Club Nacional

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Nacional
Badge of Nacional
Full nameClub Nacional de Fútbol
Nickname(s)La Academia (The Academy), Los Albos (The Whites)
Founded1918
GroundCity of Metropolis Stadium, Metropolis
Ground Capacity47,826
ChairmanAdrián Domínguez
ManagerJonathan Bosetti
LeagueValladar Liga-1
Liga-1 663rd

Club Nacional de Fútbol, best known as Nacional, is a professional Valladar football club based in the Obrero neighborhood of Metropolis, who play in the Valladar Liga-1, the highest level of the Valladar football league system. It was established in 1918 by students from the Colegio Hispánico Nacional (National Hispanic School), one of the oldest schools in the nation. They play their home matches at the City of Metropolis Stadium, able to seat 47,826 people and located in the Poblado neighborhood in the eastern zone of the Valladar federal capital.

The club is known for its historical criollo policy of only signing players native to Valladares which dates back to the club's origins, as well as its strong reliance on homegrown players, bringing footballers through its youth ranks, best known as the famed Guzmán-Cress Academy, which takes part in the Torneo Federal de Reservas as the club's reserve side and promotes players to the club's first team.

Up to the 66th Valladar Liga-1 season, Nacional are ranked fifth for most Valladar Liga-1 championships, having 5 titles to their name. They have also won the Kings' Shield five times, the Canalave Crown twice, and the Torneo de Verano once, for a total of 13 domestic titles. Nacional have fierce rivalries with fellow Metropolis clubs Metropolis Alligators, Marinos Metropolis, and Bohemians Metropolis both on geographical and historical grounds. The club's traditional kit colour is white, with red and blue (the institutional colours of the Colegio Hispánico Nacional) being the first colour choice for alternate kits.

History

Stadium

Ownership

Supporters and rivalries

Hailing from one of Metropolis' most traditional middle-class boroughs (Obrero), historically Nacional have had their fanbase heavily concentrated there as well as in nearby sectors with a similar social background such as Fundadores, Colonia, La Reserva, and Poblado, although the emergence of Marinos Metropolis in the late 60s in nearby Parque Rushmore has led to the latter side encroaching on those historical Albo strongholds thus giving birth to the South Metropolis Derby between both sides, which has soared in popularity as of late due to the recent success of both contenders. Nacional also contest two history-heavy rivalries: the Derby Añejo against Metropolis Alligators, the leading representative of northern Metropolis, and the Duelo Abuelo against Bohemians Metropolis, while the Clásico del Sur against AD Cerro emerged as a modern rivalry as both sides found themselves groundsharing Cerro's home stadium for some time.

Guzmán-Cress Academy

Guzmán-Cress Academy crest.

The Guzmán-Cress Academy, named after Guido Guzmán and Joseph Cress, early club members and main proponents of the criollo policy, is the youth setup of Nacional. Based in Metropolis, but with branches and feeder clubs in nearly every town of Greater Metropolis, as well as Carloburgo, Eterna City, Campo Grande, and Bezieres, it develops players from childhood through to the integration of the best prospects into the senior squad of the club.

The Academy is made up of several categories which prospective players go through, with boys entering the Academy from Metropolis and the different branches throughout Valladares being first introduced into the Baby and Pony teams at around 8 or 9 years of age and advancing by an age group every season through the Juvenil levels. The final category within the youth structure is the Under-19 team, which is also known as the main Guzmán-Cress Academy team and represents Nacional in both national and international competition at that age level. The successful graduates then move to the Nacional's senior team. There are collaboration agreements in place with other smaller clubs from the Metropolis state league, whose staff collaborate with Academy scouts to identify any standout talents emerging at each stage, and also allow some players who were closer to reach promotion to Nacional's senior squad to join their teams in order to get some additional experience to be considered for promotion at the end of the season.

The Guzmán-Cress Academy represents Nacional at the Torneo Federal de Reservas organized by the Liga Federal de Valladares and is the most successful team in the competition, having won the tournament seven times.

Club honours

Nacional honours
Type Competition Titles Editions
Domestic Valladar Liga-1 5 7, 12, 30, 55, 56
King's Shield 5 13, 21, 42, 54, 55
Canalave Crown 2 24, 33
Torneo de Verano 1 5
International Cup Winners' Cup 1 58
  •   record

Players

First-team squad

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under World Cup Committee eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-WCC nationality.

No. Position Player
1 Valladares GK Francisco Castrillón
2 Valladares RB Gonzalo Peralta
3 Valladares CB Daniel Martin
4 Valladares CB Diego Monges
5 Valladares LB Marcos Lima
6 Valladares RM Rafael Acuña
7 Valladares CM Bruno Melo
8 Valladares LM Joaquín Materón (captain)
9 Valladares AM Óscar Barrera
10 Valladares FW Fabricio Tello
11 Valladares FW Marcelo Ponce
12 Valladares GK Alfredo Guerra
13 Valladares RB Harold Vásquez
No. Position Player
14 Valladares CB Matías Fuentes
15 Valladares CB Alejandro Salcedo
16 Valladares LB Lorenzo Ocampo
17 Valladares RM Pablo Cadavid
18 Valladares CM Agustín Mallone
19 Valladares CM Santiago Zamorano
20 Valladares LM Reinaldo Freitas
21 Valladares FW Ángel Prost
22 Valladares FW Damián Bernal
23 Valladares GK Andrés Navarro
24 Valladares AM Franco Becker
25 Valladares LM Juan Camilo Franco

Out on loan

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under World Cup Committee eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-WCC nationality.

No. Position Player
File:Flag placeholder.svg

Notable players

See also: List of Club Nacional players

Management

Name Role
Chairman Valladares Adrián Domínguez
Director of Football Valladares Walter Herrera
Manager Valladares Jonathan Bosetti
Assistant Manager Valladares Sandro Méndez
GCA Manager Valladares Roberto Posso