Club Deportivo El Nacional

The 1990s El Nacional produced some of the greatest players in Ecuador and won two more championships in 1992 and 1996 with the help of Cléber Chalá, Agustín Delgado, and Oswaldo Ibarra. They also disputed the semi-finals of the Copa Conmebol 1992 and the 1994 edition. Present The current success of the team has added two more championships in 2005 and 2006, bringing their total to 13 titles. El Nacional has brought up talented players such as Antonio Valencia, Segundo Alejandro Castillo, Christian Benítez and Felix Borja. There have been plans to build a new stadium but no official decision has been taken yet. Former coach Juan Carlos Burbano resigned after an unsuccessful first stage in the league. Julio Asad was appointed head coach on 16 July 2009.In 2024 El Nacional won their biggest achievement in a long time with manager Marcelo Zuleta the team had won the Copa Ecuador. ==Stadium==

El Nacional play their home matches in the Estadio Olímpico Atahualpa. Plans have been enabled to build a new stadium, however no official decision has been taken. The management even showed the model of what the 42,000-seat stadium would look like. ==Supporters==

On 13 May 1998, a group of friends met and decided to form a highly dedicated barra brava called La Marea Roja (English: The Red Tide). Over the years, they aimed to integrate more people, and becoming better organized to be the largest fan group of El Nacional. It is made up of over 250 members, with members owning proper identification cards. La Marea Roja stands at the south part of the stadium for 90 minutes every game, which attracts adults, women and large numbers of children. ==Honours==

National • Serie A • Winners (13): 1967, 1973, 1976, 1977, 1978, 1982, 1983, 1984, 1986, 1992, 1996, 2005 Clausura, 2006 • Copa Ecuador • Winners (2): 1970, 2024 • Serie B • Winners (2): 1979 E2, 2022 ==Players==

Current squad World Cup players The following players were chosen to represent their country at the FIFA World Cup while contracted to El Nacional. • Juan Carlos Burbano (2002) • Cléber Chalá (2002) • Ángel Fernández (2002) • Oswaldo Ibarra (2002) • Christian Benítez (2006) • Félix Alexander Borja (2006) • Segundo Castillo (2006) • Jorge Guagua (2006) • Christian Lara (2006) • Adrián Bone (2014) ==Managers==

Noted managers The following managers won at least one trophy while in charge of El Nacional: • Vessilio Bártoli (won the 1967 Serie A) • Héctor Morales (first tenure, won the 1973 Serie A; second tenure, won the 1977 and 1978 Serie A) • Ernesto Guerra (won the 1976, 1982, and 1992 Serie A in three tenures) • Roberto Abrussezze (won the 1983, 1984, and 1986 Serie A) • Paulo Massa (won the 1996 Serie A) • Ever Hugo Almeida (won the 2005 Clausura & 2006 Serie A) ==References==