usuriaga, Aquivaldo Mosquera, Mauricio Serna, Juan Pablo Ángel and others. The best foreign players in its history include Cesar Cueto, Raul Navarro, Sergio Santín, Hugo Morales and Oscar Rossi . The team is currently owned by Carlos Ardila Lülle of Organización Ardila Lülle, and Jaime Restrepo. Restrepo is the only person remaining from the founders (see above); the others sold their ownership to Carlos Ardila. The team wears green and white vertically striped jerseys. Nacional's mascot is Nacho, a tiger with green and white striped shirt. Nacho was created in 1998.
The team is the only Colombian squad that has successfully won the two domestic short-format tournaments awarded in the year 2007, as well as the only one that has achieved two consecutive titles since the format was changed in 2001. America de Cali also has consecutive titles on 2000 and 2001-I, but the 2000 tournament was held with the long format. Atlético Nacional is the most successful team of the short-format championships with five wins out of nineteen tournaments to date (2012-I)
Rivalries
Atlético Nacional has had a long rivalry with Independiente Medellín. When the two teams face each other it is considered one of the most important matches in Colombia. Both teams share the same stadium (Estadio Atanasio Girardot), and both teams have about the same number of fans within the city of Medellín. The rivalry increased in the early 1990s as Independiente Medellín was growing stronger year by year. Currently both teams are considered among the top teams in Colombia. Independiente is sometimes referred to having a Green Star since in the 2004-I tournament they won the only final the two have ever faced. Atlético Nacional has 104 wins over Independiente Medellín, who have 70, with 81 games tied.
Colors
The club's main nickname, Verdolagas was coined early in the club's history, with association to the purslane plant, endemic to the Paisa region since pre-columbian times though very few people make the association. 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's also noteworthy that Antioquia has a great tradition regarding the planting of flowers, most notoriously during the Festival of Flowers. The nickname is also associated with the Argentinian club Ferrocarril Oeste, that shares the same color scheme.
Honours
National Honours
- 2012
International Honours
- Copa Libertadores de América: 14 appearances
- Copa Merconorte: 4 appearances
- 1998: Winner
- 2000: Winner
- Copa Sudamericana: 4 appearances
- 2002: Runner-up
- Copa Interamericana: 2 appearances
- 1990: Winner
- 1995: Winner
- Recopa Sudamericana: 1 appearance
- 1989: Runners-up
- Intercontinental Cup: 1 appearance
- 1989: Runners-up
Players
Current squad
- Last updated August 26, 2012.
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
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2009 season
Managers
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References
- ^ Atlético Nacional, Rey de Copas. Periódico El Colombiano, Medellín, Colombia. 2004. Pág. 13