Cortuluá
Cortuluá,[1] officially named Cortuluá Fútbol Club S. A.[2] and previously known as Corporación Club Deportivo Tuluá, is a Colombian football club from the municipality of Tuluá in the Valle del Cauca. It was founded in 1967 and plays in the Categoría Primera B.
Full name | Cortuluá Fútbol Club S.A. | |||
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Nickname(s) | El Equipo Corazón (The Heart Team; from the city of Tuluá's own nickname El Corazón del Valle - or The Valley's Heart) Los Paneleros (The Paneleros) | |||
Short name | COR | |||
Founded | 16 October 1967 | |||
Ground | Estadio Municipal Raúl Miranda Yumbo, Colombia | |||
Capacity | 3,500 | |||
Chairman | Oscar Ignacio Martán | |||
Manager | Jorge Edier Peralta | |||
League | Categoría Primera B | |||
2022 | Primera A, 20th of 20 (relegated by average) | |||
Website | Club website | |||
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In the 2001 Categoría Primera A season the team had its most successful campaign after winning the Apertura tournament, which granted them a spot in the 2002 Copa Libertadores.
History
Cortuluá was founded in 1967 by a group of people headed by Paraguayan former player and coach Hernando Acosta. In 1993, Cortuluá wins its first title in the Categoría Primera B, being promoted to the Primera A for the following year. Its first game in the top flight was on February 26, 1994 at the Estadio Hernando Martinez Azcárate of nearby Buga against Envigado.
In the 2001 Copa Mustang Cortuluá won the Torneo Apertura (which at that time did not yet award a championship) and qualified for the 2002 Copa Libertadores. However, in 2004 the team were relegated to the Categoría Primera B.
In 2006, the United States Treasury identified the football club as one of ten businesses allegedly operating on behalf of one of the most wanted Colombian drug barons, Carlos Alberto Renteria Mantilla.[3] The move by the United States authorities placed a freeze on any assets owned by the club within the United States, and prevented United States residents from having dealings with the club.[3]
After five years in the Categoría Primera B, the club was promoted back to the Categoría Primera A in 2009. Cortuluá qualified for the final of the "Torneo Apertura", surpassing Deportes Palmira, Deportivo Rionegro, and Atlético Bucaramanga in Group A of the semi-finals. In the final instance against Itagüí Ditaires, the first leg ended 3–1 with a win for Cortuluá, but it lost 2–0 in the second leg. In the penalty shootout Cortuluá won 6–5, thus winning the "Torneo Apertura" and qualifying to the Final of the year, where Cortuluá defeated Atlético Bucaramanga and returned to the top tier for the following season.
In the 2010 season, the team were relegated again and returned to the second division, where they played for four seasons until the 2015 season, when they were once again promoted in a special tournament played to increase the size of the Categoría Primera A to 20 teams. They came on top of Group B, ahead of Unión Magdalena, pre-tournament favorites América de Cali, and Deportivo Pereira and thus earned promotion for the 2015 season. In 2016, its reserve team placed third in the U-20 Copa Libertadores. On the final matchday of the first round of the 2017 Torneo Finalización, Cortuluá were once again relegated to the Primera B, after losing 2–1 to Once Caldas in Manizales with a last-minute goal.[4]
After four years in the second tier, Cortuluá were able to return to Primera A at the end of the 2021 season, winning their semi-final group to clinch one of the two promotion spots.[5] However, they were immediately relegated back to Primera B after a poor campaign that saw them end in last place of the relegation table of the 2022 Primera A. Their relegation was confirmed on 16 October 2022, following a 1–0 home defeat to Deportes Tolima.[6]
Stadium
Estadio Doce de Octubre, located in Tuluá and able to seat 16,000 people, was Cortuluá's home stadium until the end of 2022. Starting from 2023, the club moved its home matches to Estadio Municipal Raúl Miranda in Yumbo, which has a capacity of 3,500 people.[7][8]
Performance in CONMEBOL competitions
- Copa Libertadores: 1 appearance
- 2002: First Round
- U-20 Copa Libertadores: 1 appearance
- 2016: Third place
Players
Current squad
- As of 21 August 2022[9]
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
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Out on loan
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
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Notable players
- Álvaro Peña
- Jairo Ampudia
- Javier Arizala
- Faustino Asprilla
- Víctor Bonilla
- Miguel Borja
- Mayer Candelo
- Óscar Díaz
- Diego Gómez
- Héctor Hurtado
- Edison Mafla
- Leonardo Mina Polo
- Johnnier Montaño
- Tressor Moreno
- Rubiel Quintana
- Hamilton Ricard
- Carlos Rodas
- Milton Rodríguez
- Jaime Alfonso Ruiz
- Néstor Salazar
- Fernando Uribe
- Gustavo Victoria
- Mario Yepes
- Julio César Maya
- Rolan de la Cruz
- Danny Quendambú
- Román Torres
- Alejandro Vélez
- Rafael Dudamel
- Edgar Pérez Greco
References
- "Cortuluá – Dimayor" (in Spanish). Retrieved 2022-09-21.
- "Cortuluá". Twitter (in Spanish). Retrieved 2022-09-21.
- Ikeda, Nestor; Joshua Goodman (2006-11-01). "U.S. says Colombia's Cortulua soccer team linked to drug kingpin". USA Today Online. Gannett Corporation. Retrieved 2007-02-20.
- "Cortuluá perdió con el Once Caldas en el último minuto y se fue al descenso". El País (in Spanish). 18 November 2017. Retrieved 23 February 2018.
- "¿Qué tan espinoso fue el camino? Cortuluá y Unión, los nuevos en 2022" [How thorny was the path? Cortuluá and Unión, the newcomers in 2022] (in Spanish). Futbolred. 27 December 2021. Retrieved 16 January 2023.
- "Cortuluá y Patriotas sellan su caída a la B: jugarán en segunda en el 2023" [Cortuluá and Patriotas seal their fall to the B: they will play the second tier in 2023] (in Spanish). El Tiempo. 17 October 2022. Retrieved 16 January 2023.
- "Dimayor dio luz verde para el cambio de sede del Cortuluá" [Dimayor greenlit Cortuluá's home stadium change] (in Spanish). Infobae. 14 December 2022. Retrieved 16 January 2023.
- "Cortuluá estrenará casa: Yumbo arregló la grama e iluminación del estadio" [Cortuluá will premiere a home: Yumbo fixed the stadium's grass and lighting] (in Spanish). Blu Radio. 12 January 2023. Retrieved 16 January 2023.
- "CORTULUÁ". Dimayor. Retrieved 7 October 2020.