Cortuluá

Corporación Club Deportivo Tuluá, commonly known as Cortuluá, is a professional Colombian football team based in Tuluá, that currently plays in the Categoría Primera B. The club was founded on October 16, 1967 and play their home games at the Doce de Octubre stadium.

Cortuluá
Full nameCorporación Club Deportivo Tuluá
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)
Founded16 October 1967 (1967-10-16)
GroundEstadio Doce de Octubre
Tuluá, Colombia
Capacity16,000
ChairmanOscar Ignacio Martán
ManagerJaime de la Pava
LeagueCategoría Primera B
20193rd
WebsiteClub website

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.[1] 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.[1]

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.[2]

Stadium
Further information: Estadio Doce de Octubre

Honours

Domestic honours
Winners (2): 1993, 2009

International honours
Third place (1): 2016

Performance in CONMEBOL competitions
2002: First Round
2016: Third place

Players

Current squad
As of 7 August 2017

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

No. Position Player
1 GK Germán Caffa (on loan from Sportivo Luqueño)
2 DF Juan Carabalí
3 DF Jimmy Valoyes
4 DF Dante
5 MF Neider Batalla
6 MF Juan David Rodríguez
7 MF Diego Chica
8 MF Carlos Carbonero (on loan from Fénix)
9 FW Brayan Fernández
10 MF Miguel Medina
11 MF Jhonier Viveros (on loan from Independiente Santa Fe)
12 GK Manuel Arias
13 DF Nilson Castrillón (on loan from Deportivo Cali)
14 MF Anthony Tapia
15 MF Alí Reyes (on loan from Deportivo Cali)
16 MF Maicol Balanta
No. Position Player
17 FW Feiver Mercado
18 MF Juan David Campo
20 MF Giovanny Martínez
22 DF Andrés Colorado
23 DF Cristian Borja
24 DF Mateo Puerta
25 DF Yair Arrechea
26 DF Aldair Gutiérrez
27 MF Luis Caicedo
28 DF Vinicius de Paiva
30 GK Daniel Rodríguez
32 MF Duván Sánchez
33 FW Oscar Camilo
34 DF Duván Sevillano

Out on loan

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

No. Position Player
– DF Cristian Borja (at Santa Fe)

Notable players

References
  1. 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.
  2. "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.
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