Independiente del Valle
Full nameClub de Alto Rendimiento Especializado Independiente del Valle
Nickname(s)Los Negriazules (The black-and-blues)
FoundedMarch 1, 1958 (1958-03-01)
GroundEstadio Banco Guayaquil
Quito, Ecuador
Capacity12,000
ChairmanFranklin Tello Núñez
ManagerJavier Gandolfi
LeagueEcuadorian Serie A
2023Serie A, 3rd of 16 (Finals runner-up)
WebsiteClub website

Club de Alto Rendimiento Especializado Independiente del Valle,[1] 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 plays its home games at Estadio Banco Guayaquil, which opened in March 2021 and has a capacity for 12,000. In the 2013 Ecuadorian Serie A Independiente finished runners-up, and they won their first league title in 2021.

In CONMEBOL competitions, it reached the final of the 2016 Copa Libertadores after famously defeating powerhouses River Plate and Boca Juniors,[2] it won its first ever title in 2019,[3] Three years later the club would become one of the few two-time Sudamericana champions after defeating São Paulo in the 2022 final.

The club is also known for producing youth talent, and a good example of this is the club's U-20 Copa Libertadores title in 2020. Some well-known footballers the club has produced are Jefferson Montero, Junior Sornoza, Arturo Mina, Cristian Ramírez, Moisés Caicedo and Piero Hincapié.[4]

History

The club was founded on 1 March 1958 as Club Deportivo Independiente by Jose Terán, a football fan from Sangolquí, along with a group of friends including José Díaz, Jorge Atapuma, the Negro Sanguano, Tomás Zaldumbide and Marino Guayasamín. In 1977, two years after the death of José Terán, the club's name was changed to Club Social y Deportivo Independiente José Terán in honor of its founder. The name and initial club colors (red and white) were inspired by Argentine club Club Atlético Independiente.

Old logo used until 2007.

In 1995 the club reached the Segunda Categoría (3rd Division) for the second time. After winning the Segunda Categoría in 2007, the club changed its name to Independiente del Valle and adopted the current colors (blue and black). Los Negriazules achieved promotion to the Ecuadorian Serie A for the first time ever in the 2010 season, after winning the 2009 Serie B.

In the 2013 Serie A, the club finished runners-up on the aggregate table. Independiente del Valle made its first international participation that same year, in the 2013 Copa Sudamericana, where it was eliminated in the second stage by Universidad de Chile after having beat Venezuelan club Deportivo Anzoategui in the first stage. The next year, the Ecuadorian club made its first Copa Libertadores participation and second overall international participation, with the 2014 edition. In that edition, the club was eliminated after placing 3rd in their group.

In July 2014, the club officially changed its name from "Independiente del Valle" to Club de Alto Rendimiento Especializado Independiente del Valle. Although the club had changed its name already, it had never been made official by the Ecuadorian Football Federation until that point.[5]

Independiente del Valle unexpectedly reached the finals of the 2016 Copa Libertadores with incredible odds,[6] being compared to Leicester City's Premier League title that same year.[7][4] Independiente began its knockout stage run by beating Copa Libertadores defending champions, Argentina's River Plate, in the round of 16 2–1 on aggregate. In the quarter-finals they defeated Pumas UNAM on penalties 5–3, after an aggregate score of 3–3.[8] The club subsequently faced Argentina's giant Boca Juniors in the semi-final, defeating them 5–3 on aggregate, including a 3–2 victory at the famous La Bombonera stadium.[9] In the finals, the Ecuadorians faced Colombia's Atlético Nacional. In the first leg played at Estadio Olímpico Atahualpa on 20 July, the match finished 1–1. Independiente's fairy tale story came to a conclusion after a 1–0 loss in the second leg with the series ending 2–1 in favor of the Colombians.[10][11]

In November 2019, Independiente del Valle played their first ever Copa Sudamericana final, and only its second ever CONMEBOL final, where they defeated Club Atlético Colón 3–1 in Asunción. This was the Ecuadorian club's first ever historic title. It was considered a major upset because Colón had a richer history and a much bigger fanbase, with around 40,000 fans at the stadium versus only 500 Ecuadorians.[12]

In February 2020, the club lost the 2020 Recopa Sudamericana against the champion of the 2019 Copa Libertadores, Flamengo. The first leg in Quito was a 2–2 draw, but in the second leg at Estadio Maracana, Flamengo won 3–0 and became the champion with a 5–2 aggregate score.[13]

Performance in CONMEBOL competitions

  • Copa Libertadores: 7 appearances
    • 2014: Group Stage
    • 2015: First Stage
    • 2016: Runners-up
    • 2017: Second Qualifying stage
    • 2018: Second Qualifying stage
    • 2020: Round of 16
    • 2021: Group Stage
    • 2023: Round of 16
  • Copa Sudamericana: 5 appearances
  • Recopa Sudamericana: 2 appearances

Facilities

Stadiums

Estadio Rumiñahui was inaugurated in 1941 and has a capacity for 8,000 spectators.

For international tournaments the club use larger stadiums like the Estadio Olímpico Atahualpa in Quito that has a 38,500-capacity.

In March 2021, the club opened a new 12,000-capacity stadium called Estadio Banco Guayaquil. It meets modern FIFA standards and is able to hold international matches, unlike their old stadium. It also has three grandstands with a roof, compared to Estadio Rumiñahui, which only had one grandstand.[14]

Training Center

The club has its own training center located in Sangolquí which is called Centro de Alto Rendimiento. It has seven football fields, one of them with artificial grass. The training center also has rooms to accommodate players, dining room, parking, a gym (for the first-team and reserves), indoor pool and administrative offices.[15]

Reserve team

Since 2018, the club has a reserve team in the Ecuadorian Serie B, formerly named Alianza Cotopaxi SC. After the promotion, the club changed name to C.D. Independiente Juniors.

Players

First-team squad

As of 26 October 2023[16]

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 Ecuador ECU Moisés Ramírez
2 DF Argentina ARG Agustín García Basso
4 DF Ecuador ECU Anthony Landázuri
5 DF Argentina ARG Richard Schunke
6 DF Ecuador ECU Jhoanner Chávez
7 MF Ecuador ECU Jordy Alcívar
8 MF Argentina ARG Lorenzo Faravelli
10 MF Ecuador ECU Junior Sornoza
11 FW Argentina ARG Michael Hoyos
12 GK Ecuador ECU Alexis Villa
13 DF Chile CHI Matías Fernández
14 DF Argentina ARG Mateo Carabajal
15 DF Ecuador ECU Beder Caicedo
No. Pos. Nation Player
16 MF Argentina ARG Cristian Pellerano (Captain)
17 DF Ecuador ECU Gustavo Cortez
18 FW Bolivia BOL Marcelo Martins Moreno
19 FW Argentina ARG Lautaro Díaz
20 MF Ecuador ECU Bryan García
21 MF Argentina ARG Nicolás Previtali
22 GK Ecuador ECU Kleber Pinargote
23 MF Ecuador ECU Patrickson Delgado
31 DF Ecuador ECU Esnáider Cabezas
51 MF Ecuador ECU Yaimar Medina
54 MF Ecuador ECU Patrik Mercado
55 MF Ecuador ECU Kendry Páez
58 DF Ecuador ECU Christian García
80 MF Ecuador ECU Joao Ortiz
— DF Ecuador ECU Carlos Sanchez

World Cup players

The following players were chosen to represent their country at the FIFA World Cup while contracted to Independiente del Valle.

Players 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 Ecuador ECU Mateo Ortíz (at FC Honka)
— FW Ecuador ECU Cristian Tobar (at Atlético Huila)

Managers

Current technical staff

  • Argentina Martín Anselmi (head coach)
  • Spain Felipe Sánchez Mateos (assistant coach)
  • Spain Francisco Trujillo (fitness coach)
  • Portugal Ricardo Pereira (goalkeeper coach)
  • Colombia Luis Piedrahita (performance analyst)
  • Ecuador Wendy Montiel (doctor)
  • Ecuador Javier Echeverría (physiotherapist)
  • Ecuador Camila Nájera (physiotherapist)
  • Ecuador Junior Alcócer (equipment manager)
  • Ecuador Francisco Alcócer (equipment assistant)

List of managers

Honours

Domestic

Continental

Under-20 team

References

  1. ↑ "Historia". independientedelvalle.com. 15 June 2016.
  2. ↑ "Move over Leicester and Iceland: Libertadores hopeful Independiente del Valle is true fairy tale of 2016". Goal.com. 20 July 2016. Archived from the original on 2020-11-14.
  3. ↑ "Independiente del Valle es campeón de la Copa Sudamericana 2019". Bendito Futbol. 9 November 2019. Archived from the original on 2019-11-10. Retrieved 19 August 2021.
  4. 1 2 Campo, Carlo (20 July 2016). "From the underground: Independiente del Valle's rise is unprecedented in football". theScore.com. Retrieved 6 September 2021.
  5. ↑ "INDEPENDIENTE CAMBIA DE NOMBRE". Estadio.ec. 30 July 2014.
  6. ↑ Duque, Mishell (2016-07-16). "Copa Libertadores: Independiente del Valle, el Leicester de Ecuador". Marca.com (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 2016-07-17. Retrieved 2021-09-06.
  7. ↑ "El camino de Independiente del Valle a la final de Copa Libertadores". El Universo (in Spanish). 2016-07-15. Archived from the original on 2016-07-18. Retrieved 2021-08-18.
  8. ↑ "Pumas, eliminado en penales ante Independiente del Valle". Telemundo Deportes (in Spanish). 24 May 2016. Archived from the original on 2021-10-28.
  9. ↑ "Independiente del Valle ganó 3-2 a Boca Juniors y se metió en la final de Copa Libertadores". eluniverso.com. 14 July 2016.
  10. ↑ "Ecuadorian Minnows Independiente Del Valle Are A Footballing Miracle". The18. 21 July 2016. Archived from the original on 2016-07-24. Retrieved 6 September 2021.
  11. ↑ Robinson, Tom (2 August 2016). "Copa Libertadores 2016: Atletico Nacional deny Independiente del Valle fairytale ending". Outside of the Boot. Archived from the original on 2016-08-05. Retrieved 2021-09-06.
  12. ↑ "Independiente del Valle overcome all odds to win Copa Sudamericana". ESPN.com. 9 November 2019. Archived from the original on 2019-11-12. Retrieved 19 August 2021.
  13. ↑ "Flamengo conquista su primera CONMEBOL Recopa". Conmebol.com. 27 February 2020. Archived from the original on 2020-02-27.
  14. ↑ Guillén, Adrián (19 February 2021). "(VIDEO) TODOS LOS DETALLES: IDV presentó su nuevo estadio". StudioFutbol (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 2021-02-19.
  15. ↑ "10 curiosidades en la historia del club Independiente del Valle". Futbolete (in Spanish). 2019-09-28. Retrieved 2021-08-19.
  16. ↑ "Lista de jugadores 2023". independientedelvalle.com. 8 August 2015. Retrieved 13 February 2023.
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