Diriangén FC

Full name	Diriangén FC
Nickname(s)	Los Caciques (The Chieftains) La Tribu (The Tribe) El Imperio (The Empire) Los Blanquinegros (The Black and Whites)
Founded	17 May 1917 (17 May 1917)
Ground	Estadio Cacique Diriangén
Capacity	7,500
Chairman	Fernando Baltodano
Manager	Tyron Acevedo
League	Liga Primera
2016 Apertura	3rd
Home colours Away colours

Diriangén FC is a Nicaraguan professional football club based in Diriamba which competes in Nicaraguan Premier Division (Primera Division). It is one of the oldest clubs in not only Nicaragua but also in Central America.

History

Founded in 1917, Diriangén has won a total of 30 domestic titles, including at least one in every decade since the 1940s. They are also the only club in Nicaragua to have competed in every season of the league's top flight. As a result of this success, the club has become associated with the motto "Diriangén no tuvo infancia, porque nació grande" ("Diriangen never had a childhood because it was born big")'.

Diriangén's strongest era was in the 1940s, when they won six consecutive championships (1940–45). They won a seventh championship in 1949, and hoisted the crown three times in the 1950s (1953, 1956, and 1959). A long drought followed in the 1960s, but the club rebounded with consecutive titles in 1969–70 and again in 1974.

The 1980s saw a return to the form of glory days past. It opened with a threepeat (1981, 1982, and 1983) and included other championships in 1987 and 1989. The 1990s were similar—a threepeat from 1994–97, followed by a title win in 1999–2000. However, the 2000s didn't go quite as well. Although Diriangén managed to win the championship in 2004–2005 and 2005–2006, the real power in Nicaragua had shifted to Real Esteli, winners of thirteen championships in 16 years.

Meanwhile, Diriangén struggled through a thirteen year title drought. That year was finally broken in Clausura 2018, when they knocked off Real Esteli 3–1 on aggregate.

The club celebrated its 100-year celebration in 2017

Honours

Diriangén is historically the most successful team in Nicaraguan football, as they have won the most Primera División de Nicaragua with thirty one and won 3 Copa de Nicaragua.

Current squad

As of: November 13, 2023 Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player 2 DF  NCA Anyelo Velasquez 3 DF  NCA Justin Cano 4  NCA Melvin Hernandez 7  NCA Leonel Torres 8  NCA Jonathan Moncada 10  ARG Matias Galvaliz 11  NCA Joao Caceres 12  NCA Jonathan Zapata 13  NCA William Espana 14 MF  NCA Jason Coronel (Captain) 16  NCA Jorge Garcia 17  NCA Richard Rodriguez

No. Pos. Nation Player 18  PAR Renzo Carballo 20  ARG Leonel Butler 21 DF  NCA Francisco Flores 25  NCA Esdras Gonzalez 26 GK  CRC Alfonso Quesada 27  NCA Luis Copete 46  NCA Andres Reyes 54  NCA Oliver Orozco

Out on loan

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

No. Pos. Nation Player — MF  SLV Joao Caceres (at Walter Ferretti for the 2022–2023 season) — MF  SLV TBD (at TBD for the 2022–2023 season)

No. Pos. Nation Player — MF  SLV TBD (at TBD for the 2022–2023 season) — MF  SLV TBD (at TBD for the 2022–2023 season)

In

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

No. Pos. Nation Player —  BRA Maycon Santana (From TBD) —  NCA Junior Arteaga (From TBD) —  NCA Joel Soto (From TBD)

No. Pos. Nation Player —  NCA TBD (From TBD) —  NCA TBD (From TBD) —  NCA TBD (From TBD)

Out

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

No. Pos. Nation Player —  ARG Leonel Butler (To TBD) —  NCA Jorge Garcia (To TBD) —  NCA Ismael Mendieta (To Walter Ferretti)

No. Pos. Nation Player —  NCA TBD (To TBD) —  NCA TBD (To TBD) —  NCA TBD (To TBD)

Personnel

Current technical staff

As of June 2023

Position	Name
Manager	José Giancone
Assistant manager	Diego Giancone
Reserve team coach	Ricardo Arevalo
Assistant Reserve team coach	Alejandro Munoz
Goalkeeper coach	Carlos Mendieta
General sporting director	Alberto Castro
Fitness coach	Francisco Olivares
Club doctor	Reynaldo Cruz
Utility	César Tinoco

Management

Position	Staff
President	Diego Jacir
Vice President	Reynal Mairena
Legal Representative
Secretary of the Board
Treasurer
General administrator	Diego Jacir

Notable players

international appearances

Record versus other clubs

As of 2013-09-13

The Concacaf opponents below = Official tournament results: (Plus a sampling of other results)

Opponent	Last Meeting	G	W	D	L	F	A	PTS	+/-
Águila	CONCACAF 1976	2	0	0	2	2	11	0	-9
Alajuelense	CONCACAF 1997	2	1	0	1	4	5	3	-1
Alianza	CONCACAF 1993	2	0	0	2	1	5	0	-4
Árabe Unido	CONCACAF 1998	2	0	1	1	1	2	1	-1
Atlético Marte	CONCACAF 1970	2	0	0	2	1	8	0	-7
Coke Milpross	CONCACAF 1989	2	0	1	1	1	4	1	-3
Comunicaciones	CL 2022	3	1	0	2	2	15	0	-13
Euro Kickers	CONCACAF 1997	2	1	0	1	6	5	3	+1
FAS	UNCAF 2004	2	0	0	2	0	9	0	-9
Herediano	CONCACAF 1994	2	0	0	2	2	9	0	-7
La Victoria FC	CONCACAF 1992	2	0	1	1	1	2	1	-1
Marathón	CL 2021	2	0	0	2	1	3	0	-2
Municipal	CONCACAF 1977	2	0	0	2	2	16	0	-14
Olimpia	UNCAF 2006	2	0	0	2	1	5	0	-4
Real Maya	CONCACAF 1994	2	0	0	2	0	3	0	-3
Real España	CONCACAF 1990	2	0	0	2	1	7	0	-6
Deportivo Saprissa	CONCACAF 1998	6	0	0	6	1	29	0	-28
Suchitepéquez	UNCAF 2006	2	0	0	2	2	4	0	-2
Universitario	CL 2018	2	0	0	2	1	7	0	-6
Totals

Sponsors

Stadium

The stadium, Estadio Cacique Diriangén, holds 7,500 people. It is a multi-purpose stadium, and has been the home stadium of the Nicaragua national football team for many years. The stadium has much history: In this stadium the club Diriangén FC won against many teams from Central America.

List of managers

Diriangen has had permanent managers since it first appointed Napolen Parrales Bendaña as coach in 1917. The longest-serving manager was Mauricio Cruz Jiron, who managed Diriangen for fourteen years from 1992 to 2006. Hungarian Eduardo Kosovic was the foreign coach in the club. Mauricio Cruz Jiron is the most successful manager as he led the club to seven primera division titles.

Notable managers

The following managers have won at least one trophy while in charge at Diriangen:

Name	Nat	Tenure	Honors
Eduardo Cosovich	HUN	1956	Primera division 1956
Livio Bendaña Espinoza	NCA	1966-1972	Primera division 1969 and 1970
Mauricio Cruz Jiron	NCA	1992–06	Primera division 1992, 1995, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2005,2006, 2018 Clausura
Flavio Da Silva	BRA	2019–2022	Copa Primera 2020, 2021 Clausura, 2021 Apertura
Tyrone Leiva	NCA	April 2022 – June 2022	Clausura 2022
José Giancone	ARG	June 2023 – Present	Apertura 2023

Women's team

The women's team has won the Nicaraguan women's football championship four times in 2000, 2001, 2003 and lately in 2010.

References

External links

• Soccerway profile
• Los inmortales caciques (history) – La Prensa (in Spanish)
• Historias del Fútbol Diriambino: Nacimiento del Diriangen Papyfutbol – Futbol de Nicaragua (in Spanish)
• De la gloria a la inmortalidad – La Prensa (in Spanish)
• El Equipo Diriangen de Futbol – Multicampeon Nica – Diriamba (in Spanish)
• Livio Bendaña Espinoza – El Nuevo Diario (in Spanish)
• Luis Mario "El Mesie" Orellana Castro – Notifutbol (in Spanish)
• Diriangen FC: 92 Años de Orgullo y Pasión – Notifutbol (in Spanish)
• Defendamos 83 años de historia – El Nuevo Diario (in Spanish)
• Trece técnicos han pasado durante la sequía – Barra Cacique (in Spanish)