Club Deportivo Cuenca

Deportivo Cuenca

Full name	Club Deportivo Cuenca
Nickname(s)	Morlacos (Fighting Bulls) Colorados (The Colored) El Expreso Austral (The Southern Express)
Founded	March 4, 1971
Ground	Estadio Alejandro Serrano Aguilar (Capacity: 22,102)
Chairman	Julio León Coronel
Manager	Luis Soler
League	Serie A
2010	5th
Home colours Away colours

Club Deportivo Cuenca is a Ecuadorian football club based in Cuenca. They currently play in the Serie A, the top-flight football league in the country, and is one of two clubs from Cuenca to have played in the top-flight (the other being LDU Cuenca).

Historically an undistinguished club in Ecuador, they have had a recent string of success in the Serie A. They are one of two clubs outside of Quito & Guayaquil to have a national championship, which they won in 2004. Since then, they have been a near consistent top club in the country, including numerous Copa Libertadores participations.

Deportivo Cuenca was founded on March 4, 1971 and is the second oldest club in the city after Tecni Club. Their home stadium is Estadio Alejandro Serrano Aguilar, which was named after former club president and mayor of Cuenca. Because of the limited number of clubs from the Province of Azuay that have played in the Serie A, Deportivo Cuenca has no major local rivals.

History

Foundation

In 1970 desire was born to form a professional soccer team in the city of Cuenca. This desire was shaped through Dr Alejandro Serrano Aguilar (mayor of the city then) and the gentlemen Polivio Vázquez and Alfredo Pena. The citizen's endorsement was immediate before the initiative headed by the mayor, therefore the Commission of Sports was satisfied to the gentlemen Gilbert Sotomayor, Ricardo Ordo'ñez and Bolivar Lupercio, whose first management was to obtain the acceptance of the Ecuadorian Federation of Soccer so that the professional team of the city could participate in the professional level. By means of the session celebrated in February 1971 in the "Salón de la Ciudad" of the Very Illustrious Municipality of Cuenca, the project became a reality, and it was then that Deportivo Cuenca was born. A month later, the Association of Soccer funded the Asociación de Fútbol no Amateur del Azuay (AFA) (Association of Soccer non Amateur of Azuay). As club the first decisions were taken: the uniform would be red and yellow with a t-shirt to vertical rays, the first Technical Director was Carlos Alberto Raffo, the first contracted foreign soccer players were Rodolfo Piazza, the Paraguayan Luis Martinez who achieved the first team's goal, and Gerald Laterza. In its start the team was known as the "Franela Roja" (Red Bandana).

Historical performance

Originally, and throughout most of its existence, the team was never a contender to the title, and never received much attention internationally, such as in the prestigious Copa Libertadores. Deportivo Cuenca had a brief successful period during the 1970s, becoming runner-up twice in 1975 & 1976. The favorable finishes allowed them to participate the next years Copa Libertadotes. Throughout the 1980s and 1990s, the club was in-and-out of the second tier Serie B. They returned to the Serie A in 2003, and in 2004, they became the second club outside of Quito or Guayaquil to win the national championship. Since then, they have finished in the top three in three of four seasons, allowing them to participate in five of the past six Copa Libertadores.

Current squad

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

No. Position Player 1 GK Ángel Mosquera 2 DF Damián Ledesma 3 DF Carlos Ernesto Castro 4 MF Jhon Antonio García 7 MF José Alberto Valdiviezo 8 MF Mauricio Hurtado 9 FW Jorge Cuesta Valdiviezo 10 MF Roberto Valarezo 11 MF Juan José Govea 12 GK Israel Álvarez 13 MF Henry Cangá 14 FW Omar Andrade 15 MF Fernando Fajardo 16 MF Miguel Bravo 17 FW Omar Guerra 18 FW Néstor Ayala 20 DF Marcelo Bohórquez

No. Position Player 21 DF Jorge Cevallos 22 GK Esteban Dreer 23 DF Grégory González 24 MF Juan Carlos Godoy 25 MF Michael Endara 50 DF Marcos López 51 MF David Matute DF Arlín Ayoví DF Jaime Chila DF William España DF John Narváez MF Pablo Arévalo MF Christian Cordero MF Edgar Beltrán FW Jorge Ladines FW José Eduardo Granda

Honors

National

• Serie A (1): 2004
• Serie B (2): 1972 E2, 1995

External links

• Official website (Spanish)
• Web Fans (Spanish)
• Deportivo Cuenca's profile (Spanish)