Rionegro_Águilas

Águilas Doradas

Águilas Doradas

Colombian football club

Águilas Doradas is a professional Colombian football team based in Rionegro that currently plays in the Categoría Primera A. They play their home games at Alberto Grisales stadium. The club also has a futsal team.

Quick Facts Full name, Nickname(s) ...

History

On 16 July 2008, the club was founded as Itagüí Ditaires after a group of investors led by former football player José Fernando Salazar bought the team Bajo Cauca and relocated it to Itagüí.[1]

Itagüí began playing in the Primera B's 2008 Finalización championship, where they finished sixth out of nine teams in their group. In the 2009 Apertura, Itagüí had a great performance; they finished second in their group during the regular season, then won their group in the playoffs, before losing the final to Cortuluá on penalties. In the 2009 Finalización, the club had the most points out of all 18 in the regular season, with 33, and were serious candidates to win the title. However, they faltered in the playoffs and finished last with only three points. For the 2010 season DIMAYOR changed the Primera B format to a year-long tournament. Itagüí topped the regular season table, advancing to the playoffs. In the playoffs, they won their group, winning five and only losing one, which qualified them for the final against Deportivo Pasto. In the finals, the club won 3–2 on aggregate, becoming champions and being promoted to the Primera A, mainly with the help of Luis Páez, who scored in both legs. In that same year, the club also reached the Copa Colombia finals, knocking Deportes Tolima, Atlético Nacional, and Millonarios out of the competition successively before losing to Deportivo Cali.

They made their Primera A debut in 2011, being the first time in the top-flight that four teams from the same department (Antioquia) competed for the grand prize.

The club was expelled from Itagüí in May 2014, following a dispute between the club's chairman and the city's mayor regarding the financial support received by the club from Itagüí's local government. The decision to expel the club from the city was made by the mayor after being publicly criticized by the club's chairman for the scarce support provided to the club. This incident meant the team would change its name to Águilas Pereira, moving to the city of Pereira and playing its home matches at Hernán Ramírez Villegas stadium, a change approved by DIMAYOR's Assembly in an extraordinary meeting on 14 July 2014.[2][3]

In March 2015, the club moved to Rionegro, changing its name to Águilas Doradas, citing economic losses as the main reason.[4] On 5 January 2016 the club announced it would be changing its name to Rionegro Águilas and its kit colour would be switched from its traditional golden to red.[5][6][7] The club returned to its usual primary kit colours of golden and black for the 2020 season.

In April 2021, the club made world headlines when they were forced to play a league match with Boyacá Chicó using only seven players due to a rule imposed by DIMAYOR in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, which stated that a team had to play if they had at least seven players available. Águilas Doradas were unable to field an entire team due to fifteen players testing positive for COVID-19 and seven players out injured. As a result, the club sent a request to DIMAYOR to have the match postponed, which was declined. Eventually the game was called off after a player got injured with ten minutes remaining, leaving the team with only six players and below the minimum needed.[8][9][10]

Since the 2022 Finalización tournament, in which they were managed by Leonel Álvarez, Águilas Doradas started making consistent campaigns in which they made it to the semifinal stage of the competition. In that tournament, they ended the first stage in second place behind Santa Fe, but failed to advance to the finals despite having won the first three matches in their semifinal group. For the following season, the club signed the debutant coach Lucas González, with whom they topped the first stage of the 2023 Apertura with 39 points in 20 matches, but the team failed to keep their momentum in the semifinals and they were eliminated after only collecting 2 points in their following 6 games. González was replaced by Venezuelan manager César Farías for the 2023 Finalización, in which Águilas ended the first stage in first place once again but also became the first team to achieve an unbeaten run in the first stage of the tournament.[11] The team's unbeaten streak extended for 21 matches before being broken with a 4–0 home thrashing at the hands of Deportes Tolima,[12] and Águilas failed to reach the finals of the competition, placing third in their group. However, the team's performance in both tournaments allowed them to qualify for the 2024 Copa Libertadores, after ending in first place in the season's aggregate table.

Honours

Performance in CONMEBOL competitions

2024: Second stage
2013: Quarter-finals
2014: First stage
2015: Second stage
2017: First stage
2019: Second stage
2023: First stage

Players

First-team squad

As of 8 March 2024[13][14]

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

More information No., Pos. ...

World Cup players

The following players were chosen to represent their country at the FIFA World Cup while contracted to Águilas Doradas.

Notable players

Managers

More information Country, Name ...

Source: Worldfootball.net

See also

References

  1. [1]
    "Aguilas Doradas Oficial". Archived from the original on 21 October 2016.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  2. [2]
    ""Las Águilas Doradas fueron expulsadas de Itagüí", Fernando Salazar" ["The "Golden Eagles" were expelled from Itagüí", Fernando Salazar]. Win Sports. Retrieved 14 July 2014.
  3. [3]
    "De manera unánime, la DIMAYOR autorizó a Águilas Doradas jugar en Pereira" [Unanimously, DIMAYOR authorized Águilas Doradas to play at Pereira]. Win Sports. Retrieved 15 July 2014.
  4. [4]
    "Águilas ya tiene 'nido': jugará en Rionegro". Futbolred.com (in Spanish). 18 March 2015.
  5. [5]
    "Águilas Doradas cambia su nombre a Rionegro F.C." Golcaracol.com (in Spanish). 5 January 2016.
  6. [6]
    "Águilas Doradas cambia su nombre: ahora será Rionegro". futbolred.com (in Spanish). 5 January 2016. Retrieved 12 November 2022.
  7. [7]
    "Cambio de nombre a Rionegro Águilas". DIMAYOR.com.co (in Spanish). 22 January 2016.
  8. [8]
    "COVID: Team starts with 7, finishes with 6". ESPN.com. 12 April 2021. Retrieved 12 November 2022.
  9. [9]
    Pozzebon, Stefano (12 April 2021). "Colombian football team Águilas Doradas fields only seven players due to Covid outbreak". CNN. Retrieved 12 November 2022.
  10. [10]
    "Colombian top-flight side Rionegro Aguilas forced to play with seven due to injuries and Covid-19 cases". Goal.com. 11 April 2021. Retrieved 12 November 2022.
  11. [11]
    "Águilas Doradas pasó a la historia: logró un invicto inédito en el Fútbol Profesional Colombiano" [Águilas Doradas went down in history: they achieved an unprecedented undefeated record in Colombian Professional Football] (in Spanish). Noticias RCN. 8 November 2023. Retrieved 29 December 2023.
  12. [12]
    "Tolima cortó el invicto de Águilas Doradas con una contundente goleada en Rionegro" [Tolima ended Águilas Doradas's undefeated record with a resounding thrashing in Rionegro] (in Spanish). Caracol Radio. 18 November 2023. Retrieved 29 December 2023.
  13. [13]
    "Equipo profesional | Águilas Doradas". Águilas Doradas. Retrieved 6 January 2024.
  14. [14]
    "Águilas Doradas". Dimayor. Retrieved 4 January 2021.
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