Cienciano

Cienciano
Full nameClub Cienciano
(Cienciano Club)
Nickname(s)El Papá de América
La Furia Roja
Escuadrón Rojo
Conjunto Incaico
Elenco Colegial
Los Imperiales
Rojos
Founded8 July 1901; 122 years ago (1901-07-08)
GroundInca Garcilaso de la Vega
Cusco, Peru
Capacity42,056
ChairmanSergio Ludeña
ManagerÓscar Ibáñez
LeagueLiga 1
2023Liga 1, 10th of 19
WebsiteClub website

Club Cienciano, more commonly known as Cienciano, is a Peruvian professional football club based in Cusco, that currently plays in the Peruvian Primera División.

The club was founded in 1901 by a group of students of the Colegio Nacional Ciencias del Cusco. They decided to give the club its name based on the word Ciencias, which means "Science".

It gained worldwide recognition after defeating River Plate in the finals of the 2003 Copa Sudamericana and Boca Juniors in the 2004 Recopa Sudamericana.[1] To this day, Cienciano is the only Peruvian club to win an international competition.[2]

History

Beginnings

Cienciano was founded on 8 July 1901 by a group of students from the National School of Science of Cusco (Colegio Nacional Ciencias del Cusco). It participated in several leagues and tournaments of the region.

In 1966 Hector Ladrón de Guevara was the inaugural Cienciano player to be named captain of the Peru national team. In 1972, it began to play in the Peruvian First Division; however, the club was relegated four years later.

In 1988, the FPF invited the club to play in a tournament of the southern region. In 1991, Cienciano won the tournament and in 1992 it once again played in the First Division.

The Golden age (2000–2007)

First League title

In 2001, Cienciano won its first title with the 2001 Torneo Clausura,[3] although it lost the superfinal (played between the winners of the Apertura and Clausura tournaments) to Alianza Lima.

Copa Sudamericana win

Freddy Ternero with Cienciano after winning the 2003 Copa Sudamericana

In 2003, Cienciano, led by Peruvian coach Freddy Ternero, qualified to the Copa Sudamericana for the first time in its history, after beating Sporting Cristal in an internal qualifying tournament. The team went through every later knockout round as the clear underdog defeating Peru's Alianza Lima, Chile's Universidad Católica, Colombia's Atlético Nacional (once Copa Libertadores champion) and Brazil's Santos (twice Copa Libertadores champion), to get to the finals. Once at the finals the team faced one of the biggest teams in South American football, River Plate of Argentina (twice Copa Libertadores champion). After a 3–3 draw in Buenos Aires, Cienciano went on to win 1–0 in Peru with a free-kick goal by Paraguayan defender Carlos Lugo, which put the aggregate score at 4–3 in its favor to win the final.[4] The game was played at Estadio de la UNSA in Arequipa (home of Cienciano's rivals Melgar, some of whose fans actually attended the match to root for River Plate) because of the insufficient capacity for a CONMEBOL final of the Estadio Garcilaso (which has been expanded since then).[5]

This was the first international championship for a Peruvian team in history; only two other Peruvian teams had advanced to the finals of an international tournament, which was in the Copa Libertadores (Universitario in 1972 and Sporting Cristal in 1997). Both teams were defeated in the finals. The win was considered a severe upset because Cienciano had never been the Peru national champion (the team did win one half-year tournament in 2001 but lost the national championship title through a penalty shootout to the winner of the second tournament, Alianza Lima, in the year in which both celebrated their centenary. The situation was repeated in 2006, but reversed: Cienciano won the second tournament but lost the final to Alianza Lima on aggregate.

Recopa Sudamericana win

After winning the Copa Sudamericana, Cienciano went on to play against Boca Juniors of Argentina, another South American giant, for the 2004 Recopa Sudamericana, this being just one match, much like the UEFA Super Cup, which was disputed between the winners of both South American Cups of the previous season: the Copa Sudamericana and the Copa Libertadores. After a 1–1 draw, Cienciano went on to win the title 4–2 on penalties. The match was played at Lockhart Stadium in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.[2][6]

More league titles and superfinal runner-ups

In 2005, the Cusco-based club won the Torneo Apertura, but lost the superfinal to Sporting Cristal. The following year, it won the 2006 Clausura, but lost the superfinal again to Alianza Lima, the same team that had beaten them in the 2001 national championship final.

Relegation and comeback

Cienciano against Santos F.C when Cienciano got promoted to the Liga 1

In 2015, the club was relegated after finishing in the bottom three of the aggregate table. The club finished third and was one point off from the title play-off in the 2016 season. In 2018, the club won third place in the league and participated in the promotion play off group, where the top two teams get promoted to the 2019 Liga 1. Cienciano placed third with four points. In 2019, it was finally promoted back to the first division after winning the 2019 Liga 2.

Rivalries

Cienciano has had a long-standing rivalry with FBC Melgar, Cusco FC and Deportivo Garcilaso. Ciencianos rivalry with Deportivo Garcilaso, along with Cusco FC, is known as the Clásico Cusqueño.

Clásico del Sur

Cienciano also has another rivalry with Melgar known as Clásico del sur. Cienciano has a total of 42 wins, with Melgar having 25. The largest defeat was in 1990, where Cienciano lost 5-0. Ciencianos largest result against Melgar was a home win of 5-2 in 2000. Both teams are one of the oldest in Peru.

Stadium

Cienciano plays its home games in Estadio Garcilaso de la Vega which is in Cusco. It was named after the Peruvian Inca Garcilaso de la Vega. When first inaugurated in 1950, it had a spectator capacity of 22,000 and had a running track. In 2004, the stadium's capacity was expanded to 42,000, losing its running track, because of Cienciano's success in international tournaments and it would be a venue in the 2004 Copa América. The stadium hosted only one match of the tournament, being the third place play-off between Uruguay and Colombia. A renovation plan was set in 2013, giving the stadium a more clean look and expanding it to 45,000. It is the fourth largest stadium in Peru. Cienciano shares the stadium with city rivals Deportivo Garcilaso and Cusco FC.

Estadio Inca Garcilaso de la Vega.

Current squad

As of 31 January, 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 Peru PER Jeferson Nolasco
2 DF Peru PER Leonardo Rugel
3 DF Argentina ARG Marcelo Benítez
4 DF Peru PER Jefferson Portales
5 MF Peru PER Leonardo Mifflin
6 DF Peru PER Paolo Fuentes
7 DF Peru PER Josué Estrada
8 MF Peru PER Didier La Torre
9 FW Argentina ARG Danilo Carando
10 FW Argentina ARG Gonzalo Ritacco
11 FW Argentina ARG Juan Romagnoli
13 DF Colombia COL Germán Mera
14 MF Peru PER Claudio Torrejón
16 DF Peru PER Orlando Núñez
No. Pos. Nation Player
17 DF Peru PER Jordan Guivin
18 FW Peru PER Sharif Ramírez
20 FW Peru PER Alexander Lecaros
21 FW Ecuador ECU Carlos Garcés
22 MF Peru PER Aldair Rodríguez
23 GK Peru PER Denzel Caña
27 DF Panama PAN Abdiel Ayarza
29 DF Peru PER Franco Medina
31 GK Peru PER Ítalo Espinoza
32 MF Peru PER Harol Rodríguez
33 MF Paraguay PAR Yván Rojas
35 DF Peru PER Gilmar Paredes
55 MF Argentina ARG Alfredo Ramúa

Honours

Senior titles

Keys
  •   Record
  • (s) Shared record
Type Competition Titles Winning years
Half-year / Short
tournament

(League)
Torneo Apertura 1
Torneo Clausura 2
International
(Cup)
Copa Sudamericana 1 2003
Recopa Sudamericana 1 2004

Other titles

Titles won in lower divisions:

Type Competition Titles Winning years
National
(League)
Segunda División 1 2019

Regional

Winners (28): 1903, 1912, 1913, 1914, 1915, 1924, 1927, 1928, 1929, 1931, 1936, 1944, 1945, 1948, 1952, 1954, 1955, 1956, 1959, 1961, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1966, 1967, 1972, 1981, 1983

Friendly National

Winners (2): 2004, 2005
Runner-up (1): 2007

Performance in CONMEBOL competitions

2002: Round of 16
2004: First Round
2005: Preliminary Round
2006: Second Round
2007: Second Round
2008: Second Round
2003: Winner
2004: Preliminary Round
2009: Round of 16
2022: First Stage
2023: First Stage
2004: Winner

Notable players

Managers

See also

References

  1. ^ "Los once de los Andes". elperuano.pe (in Spanish). 13 December 2015. Archived from the original on 13 September 2021. Retrieved 13 September 2021.
  2. ^ a b "Cienciano conmemoró 15 años del título de la Recopa Sudamericana 2004". americadeportes (in Spanish). 8 September 2019. Archived from the original on 13 September 2021. Retrieved 13 September 2021.
  3. ^ "Cienciano – Estudiantes de Medicina 2001: Sin capital de por medio – De Chalaca | Futbol para el que la conoce". dechalaca.com. Retrieved 17 August 2022.
  4. ^ "Cienciano y la vez que silenció a River Plate en Argentina por la Sudamericana". larepublica.pe (in Spanish). 10 December 2020. Archived from the original on 10 December 2020. Retrieved 13 September 2021.
  5. ^ "17 aniversario de Cienciano campeón de la Sudamericana". AS Perú (in Spanish). 19 December 2020. Retrieved 13 September 2021.
  6. ^ "Cienciano campeón de la Recopa 2004". Conmebol.com (in Spanish). 9 September 2015. Archived from the original on 14 March 2017. Retrieved 13 September 2021.

External links

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Cienciano&oldid=1214094929"