Independiente Medellín

They play their home games at Estadio Atanasio Girardot, which seats 40,943 people, and is also shared with city rivals Atlético Nacional. The team is dubbed "El Poderoso de la Montaña" (Mighty of the Mountain) due to Medellín's geographical location high in the Andes mountains.

Independiente Medellín

Full name	Deportivo Independiente Medellín
Nickname(s)	El Rojo Paisa (The Paisa Red) El Poderoso de la Montaña (The Mighty of the Mountain) El Decano (The Dean) El Equipo del Pueblo (The People's Team) El Rey de Corazones (The King of Hearts) Medallo
Short name	DIM
Founded	14 November 1913; 110 years ago (1913-11-14) as Medellín Foot Ball Club
Ground	Estadio Atanasio Girardot
Capacity	40,943
Chairman	Daniel Ossa
Manager	Alfredo Arias
League	Categoría Primera A
2023	Primera A, 4th of 20
Website	Club website
Home colours Away colours Third colours

Founded in 1913 as the second oldest club in Colombia, Independiente Medellín has won the Categoría Primera A six times: in 1955, 1957, 2002–II, 2004–I, 2009–II, and 2016–I, and the Copa Colombia three times: in 1981, 2019, and 2020. Its best performance at international level was in 2003, when the team reached the semifinals of the Copa Libertadores.

Independiente Medellín has a rivalry with Atlético Nacional, and the teams face each other in El Clásico Paisa, which is considered one of the most important derbies in the country.

Early years

 

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 an amateur team called Sporting of Medellín, who defeated them 11–0. In 1948, Medellín joined professional football and played the first edition of the league. Medellín placed seventh out of 10 teams, winning seven matches. Their first match was a 4–0 defeat against América de Cali. Their first win was 3–2 against Junior.

 

The next decade, Medellín signed Peruvian Segundo Castillo Varela, who won the 1939 South American Championship, the first title of his country, in a movement of what was known as El Dorado, when Colombian teams signed many foreign footballers. Medellín did not play in 1952 and 1953 due to economic problems. In 1953, the club changed its entire administration and was renamed to its current name, Deportivo Independiente Medellín.

First three titles

The team won its first title in the 1955 Campeonato Profesional, finishing first with 31 points and just one defeat. Argentine striker Felipe Marino was the tournament's top goalscorer, with 22 goals. The team won its second title two years later, in 1957, with almost the same players as the previous seasons. José Vicente Grecco was the top scorer of the tournament.

In 1966, Medellín achieved their first ever qualification for the Copa Libertadores, after finishing runner-up in the league. They played against Argentine sides Racing de Avellaneda and River Plate, Bolivian teams 31 de Octubre and Bolívar, and fellow Colombians Independiente Santa Fe. They finished fifth out of six in their group and were eliminated. They qualified for the Copa Libertadores again after 27 years in 1994, being eliminated by Junior in the quarter-finals.

Independiente Medellin won its first Copa Colombia in 1981, although this title is not officially recognized by many experts nor by DIMAYOR, it is recognized by CONMEBOL.

1989 season controversy

In 1989, a year where Medellín had one of the best teams in the league and was expected to win the title, a tragic event occurred in Colombian football. In one of the final games of the season, Medellín tied América de Cali 0–0 at home. During the game, linesman Álvaro Ortega disallowed a Medellín goal, angering many people. Afterwards, a person that had been reportedly sent by Pablo Escobar hunted down the linesman and murdered him. An anonymous caller said they had betted on the game and the disallowed goal made them lose a lot of money. In response, the Colombian Football Federation decided to cancel the rest of the season, which left the 1989 league season without a winner.

1993 runner-up

On 19 December 1993, during the last game of the season, Medellín and Atlético Junior were fighting for a tight first place, as both clubs had the same number of points. Junior was playing América de Cali at home in Barranquilla while simultaneously Medellín played hometown rivals Atlético Nacional. The games were to start simultaneously. A Medellín win combined with a Junior loss or draw would give Medellín the title. But if Medellín drew and Junior did as well, then Junior would win the title. At halftime América were leading the game in Barranquilla 1–0 and in Medellin the game was still 0–0, meaning that at that moment América were winning the title due to the draw in Medellín. Junior scored two goals to put the game at 2–1 with ten minutes remaining, and Independiente Medellín scored at the same time to put the game in their favor 1–0. América tied the game at 2–2 with seven minutes remaining. The match in Medellín ended with Independiente Medellín winning 1–0 while awaiting the 2–2 game in Barranquilla to end, which still had five minutes remaining due to a delay at the start of the second half. Medellín players were celebrating with a victory lap and giving interviews with reporters white they waited for the final whistle in Barranquilla. However, Oswaldo Mackenzie scored a late goal in the 89th minute and gave Junior the 3–2 win and the title, leaving the Medellín players and fans heartbroken.

1999–2009: End of title drought and glory days

El Poderoso had a great 1999 season, finishing in the top eight of both Apertura and Finalización tournaments, and finishing fourth in the aggregate table. This season was different from the standard format; in the Apertura tournament there were no playoffs. The Finalizacion tournament had playoffs, where Medellin topped their group and qualified for the Finalizacion finals against city rivals Nacional. However, Nacional won 1–0, and went on to win the league title, while Medellin missed out on a spot for the 2000 Copa Libertadores.

 

Medellin came close to winning their third league title in 2001 thanks to Jorge Serna's prolific goalscoring, who finished as top scorer tied with Carlos Castro on 29 goals. The club ended up losing the final to América de Cali 3–0 on aggregate, although they reached the final in an unexpected manner; in the regular season they finished in 10th place and occupied the last seed for the eight teams that qualified for the playoffs through the aggregate table. After 45 long years of agony, Medellín won its third league title in the 2002 Finalización tournament under manager Víctor Luna, who replaced Reinaldo Rueda halfway through the season after he was sacked due to poor results. Medellín played against Deportivo Pasto in the two-legged final. El Rojo Paisa beat Pasto 2–0 at home in the first leg with goals from Robinson Muñoz and an own goal from Julio César Valencia. In the second leg on 23 December 2002, Medellín drew 1–1 away from home, with Mauricio Molina scoring Medellín's goal from a free-kick, meaning they became champions with a 3–1 aggregate score.

The 2002 league title gave the club a spot in the 2003 Copa Libertadores, where they qualified for the knockout stages by topping their group, which consisted of Boca Juniors, Barcelona, and Colo-Colo, with twelve points and a total of four wins and two losses. During the group stage, the club famously beat Bianchi's Boca Juniors, 1–0. "Medallo" beat Cerro Porteño on penalties in the round of 16 and Grêmio in the quarter-finals. In the semi-finals, they faced Santos. In the first leg played at Estádio Urbano Caldeira, DIM lost 1–0. In the second leg at home, Tressor Moreno scored first to level the aggregate score at 1–1, but the club eventually lost the game 3–2 (4–2 on aggregate) and was eliminated, narrowly missing out for the final, which would have been played against their group stage opponent, Boca Juniors.

In 2004, Medellín and Nacional qualified for the final of the Apertura tournament; in Antioquia everybody was very excited because this was the first "Paisa" final in the league's history. The final was played over two legs, both at Atanasio Girardot: in the first leg, Medellín won 2–1 with goals scored by Rafael Castillo and Jorge Horacio Serna. The second leg was played on 27 June; it ended 0–0 and Medellín became the champion of the 2004 Apertura, its fourth league title, won under manager Pedro Sarmiento.

In the 2005 Copa Libertadores, the club topped their group, which was made up of Atletico Paranaense, América de Cali, and Libertad. They also unexpectedly beat Paranaense 4–0 away in Curitiba on their way to the round of 16, where they faced Banfield and lost 5–0 on aggregate.

For the 2008 Finalización, the club almost won its fifth title, but lost the final to América de Cali with Santiago Escobar as head coach. The next season, the 2009 Apertura, was very poor; the team finished in last place. However, in the 2009 Torneo Finalización, with the departure of Santiago Escobar as head coach, his assistant, Leonel Álvarez, replaced him, and the team got its fifth title, beating Atlético Huila 3–2 on aggregate. In that season, Jackson Martinez broke the league's top scoring record with 18 goals (the previous record was Léider Preciado's 17 goals), a record that was broken again later by Cortuluá forward Miguel Borja in 2016, with 19 goals.

2010–present: Back-to-back runner-ups and sixth league title

 

During the 2010s, DIM was close to winning league titles several times. In 2012, they faced Millonarios in the Torneo Finalización final and lost on penalties. In 2014, they finished as runners-up to Independiente Santa Fe in that year's Finalización tournament. Six months later they made the final again, this time losing to Deportivo Cali. These losses were finally overcome in the 2016 season, where the club won its sixth league title. In the Apertura tournament, they finished first in the regular season table with 40 points. Then they eliminated Deportivo Cali and Cortuluá in the playoffs to set up a final with Junior; the first leg in Barranquilla ended 1–1 and the second leg was won by Medellín 2–0, with Christian Marrugo scoring a brace and securing a 3–1 aggregate victory.

With the 2016 league title, El Poderoso gained a spot in the 2017 Copa Libertadores, returning to the tournament for the first time since 2010. They were placed in Group 3 along with River Plate, Emelec, and Melgar. The club placed third in the group and was transferred to the Copa Sudamericana, where they eventually lost to Racing Club in the second round. One of the highlights of their Copa Libertadores run was beating powerhouse River Plate 2–1 at Estadio Monumental.

 

Medellín's greatest rivalry is with the city's other major club, Atlético Nacional. Both clubs share the same stadium; Atanasio Girardot. Atletico Nacional has a clear advantage over Independiente Medellin in titles won, with 30 titles (most in Colombia) to Medellin's 9 titles. However, Nacional has never beaten Medellin in a final, since they lost in the 2004 Apertura. This was considered as a very shocking result, since Nacional's squad had a much higher value that Medellin's.

The rivalry is especially strong due to each team's main fanbases; Rexixtenxia Norte for Medellín and Los Del Sur for Atlético Nacional. There are often fights between these two fanbases, which is why sometimes only the fanbase of one team is allowed entry. The two clubs are named with the location that they occupy in the stadium; Rexixtenxia Norte occupies the section behind the northern goal and Los Del Sur occupy the section behind the southern goal.

The first Clásico Paisa was played on 12 September 1948, where Medellín beat Nacional 3–0. Over 300 matches have been played between the two clubs, with Nacional dominating the historical record by 40 wins.

The club also has minor rivalries with other clubs in the Medellin Metropolitan Area, such as Rionegro Águilas, Leones, and Envigado. Although none of these teams have won top-flight titles, matches between them still draw attention due to their close geographical location, meaning games like these usually sellout.

Official

• Categoría Primera A:

Winners (6): 1955, 1957, 2002–II, 2004–I, 2009–II, 2016–I
Runners-up (12): 1959, 1961, 1966, 1993, 2001, 2008–II, 2012–II, 2014–II, 2015–I, 2018–II, 2022–II, 2023–II

• Copa Colombia:

Winners (3): 1981, 2019, 2020
Runners-up (2): 1955–56, 2017

• Superliga Colombiana:

Runners-up (1): 2017

Amateur

• Copa Jimenez Jaramillo (1): 1923
• Campeonato Nacional (7): 1918, 1920, 1922, 1930, 1936, 1937, 1938
• Campeonato Departamental (8): 1937, 1938, 1939, 1941, 1942, 1943, 1944, 1945

Friendly tournaments

• Copa Club Unión: 1942
• Triangular ‘Trofeo Coltejer’: 1955
• Torneo "Medellín sin tugurios": 1983
• Copa Montreal (Canada): 1992
• Copa DC United: 1994
• Copa Ciudad de Popayán: 2005
• Copa Gobernación de Antioquia: 2008, 2010
• Copa del Pacífico: 2009
• Copa Movilco– Gobernación del Meta Runner-up: 2009
• Copa del Pacífico Runner-up: 2010

• Copa Libertadores: 10 appearances

1967: First round
1994: Quarter-finals
2003: Semi-finals (third place)
2005: Round of 16
2009: Group stage
2010: Second round
2017: Group stage
2019: Second stage
2020: Group stage
2023: Group stage

• Copa Sudamericana: 6 appearances

2006: First round
2016: Quarter-finals
2017: First round
2018: First round
2022: Group stage
2023: Knockout round play-offs

• Copa Conmebol: 1 appearance

1995: First round

Current squad

As of 11 February 2024

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   COL Yimmy Gómez 2 DF   COL Leyser Chaverra 3 DF   URU José Aja 4 DF   COL Malcom Palacios 5 MF   URU Pablo Lima 6 MF   COL David Loaiza 7 FW   COL Jaime Peralta 8 FW   COL Ménder García 10 MF   COL Miguel Monsalve 11 FW   COL Anderson Plata (captain) 12 GK   COL José Luis Chunga 13 DF   COL Daniel Londoño 14 MF   COL Baldomero Perlaza

No. Pos. Nation Player 15 MF   COL Jaime Alvarado 17 MF   COL Jimer Fory 19 MF   COL Yairo Moreno 24 DF   COL José Ortíz 25 GK   COL Eder Chaux 26 DF   COL Cristian Graciano 27 FW   COL Brayan León 28 DF   COL Luis Manuel Orejuela (on loan from São Paulo) 29 DF   COL Jhon Palacios 30 MF   COL Juan Arizala 31 FW   COL Diego Moreno 77 MF   COL Jhon Vásquez — FW   COL Kener Valencia

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 — GK   COL Weimar Asprilla (at Real Soacha Cundinamarca) — GK   COL Luis Vásquez (at Atlético Bucaramanga) — DF   COL Didier Bueno (at Sheriff Tiraspol) — DF   COL Jaime Giraldo (at Atlético Huila) — DF   COL Juan Camilo Moreno (at Deportivo Pereira) — DF   COL Víctor Moreno (at Águilas Doradas)

No. Pos. Nation Player — MF   COL Bryan Castrillón (at Junior) — MF   COL Juan Manuel Cuesta (at Envigado) — MF   COL José Estupiñán (at Cúcuta Deportivo) — FW   COL Diego Herazo (at Deportes Tolima) — FW   COL Stiven Rodríguez (at Junior)

World Cup players

The following players were chosen to represent their country at the FIFA World Cup while contracted with Independiente Medellín.

•   Héctor Echeverri (1962)
•   Efraín "Caimán" Sánchez (1962)
•   Alfredo Mendoza (1986)
•   Gabriel Jaime Gómez (1990)
•   Adolfo Valencia (1998)
•   Aldo Bobadilla (2010)

Top scorers

As of 27 October 2021

No.	Name	Goals	Country
1	German Cano	129
2	José Vicente Grecco	92
3	Carlos Castro	91
4	Felipe Marino	77
5	Jorge Serna	75
6	Diego Álvarez	69
7	Uriel Cadavid	65
8	Perfecto Rodríguez	64
9	Jackson Martinez	56
10	Jaime Castrillón	55

Most appearances

As of 27 October 2021

No.	Name	Games	Country
1	Héctor Echeverri	457
2	Ricardo Calle	418
3	Roberto Carlos Cortés	351
4	Ponciano Castro	342
5	David González	337
6	John Restrepo	335
7	José Zárate	318
8	Álvaro Escobar	315
9	Carlos Castro	292
10	Rodolfo Avila	283

This is the list of presidents of Independiente Medellín since its foundation:

 

Wiki Commons has media related to Deportivo Independiente Medellín.

• Official website (in Spanish)