Atlético Junior

Club Deportivo Popular Junior F.C. S.A.[1] (Latin American Spanish: [ˈʝunjoɾ]), commonly known as Junior de Barranquilla, by its old name Atlético Junior, commonly as Junior FC, 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.

For other uses, see Junior (disambiguation).
Junior
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)
  • Los Reyes de la Costa (The Kings of the Coast)
  • Los Curramberos (The Curramberos)
Founded7 August 1924 (1924-08-07) as Juventud Infantil
GroundEstadio Metropolitano Roberto Meléndez
Capacity46,692
OwnerFuad Char
PresidentAlejandro Char
ManagerArturo Reyes
LeagueCategoría Primera A
2022Primera A, 5th of 20
WebsiteClub website

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, 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), the Copa Sudamericana 7 times (reaching the final in 2018), and the Copa CONMEBOL 1 time.

Symbols

Badge

The team's badge has a Swiss shape; it is 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
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
Runners-up (1): 2018
Winners (1): 1997

Performance in CONMEBOL competitions
1971: Group stage
1978: Group stage
1981: Group stage
1984: Group stage
1994: Semifinals
1996: Quarterfinals
2000: Round of 16
2001: Round of 16
2005: Round of 16
2010: Preliminary round
2011: Round of 16
2012: Group stage
2017: Third stage
2018: Group stage
2019: Group stage
2020: Group stage
2021: Group stage
2004: Quarterfinals
2015: Second stage
2016: Quarterfinals
2017: Semi-finals
2018: Runners-up
2020: Quarterfinals
2021: Round of 16
2022: Group stage
2023: First stage
1992: Quarter-finals

Players

Current squad
As of 18 July 2023[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
2 DF Colombia COL Alfonso Simarra
3 DF Colombia COL Edwin Herrera
4 MF Colombia COL Carlos Sierra
5 MF Colombia COL Jhon Vélez
6 MF Colombia COL Didier Moreno (vice-captain)
7 MF Colombia COL Léider Berrío
8 MF Colombia COL Fredy Hinestroza
9 FW Argentina ARG Gonzalo Lencina
10 MF Venezuela VEN Luis González
11 FW Colombia COL Pablo Rojas
12 DF Colombia COL Gabriel Fuentes
13 DF Colombia COL Nilson Castrillón
14 MF Colombia COL Homer Martínez
16 MF Colombia COL Vladimir Hernández
17 FW Colombia COL Andrey Estupiñán
No. Pos. Nation Player
18 DF Argentina ARG Emanuel Olivera
19 DF Colombia COL Kevin Padilla
20 FW Colombia COL Déiber Caicedo
21 DF Colombia COL Walmer Pacheco
23 FW Colombia COL Steven Rodríguez
24 DF Colombia COL Yeferson Moreno
25 DF Colombia COL Brayan Ceballos
26 MF Colombia COL Diego Mendoza
28 DF Colombia COL Jermein Peña
29 MF Colombia COL Omar Albornoz
30 GK Colombia COL Jefersson Martínez
31 GK Colombia COL Jaime Acosta
70 FW Colombia COL Carlos Bacca (captain)
77 GK Uruguay URU Santiago Mele (on loan from Plaza Colonia)
99 FW Colombia COL José Enamorado

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
— FW Colombia COL Johan Bocanegra (at Deportivo Pereira)
— FW Colombia COL Brayan León (at Independiente Medellín)

World Cup players

The following players were chosen to represent their country at the FIFA World Cup while contracted to Junior de Barranquilla.

Personnel

Technical staff
Position Staff
Manager Colombia Arturo Reyes
Assistant manager Colombia Luis Grau[5]
Assistant manager Colombia José María Pazo[6]
Fitness coach Colombia César Gaitán[7]

Source:

Notable players

Most appearances
Rank Player Appearances
1. Uruguay Sebastián Viera 627
2. Colombia Dulio Miranda 445
3. Colombia Hayder Palacio 432
4. Colombia Alexis Mendoza 417
5. Colombia José María Pazo 392
6. Colombia Gabriel Berdugo 379
7. Colombia Víctor Pacheco 367
8. Colombia Jesús Rubio 363
9. Colombia Luis Grau 341
10. Brazil Othon Dacunha 333

Most goals
Rank Player Goals
1. Colombia Ivan Valenciano 180
2. ColombiaTeófilo Gutiérrez 90
3. Brazil Víctor Ephanor 86
4. Colombia Carlos Bacca 85
5. Uruguay Nelson Silva Pacheco 81
6. Colombia Víctor Pacheco 78
7. Colombia Martín Arzuaga 70
8. Colombia Vladimir Hernández 64
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". Archived from the original on 2022-09-29. Retrieved 2018-01-03.
  3. "Junior". Dimayor. Archived from the original on 26 July 2019. Retrieved 21 July 2019.
  4. "Copa Libertadores". Archived from the original on 2020-12-09. Retrieved 2020-09-23.
  5. "Alfredo Araújo y Lucho Grau, asistentes de Comesaña". Archived from the original on 2022-04-19. Retrieved 2018-09-20.
  6. "Alfredo Araújo y Lucho Grau, asistentes de Comesaña". Archived from the original on 2022-04-19. Retrieved 2018-09-20.
  7. "La octava será la vencida para Julio Comesaña en Junior". 10 April 2018. Archived from the original on 21 September 2018. Retrieved 20 September 2018.
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