C.D. El Nacional

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El Nacional
El nacional quito.png
Full nameClub Deportivo El Nacional
Nickname(s)Los Puros Criollos
La Máquina Gris
El Bi-Tri
El Equipo Militar
La Gloria del Fútbol [1]
Founded1 June 1964;61 years ago (1964-06-01)
Ground Estadio Olímpico Atahualpa
Capacity35,258 [2]
ChairmanMarco Vinicio Pazos
Manager Juan Carlos Pérez
League Serie A
2024 Serie A, 7th of 16
Website www.elnacional.ec

Club Deportivo El Nacional (until 2018 Club Especializado de Alto Rendimiento El Nacional) is an Ecuadorian sports club based in Quito, known best for their professional football team. The team currently plays in the Serie A, the first-tier football league in the country after gaining promotion in 2022.

Contents

El Nacional has thirteen national championships (one less than Emelec and three less than Barcelona). The club has participated in more Copa Libertadores than any other club in Ecuador with 22 appearances. Their best performance in the continental tournament was as a semi-finalist in 1985.

El Nacional was founded on 1 June 1964, and was administered by the Ecuadorian Military since the foundation until 2013, when the club celebrated its first democratic elections. The club has maintained a tradition of only playing Ecuadorian footballers, [3] which has given them the nickname of Puros Criollos ("Pure Natives"). Rival clubs included crosstown clubs LDU Quito, Deportivo Quito, Universidad Católica and the Guayaquileans Barcelona and Emelec. Their home stadium is Estadio Olímpico Atahualpa.

Other sports the organization participates in are gymnastics, table tennis, Ecuavolley, chess, and shooting.

History

The 1990s

El Nacional produced some of the greatest players in Ecuador and won two more championships in 1992 and 1996 with the help of Cléber Chalá, Agustín Delgado, and Oswaldo Ibarra. They also disputed the semi-finals of the Copa Conmebol 1992 and the 1994 edition.

Present

The current success of the team has added two more championships in 2005 and 2006, bringing their total to 13 titles. El Nacional has brought up talented players such as Antonio Valencia, Segundo Alejandro Castillo, Christian Benítez and Felix Borja. There have been plans to build a new stadium but no official decision has been taken yet. Former coach Juan Carlos Burbano resigned after an unsuccessful first stage in the league. Julio Asad was appointed head coach on 16 July 2009.In 2024 El Nacional won their biggest achievement in a long time with manager Marcelo Zuleta the team had won the Copa Ecuador.

Stadium

El Nacional play their home matches in the Estadio Olímpico Atahualpa. Plans have been enabled to build a new stadium, however no official decision has been taken. The management even showed the model of what the 42,000-seat stadium would look like.

Supporters

On 13 May 1998, a group of friends met and decided to form a highly dedicated fanbase called La Marea Roja (English: The Red Tide). Over the years, they aimed to integrate more people, and becoming a better organized to be the largest fan group of El Nacional. It is made up of over 250 members, with members owning proper identification cards. La Marea Roja stands at the south part of the stadium for 90 minutes every game, which attracts adults, women and large numbers of children.

Honours

National

Players

Current squad

As of 13 September 2024

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

No.Pos.NationPlayer
1 GK Flag of Ecuador.svg  ECU Leodán Chalá
2 DF Flag of Ecuador.svg  ECU Sander Mazamba
4 DF Flag of Ecuador.svg  ECU Rommel Cabezas
5 DF Flag of Ecuador.svg  ECU José Flor
7 MF Flag of Ecuador.svg  ECU Jeison Chalá
9 FW Flag of Ecuador.svg  ECU Bryan de Jesús
10 MF Flag of Ecuador.svg  ECU Jonathan Borja
11 FW Flag of Ecuador.svg  ECU Vilington Branda
12 GK Flag of Ecuador.svg  ECU David Cabezas(captain)
15 MF Flag of Ecuador.svg  ECU Adrian Cela
16 FW Flag of Ecuador.svg  ECU Jhon Cifuente
17 MF Flag of Ecuador.svg  ECU Charles Vélez
No.Pos.NationPlayer
18 DF Flag of Ecuador.svg  ECU Bryan Rivera
20 MF Flag of Ecuador.svg  ECU Jawer Guisamano
24 MF Flag of Ecuador.svg  ECU Fernando Mora
25 DF Flag of Ecuador.svg  ECU Marco Montano
26 MF Flag of Ecuador.svg  ECU Andrés Mena
30 DF Flag of Ecuador.svg  ECU Franklin Carabalí
32 DF Flag of Ecuador.svg  ECU Anthony Bedoya
59 FW Flag of Ecuador.svg  ECU Fricson Borja
60 MF Flag of Ecuador.svg  ECU Jhoel Maya
77 DF Flag of Ecuador.svg  ECU Bryan Hernández
99 FW Flag of Ecuador.svg  ECU Djorkaeff Reasco

World Cup players

The following players were chosen to represent their country at the FIFA World Cup while contracted to El Nacional.

Managers

Noted managers

The following managers won at least one trophy while in charge of El Nacional:

References

  1. ↑ "Vuelve la 'Gloria del Fútbol'" . Retrieved 4 January 2017.
  2. ↑ "Estadios - FEF". Archived from the original on 22 December 2016. Retrieved 26 April 2017.
  3. ↑ "Todos las participaciones internacionales de El Nacional" [All the international participations of El Nacional]. El Blog de mi Futbol Ecuatoriano (in Spanish). 23 January 2012. Retrieved 26 December 2017.
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