Club Deportivo El Nacional
 |
|
| Full name | Club Especializado de Alto Rendimiento El Nacional |
|---|---|
| Nickname(s) |
Puros Criollos (Pure Criollos) Equipo Militar (Military team) La Maquina Gris (The Gray Machine) El Rojo (The Red) |
| Founded | June 1, 1964 |
| Ground | Estadio Olímpico Atahualpa |
| Capacity | 35,742 |
| Chairman | Tito Manjarrez |
| Manager | Eduardo Favaro |
| League | Serie A |
| 2016 | 3rd |
| Website | www |
Club Deportivo El Nacional is an Ecuadorian sports club from Quito, known best for their professional football team. The team currently plays in the Serie A, the top-flight football league in the country.
El Nacional has thirteen national championships (one less than Barcelona). The club has participated in more Copa Libertadores than any other club in Ecuador with 22 appearances. Their best performance in the continental tournament was as a semi-finalist in 1985.
El Nacional was founded on June 1, 1964, and was administered by the Ecuadorian Military since the foundation until 2013, when the club celebrates his first ever democratic elections. The club has maintained a tradition of only playing Ecuadorian footballers, which has given them the nickname of Puros Criollos ("Pure Natives"). Rival clubs included crosstown clubs LDU Quito, Deportivo Quito, Universidad Católica and the Guayaquileans Barcelona and Emelec. Their home stadium is Estadio Olímpico Atahualpa.
Other sports the organization participates in are gymnastics, table tennis, Ecuavolley, chess, and shooting.
In the 1970s, El Nacional was able to achieve what no Ecuadorian team had done in the history of the league. In 1976, 1977, 1978 they were unbeatable champions. Fabián Paz y Miño stepped up as the leading goal scorer in the league in 1977 to help El Nacional during those three years of glory. In 1982, 1983, 1984 El Nacional repeated this feat to become double three time championship winners. Their title count became eight. This was gained by help from two legendary players Jose Villafuerte and Ermen Benitez. In 1985 they accomplished their most important feat in international competition reaching semi-finals in the Copa Libertadores. One year later they added to their titles by being crowned for the ninth time in their history.
...
Wikipedia