Independiente Medellin

Deportivo Independiente Medellin, also known as DIM or Independiente Medellin, is a Colombian professional football team based in Medellin that currently plays in the Categoria Primera A. They play their home games at Estadio Atanasio Girardot, which seats 40,943 people.

Founded in 1913, Independiente Medellin has won the Categoria Primera A six times: in 1955, 1957, 2002–II, 2004–I, 2009–II and 2016–I, and the Copa Colombia three times: in 1981, 2019, and 2020. Its best performance at international level was in 2003, when the team reached the semifinals of the Copa Libertadores.

History

Independiente Medellin was founded on 14 November 1913 under the name of Medellin Foot Ball Club by siblings Alberto, Luis and Rafael Uribe Piedrahita. The team played its first match with an amateur team called Sporting of Medellin, who defeated them 11–0. In 1948, Medellin joined professional football and played the first edition of the league. Medellin placed seventh out of ten teams, winning seven matches. Their first match was a 4–0 defeat against America de Cali. Their first win was 3–2 against Junior.

The next decade, Medellin signed Peruvian Segundo Castillo Varela, who won the 1939 South American Championship, the first title of his country, in a movement of what was known as El Dorado, when Colombian teams signed many foreign footballers. Medellin did not play in 1952 and 1953 due to economic problems. The team won its first title in the 1955 Campeonato Profesional. The team finished first with 31 points and just one defeat. Argentine Felipe Marino was the top goalscorer of the team and the tournament, with 22 goals. The team won its second title two years later, in 1957, with almost the same players as the previous seasons. Jose Vicente Grecco was the top scorer of the tournament.

In 1966, Medellin achieved their first ever qualification for the Copa Libertadores. They played against Argentine sides Racing de Avellaneda and River Plate, Bolivian teams 31 de Octubre and Bolivar,

This page also has a version in other languages :  Индепендьенте (Медельин) (russian)