Independiente del Valle

History

The club was founded on 1 March 1958 as Club Deportivo Independiente by Jose Terán, a football fan from Sangolquí, along with a group of friends including José Díaz, Jorge Atapuma, the Negro Sanguano, Tomás Zaldumbide and Marino Guayasamín. In 1977, two years after the death of José Terán, the club's name was changed to Club Social y Deportivo Independiente José Terán in honor of its founder. The name and initial club colors (red and white) were inspired by Argentine club Club Atlético Independiente.

In 1995 the club reached the Segunda Categoría (3rd Division) for the second time. After winning the Segunda Categoría in 2007, the club changed its name to Independiente del Valle and adopted the current colors (blue and black). Los Negriazules achieved promotion to the Serie A for the first time ever in the 2010 season, after winning the 2009 Serie B.

In the 2013 Serie A, the club finished runners-up on the aggregate table. Independiente del Valle made its first international participation that same year, in the 2013 Copa Sudamericana, where it was eliminated in the second stage by Universidad de Chile after having beat Venezuelan club Deportivo Anzoategui in the first stage. The next year, the Ecuadorian club made its first Copa Libertadores participation and second overall international participation, with the 2014 edition. In that edition, the club was eliminated after placing 3rd in their group.

In July 2014, the club officially changed its name from "Independiente del Valle" to Club de Alto Rendimiento Especializado Independiente del Valle. Although the club had changed its name already, it had never been made official by the Ecuadorian Football Federation until that point.

Independiente del Valle unexpectedly reached the finals of the 2016 Copa Libertadores with incredible odds, being compared to Leicester City's Premier League title that same year. Independiente began its knockout stage run by beating Copa Libertadores defending champions, Argentina's River Plate, in the round of 16 2–1 on aggregate. In the quarter-finals they defeated Pumas UNAM on penalties 5–3, after an aggregate score of 3–3. The club subsequently faced Argentina's giant Boca Juniors in the semi-final, defeating them 5–3 on aggregate, including a 3–2 victory at the famous La Bombonera stadium. These feats earned the team the nickname "matagigantes" (killer of giants). In the finals, the Ecuadorians faced Colombia's Atlético Nacional. In the first leg played at Estadio Olímpico Atahualpa on 20 July, the match finished 1–1. Independiente's fairy tale story came to a conclusion after a 1–0 loss in the second leg with the series ending 2–1 in favor of the Colombians.

In November 2019, Independiente del Valle played their first Copa Sudamericana final, and only its second ever CONMEBOL final, where they defeated Club Atlético Colón 3–1 in Asunción. This was the Ecuadorian club's first historic title. It was considered a major upset because Colón had a richer history and a much bigger fanbase, with around 40,000 fans at the stadium versus only 500 Ecuadorians.

In February 2020, the club lost the 2020 Recopa Sudamericana against the champion of the 2019 Copa Libertadores, Flamengo. The first leg in Quito was a 2–2 draw, but in the second leg at Estadio Maracana, Flamengo won 3–0 and became the champion with a 5–2 aggregate score.

Performance in CONMEBOL competitions

• Copa Libertadores: 8 appearances
  • 2014: Group Stage
  • 2015: First Stage
  • 2016: Runners-up
  • 2017: Second Qualifying stage
  • 2018: Second Qualifying stage
  • 2020: Round of 16
  • 2021: Group Stage
  • 2023: Round of 16
• Copa Sudamericana: 5 appearances
  • 2013: Second Stage
  • 2014: Second Stage
  • 2019: Champions
  • 2021: Round of 16
  • 2022: Champions
• Recopa Sudamericana: 2 appearances
  • 2020: Runners-up
  • 2023: Champions

Stadium

Estadio Rumiñahui was inaugurated in 1941 and has a capacity for 8,000 spectators.

For international tournaments the club use larger stadiums like the Estadio Olímpico Atahualpa in Quito that has a 38,500-capacity.

In March 2021, the club opened a new 12,000-capacity stadium called Estadio Banco Guayaquil. It meets modern FIFA standards and is able to hold international matches, unlike their old stadium. It also has three grandstands with a roof, compared to Estadio Rumiñahui, which only had one grandstand.

Reserve team

Main article: C.D. Independiente Juniors

Since 2018, the club has a reserve team in the Ecuadorian Serie B, formerly named Alianza Cotopaxi SC. After the promotion, the club changed name to C.D. Independiente Juniors.

Players

First-team squad

World Cup players

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

• Ecuador Moisés Ramírez (2022)

Players out on loan

Managers

Current technical staff

• Spain Javier Rabanal (head coach)
• Spain Felipe Sánchez Mateos (assistant coach)
• Spain Francisco Trujillo (fitness coach)
• Portugal Ricardo Pereira (goalkeeper coach)
• Colombia Luis Piedrahita (performance analyst)
• Ecuador Wendy Montiel (doctor)
• Ecuador Javier Echeverría (physiotherapist)
• Ecuador Camila Nájera (physiotherapist)
• Ecuador Junior Alcócer (equipment manager)
• Ecuador Francisco Alcócer (equipment assistant)

List of managers

• Ecuador Nelson Brito (2007 – April 26, 2008)
• Colombia Daniel Silguero (April 30, 2008 – November 8, 2008)
• Brazil Janio Pinto (November 8, 2008 – April 27, 2009)
• Argentina Guillermo Duró (May 11, 2010 – Sept 21, 2010)
• Argentina Julio Asad (Sept 22, 2010 – April 17, 2011)
• Ecuador Carlos Sevilla (April 17, 2011 – Sept 20, 2012)
• Ecuador Álvaro Carcelén (Sept 21, 2012 – Sept 30, 2012)
• Uruguay Pablo Repetto (Sept 25, 2012 – Jul 27, 2016)
• Colombia Alexis Mendoza (Jul 29, 2016 – Dec 6, 2017)
• Argentina Gabriel Schürrer (Dec 10, 2017 – 2018)
• Spain Ismael Rescalvo (Jun 28, 2018 – April 27, 2019)
• Ecuador Yuri Solano (April 27, 2019 – May 7, 2019)
• Spain Miguel Ángel Ramírez (May 7, 2019 – Dec 19, 2020)
• Portugal Renato Paiva (Dec 25, 2020 – May 30, 2022)
• Argentina Martín Anselmi (June 1, 2022 – Dec 31, 2023)
• Argentina Javier Gandolfi (Jan 1, 2024 – Dec 23, 2024)
• Spain Javier Rabanal (Dec 24, 2024 – present)

Honours

National

• Serie A
  • Winners (2): 2021, 2025
• Copa Ecuador
  • Winners (1): 2022
• Supercopa Ecuador
  • Winners (1): 2023
• Serie B
  • Winners (1): 2009
• Segunda Categoría
  • Winners (1): 2007

International

• Copa Libertadores
  • Runners-up (1): 2016
• Copa Sudamericana
  • Winners (2): 2019, 2022
• Recopa Sudamericana
  • Winners (1): 2023
  • Runners-up (1): 2020

Regional

• Copa Pichincha
  • Winners (2): 1978, 1995
• Segunda Categoría de Pichincha
  • Winners (2): 1997, 2007

Under-20 team

• U-20 Copa Libertadores
  • Winners (1): 2020
  • Runners-up (3): 2018, 2022, 2023

References

References

1. (15 June 2016). "Historia".
2. (20 July 2016). "Move over Leicester and Iceland: Libertadores hopeful Independiente del Valle is true fairy tale of 2016".
3. (9 November 2019). "Independiente del Valle es campeón de la Copa Sudamericana 2019".
4. Campo, Carlo. (20 July 2016). "From the underground: Independiente del Valle's rise is unprecedented in football".
5. (30 July 2014). "INDEPENDIENTE CAMBIA DE NOMBRE". Estadio.ec.
6. Duque, Mishell. (2016-07-16). "Copa Libertadores: Independiente del Valle, el Leicester de Ecuador".
7. (2016-07-15). "El camino de Independiente del Valle a la final de Copa Libertadores".
8. (24 May 2016). "Pumas, eliminado en penales ante Independiente del Valle".
9. (14 July 2016). "Independiente del Valle ganó 3-2 a Boca Juniors y se metió en la final de Copa Libertadores".
10. (23 April 2025). "Independiente del Valle, el terror moderno de los grandes de Argentina y cómo nació su apodo de 'matagigantes'".
11. (21 July 2016). "Ecuadorian Minnows Independiente Del Valle Are A Footballing Miracle".
12. Robinson, Tom. (2 August 2016). "Copa Libertadores 2016: Atletico Nacional deny Independiente del Valle fairytale ending".
13. (9 November 2019). "Independiente del Valle overcome all odds to win Copa Sudamericana".
14. (27 February 2020). "Flamengo conquista su primera CONMEBOL Recopa".
15. Guillén, Adrián. (19 February 2021). "(VIDEO) TODOS LOS DETALLES: IDV presentó su nuevo estadio".
16. "Plantilla de jugadores 2024".