Club Atlético Independiente
Full name | Club Atlético Independiente de Avellaneda | ||
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Nickname(s) | Los Diablos Rojos
(The Red Devils) Rey de Copas (King of Cups) | ||
Founded | January 1, 1905 | ||
Ground | Estadio Libertadores de América Doble Visera, Avellaneda, Argentina | ||
Capacity | 52,823 | ||
Chairman | Julio Comparada | ||
Manager | Pedro Troglio | ||
League | Argentine Primera División | ||
Apertura 2007 | 9th | ||
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Club Atlético Independiente is an Argentine football club based in Avellaneda, Greater Buenos Aires area.
Known as "Los Diablos Rojos" ("The Red Devils") or "Rey de Copas" ("King of Cups"), Independiente has won 14 Argentine championships, placing them third behind the Argentine giants River Plate and Boca Juniors, 7 Copa Libertadores titles, of which an unequalled series of 4 straight wins from 1972 to 1975, and a total of 15 international titles - including 3 Copa Interamericanas, and the 1973 and 1984 Intercontinental Cup.
Independiente's eternal rival Racing Club has its stadium only a couple of hundred meters from Independiente's [1]. These 2 clubs form the colourful Avellaneda derby, that divides the country in two.
Many great Argentine players have worn the red outfit. Daniel Bertoni and Jorge Burruchaga became World Champions in 1978 and 1986 respectively with Argentina, but Independiente fans remember more fondly Ricardo "el Bocha" Bochini, who was a champion in 1986 as well, even though he played only a few minutes in the entire World Cup. An incredibly talented midfield player who played for the club from the early seventies until his retirement in the early nineties, Bochini was less fortunate with a national team dominated at the time by Diego Armando Maradona playing in his position.
History
Foundation
In the beginning of the past century, in a Buenos Aires department store, called "A la Ciudad de Londres" ("To the City of London"), a group of employees decided to form a football team and named it "Maipú Banfield". But this formation didn't allow the younger workers to participate. Therefore, the youngsters chose to unite, hiding from their bosses, to find a solution.
On the 4th of August of 1904, this group decided to be "independent" from Maipú Banfield, and created a new club. Therefore, on January 1st of 1905, they officially founded Independiente Football Club, but it wasn't until March 25th where Arístides Langone was named as president, Daniel Bevilacqua as secretary, Juan Artau as sub-secretary, Carlos Degiorgi as sub-treasurer, the other founders were Andrés Ferrier, Víctor Camino and José Hermida.
The Early years
Independiente registered to play in the second and third division of the amateur's league in Argentina. In the second division they played regularly, but in the third division they lost against Atlanta 20-1. A few games after that on June 9th of 1907, they would face their eternal rivals for the first time, Racing Club. After what almost everyone thought an easy victory for Racing, Independiente won 3-2. Later, in 1912, the Federation of Argentine Football invited Independiente to participate in the first division of their league, which would later become the official professional first division in Argentina.
From White to Red
Independiente's original shirt was half blue and half white, with blue shorts, but in 1907, when President Arístides Langone saw Nottingham Forest's red outfit, he decided to give Independiente a new look. Nottingham Forest see this a great honer and consider it as important as there invention of the Football "Net". Langone thought they looked like "red devils", which would later become Independiente's nickname. In 1908, in a match against Bristol of Uruguay (black-white stripes), Independiente wore the red outfit for the first time, having also changed their original name to Club Atlético Independiente. The original outfit is used as the chnage kit, using even the original logo. Another theory is that they changed the original outfit because many fundators were socialists.
The Stadium
main article: Estadio Libertadores de América
In March 4th of 1928, in a match against Peñarol of Uruguay that ended in a draw, Independiente established the first cement-made stadium in South America. The stadium would later be known as "La Doble Visera".
The 20s
Before "La Doble Visera" was constructed in Avellaneda, Independiente had another stadium in La Crucecita that was destroyed in a fire in 1923.
During the 20s Independiente would become champions of the amateur first division league twice: in 1922 and 1926. Manuel Seoane and Raimundo Orsi were part of those teams. Orsi was then transferred, in 1928, to Juventus F.C. and became a legend by being part of the Italian national team which won the World Championship in 1934.
30s to 50s
Independiente won its first professional league in 1938 and then again in 1939. Arsenio Erico was part of this team and the top scorer in 1937 and 1939. Erico would later become the all-time highest goal scorer of Argentina's top division.
During those years Independiente was known for winning by a vast difference. In 1938, Independiente scored 115 goals in 32 matches, and in 1939, they scored 103 goals in 34 matches. This team is considered being the one to score the most in the Argentinean first division.
Independiente would then have to wait nine years to become champions again. And it was in 1948, they would become champions during a strike. Therefore, in the final five matches Independiente played with non-professional players and still managed to obtain the championship, but again they would have to wait, and this time much longer to obtain a league's title.
60s to 80s
Independiente started the 60s with a league title, and then another in 1963. At that time, Independiente had more than 45000 members, a remodeled stadium, and kept growing institutionally. But one of Independiente's greatest achievements would be in 1964, by becoming the first Argentinean team to win the Copa Libertadores. Independiente repeated the title in 1965.
In 1967, Independiente would win the Nacional of that year. This team would one of the last few teams that used a 2-3-5 formation. The consecration would be in the Avellaneda derby, against Racing Club. The game was won by Independiente 4-0.
Again, Independiente started a new decade by winning a title (Metropolitano 1970). The 70s would be Independiente's Golden Era by obtaining 12 important titles: Metropolitano 1970, 1971, Nacional 1977, 1978, Copa Libertadores 1972, 1973, 1974, 1975, Intercontinental Cup 1973, and Copa Interamericana 1973, 1974, 1975.
Independiente greatest achievement in the 70s was to win the Copa Libertadores four times in row. Also, the team would become famous by having the Bochini-Bertoni attacking duo.
But Independiente's most memorable game was the final match of the Nacional of 1977 tournament, even though the match was played in January the 25th of 1978. The final was against Talleres de Cordoba. The first leg was a tie (1-1) at Independiente's stadium and in the final match in Cordoba, the match was tied on one goal apiece, but with only 15 minutes remaining Talleres scored a controversial goal. As a result, Independiente's players protested, but instead the referee gave the red card to three of the players. With only 8 players playing and a few minutes remaining, Independiente tied the game with an incredible goal by Bochini, assisted by Bertoni. Independiente became the champion by the away goal difference rule.
In 1983, Independiente would win another Metropolitano tournament. Then in 1984, they would obtain their seventh Copa Libertadores and became the team with most trophies of the tournament. Independiente would then play against Liverpool F.C. in Tokyo, Japan, for the Intercontinental Cup. The game ended in a victory for Independiente by 1-0, therefore winning the trophy for the second time.
The last important title that Independiente obtained in the 80s, was the AFA 1988-89.
90s to present
The 90s started with the retirement of Ricardo Bochini in 1991. A one club man, in his 20 years of professional football, from 1972 to 1991, Bochini played only for Independiente (and the national team), and participated in the club's Golden Era, with 8 international titles, and 4 Argentine championships. He played a total of 740 matches scoring 107 goals.
Independiente would then win the Clausura 1994, the Supercopa 1994 and 1995, and a Recopa 1995. After winning the Recopa, Independiente had 15 international titles.
After a 7 year drought without winning any important title, Independiente became champions of the Apertura 2002. This team, coached by Américo Gallego, had an offensive play composed by Federico Insúa, Daniel Montenegro, Andrés Silvera, and other important Argentine players.
Even though Independiente obtained an Argentine title in 2002, the club is going through hard times. The club has a serious debt that has been accumulating since the 90s. At first, it was said that the debt was more than 50 million dollars, but in February 2006, the Argentine justice dictated that the debt was around 26 millions. Now, with the transfer of Sergio Agüero to Atlético de Madrid, and the transfer fee being around 23 million euros, Independiente is hoping to pay off the debt. The club is taking its last steps into coming out of receivership.
The 2006-2007 season started with a lot of enthusiasm. With former star Jorge Burruchaga as the team manager, and notable players such as Daniel "Rolfi" Montenegro, Germán Denis and Oscar Ustari, it was expected that the team would fight for the titles. The Apertura finished with Independiente in a fourth place, despite a very irregular campaign, which included a home loss against Gimnasia y Esgrima Jujuy in the last match ever played in the historic Libertadores de América Stadium.
The Clausura 2007 tournament was a total catastrophe. Having earned just 8 points in the first 10 matches, manager Burruchaga resigned after a home loss 0-2 against the modest Godoy Cruz de Mendoza. Pepé Santoro became the interim coach. The team finished unbeaten with him, winning 4 matches and the other 5 resulting in ties. Independiente finished 11th in the tournament, and missed classification to Libertadores and Sudamericana Cups by just 2 points.
The new team manager is Pedro Troglio.
Football Titles
Amateur
- 1922, 1926
Professional
First Division: 14
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- 1973, 1984
Other International Cups: 6
- Supercopa 1994 & 1995,
- Recopa 1995
- Copa Interamericana 1973, 1974, 1975
Notable former players
see also Category:Independiente footballers
Current squad
As of January 16 2008
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
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Coach: Pedro Troglio
(Players ordered by number. These positions are generic and do not contemplate players that play multiple positions or more specific positions.)
References
External links
- Official website (Spanish and English)
- Argentine Football Association AFA (Spanish and English)
- Independiente 1905 (Unofficial site) (Spanish)
- El Orgullo Nacional - The National Pride (Unofficial site) (Spanish)
- Red Devils Casino(16 languages)
- Independiente at UOL's site (Spanish)
- InfiernoRojo (Spanish)
- Red Devils Casino
- News Las Perlas del Rojo (Spanish)
- News MuyDiablo (Spanish)
- News El Gran Campeón (Spanish)
- Futbol Pasion (Spanish)
- Rey de Copas (Spanish)