Independiente Medellín

History

Independiente Medellín was founded on 14 November 1913 under the name of Medellín Foot Ball Club by siblings Alberto, Luis and Rafael Uribe Piedrahíta. The team played its first match with the amateur team Sporting of Medellin, who defeated them 11–0. After several years, Medellín joined professional football and played the first edition of the league. Medellín placed 7 out of 10, winning seven matches. Their first match was a 4–0 defeat against América de Cali.

The next decade, Medellín signed Peruvian Segundo Castillo Varela, whom won the 1939 South American Championship, the first title of his country, in a movement of what was known as El Dorado, when teams of the league signed a lot of foreign footballers. Medellín won its first title in the 1955 Campeonato Profesional. The team was first with 31 points and just one defeat. Argentine Felipe Marino was the top goalscorer of the team and the tournament, with 22 goals. In 2009, with the departure of Santiago Escobar as the coach of the team, his assistant, Leonel Álvarez, replaced him to play 2009 Torneo Finalización, where the team got its fifth title against Atlético Huila. In that season, the forward, Jackson Martinez, broke a record of the player with the most goal in the league (a record that was broken again later by forward of Cortuluá, Miguel Borja, in 2016).

Rivalries

Medellín's greatest rival is with the city's other major club Atlético Nacional, with whom they share the home stadium Atanasio Girardot. The team is dubbed "El Poderoso de la Montaña" or the powerful of the mountain due to Medellín's geographical location high in the Andean mountains. The rivalry is especially strong due to each team's main support club, Rexixtenxia Norte for Medellín and Los Del Sur for Atlético Nacional. The two clubs are named with the location that they occupy in the stadium where Rexixtenxia occupies the section behind the northern goal and Los Del Sur occupy the section behind the southern goal.

In 2004 Medellín and Nacional classified to the final of the Mustang Cup; in Antioquia everybody was very excited because this was the first "Paisa" final of the history of the short tournaments. This system requires 2 games to be the champion, in the first game, Medellín won 2–1 with a goal of Rafael Castillo in the 87 minute after the goals of Jorge Serna (DIM) and Carlos "Chumi" Alvarez in the first half. The final game was on 27 June,it ended 0–0 and Medellín became the champion of the Colombian National League.

Controversies

Medellín won its third league title after 45 years of agony. However, there were two seasons where Medellín had the title within its reach only to lose it amid great controversy. From its foundation until 2002, the Colombian First Division League had adopted a league format commonly used in European leagues. The format was a year-long tournament where the team at then end of the year in best standing was declared the winner. This format was changed in 2002 to an Apertura-Clausura format where two separate seasons are played during the year to determine two winners. In 1993 during the last game of the year, Medellín and Atlético Junior were fighting for a tight first place. Junior was playing América de Cali at home in Baranquilla while simultaneously Medellín played hometown rivals Atlético Nacional. The games were to start and end at the same time. A Medellín win with a Junior loss or draw would have given Medellín the title. Medellín beat Nacional 1–0 while awaiting the 2–2 game in Baranquilla to end. Medellín players were celebrating with a victory lap and giving interviews with reporters waiting for the final whistle in Baranquilla. After Oswaldo Mackenzie to score an extremely late goal (45 minutes and 5 seconds of the second half) giving Junior the win 3–2 and the title. This was not the first time Medellín had a heartbreaking season, in 1989 a year where Medellín had one of the best teams in the league and was expected to win the title but Junior with legendary players such as Valderrama, Mackenzie, Pacheco and Valenciano. A tragic event occurred in Colombian soccer. During the final games of the season, Medellín tied América de Cali 0–0 at home. During the game, the linesman Álvaro Ortega made a mistake and annulled a Medellín goal. Afterwards, a Medellín sympathizer hunted down the linesman and assassinated him. In response, the Colombian Soccer Federation decided to cancel the rest of the season leaving the 1989 league without a winner.

Official tournaments

Amateur

Friendly tournaments

Internationals Participations

Current squad

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

Out on loan

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

Top scorers

Most games played