Atlético Junior

From Justapedia, unleashing the power of collective wisdom
Jump to navigation Jump to search
Junior
ESCUDO JUNIOR.svg
Full nameClub Deportivo Popular
Junior Fútbol Club S.A.
Nickname(s)
  • Los Tiburones (The Sharks)
  • El Equipo Tiburón (The Shark Team)
  • Los Rojiblancos (The Red-and-Whites)
  • Los Quilleros (The Quilleros)
  • Tu Papá (Your Dad)
  • Los Reyes de la Costa (The Kings of the Coast)
  • Los Curramberos
Short nameJunior
Founded7 August 1924; 99 years ago (1924-08-07) as Juventud Infantil
GroundEstadio Metropolitano Roberto Meléndez
Capacity46,692
OwnerFuad Char
PresidentAntonio Char
ManagerJulio Avelino Comesaña
LeagueCategoría Primera A
2022–I5th (First stage)
(Semifinals Group A: 2nd)
WebsiteClub website

Club Deportivo Popular Junior F.C. S.A.[1] (American Spanish: [ˈʝunjoɾ]), commonly known as Junior de Barranquilla, by its old name Atlético Junior, or simply as Junior, is a Colombian professional football team based in Barranquilla, that currently plays in the Categoría Primera A. Junior is the main Caribbean team in the top flight of Colombian football. In present day they are sitting in the 25th place in best South American team as of 2022.[citation needed]

The club was founded on August 7, 1924. Known as Los Tiburones (The Sharks), or El Equipo Tiburón (The Shark Team). Junior have won the Colombian professional football championship nine times (1977, 1980, 1993, 1995, 2004 Finalización, 2010 Apertura, 2011 Finalización, 2018 Finalización and 2019 Apertura). Some of the most notable players that have played for the club include Heleno de Freitas, Garrincha, Dida, Juan Ramón Verón, Efraín Sánchez, Carlos "El Pibe" Valderrama, Iván Valenciano, Teófilo Gutiérrez, Carlos Bacca, Julio César Uribe, Giovanni Hernández, Sebastián Viera and Luis Díaz.

History

In the early 1920s a team named Juventus came into being at the Colegio Salesiano in the San Roque neighborhood of Barranquilla, unsurprisingly given the name made up primarily of Italian immigrants. Soon after its launch the name was changed to the Spanish Juventud, though both translate the same in English: youth. In August 1924 some of the younger members of Juventud along with other young men from San Roque created an offshoot of Juventud: Juventud Infantil.

Around the 1940s (and the club's name was shortened to simply Junior) they became known as one of the country's best clubs. In 1945 the players of Junior were selected to represent Colombia at the South American Championship (now known as the Copa América), finishing a respectable fifth (though losing 7–0 to Uruguay and 9–1 to Argentina along the way). In 1949 they were again selected to represent Colombia (finishing last place) but this time their decision to play would have its consequences.

In 1948 Junior were founder members of División Mayor del Fútbol Profesional Colombiano (commonly known as the Dimayor). Their debut match as a professional outfit came at home on August 15, 1948, against Deportivo Cali, which ended in a 2–0 victory for the home side. Early the following year they were again chosen to play as the de facto Colombia national team. Because of ongoing strife between Adefutbol (the original amateur Colombian football association) and the Dimayor, Junior were threatened with expulsion from the Dimayor if they participated. They went ahead and did so and were initially given a two-year suspension from the league. This was later reduced to one year and they returned to the Dimayor for the 1950 season.

This was the golden age of Colombian football commonly referred to as El Dorado, a time when the Dimayor was a "rebel league" unaffiliated with FIFA and many high-profile players from around the world broke their contracts and came to play. Junior were no exception, picking up players from Brazil, Argentina, Hungary and the Czech Republic in these years. But El Dorado eventually came to an end for Colombian football.

A way ahead surfaced in the mid-1960s when a rift had again developed in Colombian football, this time between Adefutbol and the newly created Federación Colombiana de Fútbol, an organization devoted to developing professional football in the country. Adefutbol was still the official body in the eyes of FIFA and organized the national team in this period and additionally Colombian clubs did not enter the Copa Libertadores. Peace was finally made and the bulk of the amateur team that had attempted to qualify for the England World Cup signed up for Junior, who returned to the Dimayor in 1966. Junior have remained in the top level ever since.

In 1977 Junior won their first Colombian championship, finishing first place in the Apertura. They won further championships in 1980, 1993, 1995, the 2004-II (Finalización), the 2010-I (Apertura), and the 2011-II (Finalizacion). Junior have appeared in the Copa Libertadores nine times (reaching the semi-finals in 1994), and the Copa Sudamericana and Copa CONMEBOL once each.[citation needed]

Symbols

Badge

The team's badge has a Swiss shape; it's 6 cm wide by 8 cm tall, divided into two horizontal stripes. The inferior stripe is divided into 9 vertical white and red stripes. The superior part is another horizontal blue stripe where the stars are placed. The stars have 9 points; each star represents a league championships the team has won.

Flag

Junior's flag is composed of 9 horizontal stripes representing the 9 stars they have now, 5 red and 4 white ones which alternate, the superior and the inferior ones are red. Overlapped on top of the strips there is a blue triangle. This triangle occupies all the wide of the flag on its vertical side. The white stars are superimposed on the triangle.

Flag of Atlético Junior

Honours

Domestic competitions

Winners (9): 1977, 1980, 1993, 1995, 2004–II, 2010–I, 2011–II, 2018–II, 2019–I
Runners-up (10): 1948, 1970, 1983, 2000, 2003–I, 2009–I, 2014–I, 2015–II, 2016–I, 2019–II
Winners (2): 2015, 2017
Runners-up (1): 2016
Winners (2): 2019, 2020
Runners-up (1): 2012

International honours

Runners-up (1): 2018
Winners (1): 1997

Performance in CONMEBOL competitions

Best: Semi-finals in 1994
2004: Quarterfinals
2015: Second stage
2016: Quarterfinals
2017: Semi-finals
2018: Runners-up
1992: Quarter-finals

Players

Current squad

As of 21 August 2022[2][3][4]

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 Uruguay URU Sebastián Viera (captain)
2 DF Colombia COL Alfonso Simarra
3 DF Colombia COL Edwin Velasco
4 DF Colombia COL César Haydar
5 MF Colombia COL Yeison Gordillo
6 MF Colombia COL Didier Moreno
7 MF Colombia COL Daniel Giraldo
8 MF Colombia COL Fredy Hinestroza
10 MF Venezuela VEN Luis González
12 DF Colombia COL Gabriel Fuentes
13 DF Colombia COL Nilson Castrillón
14 MF Colombia COL Homer Martínez
15 MF Colombia COL Yesus Cabrera
16 MF Colombia COL Nelson Deossa
17 DF Colombia COL Jorge Arias
18 MF Colombia COL Edwuin Cetré
No. Pos. Nation Player
19 FW Colombia COL Carmelo Valencia
20 FW Colombia COL Fernando Uribe
21 DF Colombia COL Walmer Pacheco
22 GK Colombia COL Sebastián Araújo
23 MF Argentina ARG Iván Rossi
24 DF Colombia COL Dany Rosero
25 MF Colombia COL Carlos Esparragoza
26 FW Colombia COL Jhon Pajoy
27 DF Colombia COL Fabián Viáfara
28 MF Colombia COL Enrique Serje
29 MF Colombia COL Omar Albornoz
30 GK Colombia COL Jefersson Martínez
31 DF Colombia COL José Ortíz
32 MF Argentina ARG Fabián Sambueza
70 FW Colombia COL Carlos Bacca

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
— DF Colombia COL Willer Ditta (at Newell's Old Boys)

Personnel

Technical staff

Position Staff
Manager Uruguay Julio Avelino Comesaña[5]
Assistant manager Colombia Luis Grau[6]
Assistant manager Colombia José María Pazo[7]
Fitness coach Colombia César Gaitán[8]

Source:[citation needed]

Notable players

Most appearances

Rank Player Appearances
1. Colombia Dulio Miranda 445
2. Colombia Hayder Palacio 432
3. Colombia Alexis Mendoza 417
4. Colombia José María Pazo 392
5. Colombia Gabriel Berdugo 379
6. Colombia Víctor Pacheco 367
7. Colombia Jesús Rubio 363
8. Uruguay Sebastián Viera 351
9. Colombia Luis Grau 341
10. Brazil Othon Dacunha 333

Most goals

Rank Player Goals
1. Colombia Ivan Valenciano 180
2. Brazil Victor Ephanor 86
3. Uruguay Nelson Silva Pacheco 81
6. Colombia Teófilo Gutiérrez 90
4. Colombia Víctor Pacheco 78
5. Colombia Carlos Bacca 73
7. Colombia Martín Arzuaga 70
8. Colombia Vladimir Hernández 61
9. Colombia Orlando Ballesteros 56
10. Brazil Marcos Cardoso 55

Historic players

Managers

Main article: List of Junior F.C. managers

Affiliated clubs

References

  1. ^ "DIMAYOR Official Website". Archived from the original on 2013-02-18. Retrieved 2013-02-23.
  2. ^ Junior de Barranquilla squad
  3. ^ "Junior". Dimayor. Retrieved 21 July 2019.
  4. ^ Copa Libertadores
  5. ^ "Equipo | Junior de Barranquilla".
  6. ^ "Alfredo Araújo y Lucho Grau, asistentes de Comesaña".
  7. ^ "Alfredo Araújo y Lucho Grau, asistentes de Comesaña".
  8. ^ "La octava será la vencida para Julio Comesaña en Junior". 10 April 2018.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Atlético Junior.
Retrieved from "https://justapedia.org/index.php?title=Atlético_Junior&oldid=1116646334"