Club de Alto Rendimiento Especializado Independiente del Valle, known simply as Independiente del Valle or Independiente, is a football club based in Sangolquí, Ecuador. It was founded on March 1, 1958 and is currently participating in the Serie A. In the 2013 season Independiente was runner-up of the Serie A, reached the final of the 2016 Copa Libertadores after defeating River Plate, Pumas UNAM and Boca Juniors and won the 2019 Copa Sudamericana.
History
The club was founded on 1 March 1958 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 Independiente José Terán in honor of its founder. The name and initial club colors were inspired by the Club Atlético Independiente. The club was named and still registered at the Federación Ecuatoriana de Fútbol as Club Social y Deportivo Independiente José Terán, the team is advertised as "Independiente del Valle" for marketing purposes. In 1995 the club achieved the Segunda Categoría for the second time. In the 2006 season, staying in the same category, the club changed its trade name to Independiente del Valle and adopted the current colors. The club achieved the Ecuadorian Serie A, for the first time in the 2010 season. On the 2016 season, Independiente del Valle reached the final of the 2016 Copa Libertadores. Independiente had previously defeated Copa Libertadores defending champions, Argentina's River Plate in the round of 16 with a 2–1 in the aggregate. In the quarter-finals defeated Pumas UNAM in the penalty shoot-out. The aggregate score was 3–3 but Independiente won on penalties 5–3. The club subsequently face Argentina's giant Boca Juniors in the semi-final in July defeating Boca Juniors 5–3 on the aggregate. In the final's first leg in Quito, Independiente drew 1–1 against Colombia's Atlético Nacional. Independiente's fairy tale story came to a conclusion after a 1–0 loss in the second leg with the series ending 2–1 favouring the Colombians. In November 2019, Independiente del Valle played the Copa Sudamericana final where they defeated Colon de Santa Fe 3-1. This was their first ever historic title.
Stadium
The Rumiñahui Stadium is a multi-purpose stadium. It is located between the streetsGonzales Suarez and Eloy Alfaro in the city of Sangolquí. It was inaugurated on 30 May 1941 and it is used mainly for playing football. It has capacity for 7,233 spectators and for international tournaments the club use the Estadio Olímpico Atahualpa in Quito with a capacity of 38,500 spectators. The stadium plays an important role in local football, as also sangolquileños clubs like Clan Juvenil make this local sports scene.
Centro de Alto Rendimiento
The club has its own training center located in Sangolquí and which is called Centro de Alto Rendimiento, that has seven soccer fields, one of them with artificial grass. The training center also has rooms to accommodate players, dining room, parking, a gym, indoor pool and administrative offices.
Reserve team
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.
