Mapabore Juventud
| Full name | Club Juventud de Mapabore |
|---|---|
| Stadium |
Estadio Paridos |
| Capacity |
34,000 |
| Shirt Sponsor | Orroya |
| Colors | red and yellow |
Mapabore Juventud is a football team in Mapabore, Aguazul; they currently compete in the first division of the Liga Aguazuleña. They won Globe Cup 21 and the thirteenth Liga Aguazuleña season, and came second in TakilQuip Champions’ Cup 18, the first finalist from an association that did not participate in the inaugural tournament. Their home stadium, Estadio Paridos, was the site of the Globe Cup 12 final.
Contents |
History
The team was originally the brainchild of Luis Canesa, who correctly reasoned that young talent would be comparatively inexpensive. The original Juventud played individualistic and highly attacking football, drawing in plenty of fans as their neighbors, the by-then-anachronistic Proclo Águila, continued a slow decline. Unfortunately, Juventud's results were rarely as positive as their play was exciting. And despite all the money they raked in, they couldn't hold on to many of their best players. After several torrid seasons, the team quickly settled into the second division.
With Canesa having ceased interest in the club's day-to-day operations, his protege Caton Pelaez took over. The new-look team was still attacking, but presented a more sober outlook. While some fans were disgruntled, Mapabore was eventually able to return to the first-division. There they were a mediocre side, occasionally threatening the top half but never extraordinary.
Juventud were perhaps quicker to notice the league's financial troubles than other teams, returning to its roots of developing cheap talent. This led to a highly inconsistent side in the Liga Nacional's final years, however, with lots of turnover as potential stars were snapped up by temporarily-richer clubs. The team spent the last few seasons of the Liga Nacional oscillating between the first two divisions.
The Liga Aguazuleña
When the Liga Aguazuleña began, Mapabore were placed in the second division. By that time, their identity as a youth squad was almost nonexistent--by far the biggest club in the city, they represented it more than any particular tactical style of football. The side developed calmly for four seasons, until Apertura 3, when they were a decidedly veteran team. They finished second in the second division, and qualified for Samseong Series B Champions’ Cup 8.
Juventud's first-ever international match was a 2-0 defeat of the Kitsilano Konquerors, winners of SBCC6. The second leg of the round, however, saw the Konquerors repeat the same scoreline before an extra-time goal eliminated Juventud. They turned their attentions toward promotion, and, despite a less-successful Clausura, they finished second in the overall division. This set up a playoff clash with Deportivo Peralta, who had been performing poorly at home. The playoff was no exception; Mapabore triumphed to progress to the top flight.
The first division
Mapabore outscored most of the first division in their first season there, but outconceded all of it to wind up in last place at the end of the Apertura. While they were just as bad the next season, Fábricas were even worse, allowing Juventud to wind up second-to-last. Returning to the playoffs, they won 2-1 again to stay in the first division.
While they weren't expected to do much more than battle for survival, Mapabore's crisp defense helped them come fourth in Apertura 5. They were Aguazul's only representative in the Globe Cup group stages, coming in third in group H. In season ten, they were fifth, coming out in front of a three-way logjam in the middle of the table and qualifying for Globe Cup 13, where they were quickly eliminated by Football Nordiqueville.
Capable at last of staying in the top flight, Juventud quickly set greater goals. In Apertura 6, crisp counterattack and excellence at home sent them to second place, a point behind Trecelunas FC. They qualified for the group stage of TQCC17 by defeating Club Stein-los and Fedala Imperial. Two draws with Petardos S/A were their only points of the group stage, however. They remained strong in the next domestic season, ultimately finishing third. The stage was set for a historic run.
Global glory
The preliminary rounds of TQCC18 were taut affairs for Mapabore; they needed an extra-time goal to defeat Club ESF, and only defeated Psychiatrists on away goals. The group stage would also require tiebreakers; though they finished with the worst goal differential of the three teams who had tied for ten points, Mapabore's superior head-to-head record allowed them to top Group B. Though they lost their first match against the Naquada Falls Demons 2-0, they won their second by the same margin before advancing on penalty kicks. Merpisms CE were defeated in regulation, and Sonoma Center Panthers' 3-2 victory was outweighed by a 3-1 win for Mapabore. Nevertheless, Yuba United would win the final 1-0, becoming the first team to win three titles.
Nevertheless, Mapabore's momentum--and ability to make the best of draws--carried with them into season thirteen. They lost only one game, drew ten, and won the league title, the first team to do so that had not begun in the first division. Several high-scoring victories let Mapabore top group G of TQCC19, but they lost their first knockout matches to Qidade Savana. The team's success meant that several players were called to the national team, which in turn led to split energies during season fourteen. Mapabore came sixth and were quickly eliminated from the Copa Nacional, and some of the players who had achieved so much during the TQCC18 run were cleared away for a new generation.
They were back to third in season fifteen, qualifying for TQCC21...from which they were quickly eliminated by Huellim FE. Mapabore defeated Monteriano upon their arrival in Globe Cup 18, but came third in their group. They placed second in the league the following season and topped Group B of TQCC22, conceding but four goals in the latter process. In the first knockout round, Mapabore beat Hatton Town 4-1; in the quarterfinals, however, another set of Ad’ihanis (Tallyn Rovers) would advance by the same scoreline.
Mapabore were relatively successful on the road the following season, earning five of their seven wins away from home. They emerged in the middle of a three-way tie for fourth place. In Globe Cup 20, they defeated Romans, Hartford United, and Avenell Garrison before topping Group H. A quiet 1-1 draw against Char Sara FC in the round of 32 set up a 4-3 second leg win for Mapabore, but Black Oasis Athletic eliminated them in the Oitavas-de-final. Mapabore rattled off six straight wins to begin season 18. They only amassed three more (and just one draw) in the ensuing twelve games, but it was still enough to come third in the league.
Mapabore began Globe Cup 21 by losing to the Woodstock Wild, but rallied back to advance on another tiebreaker (an away goal) and topped Group A without defeat. The first knockout round pitted them against none other than Naquada Falls; that time, there would be no regulation scoring in either leg, but Mapabore won the penalty shootout. Psychiatrists and Caires City were both felled with 2-0 home victories preceding 1-1 road draws, and the tiebreakers worked out again when Mapabore scored three away goals to beat Qidade Savana in the semifinals. The final pitted Mapabore against El Nacional; Osmundo Sámarez' header, fifteen minutes in, was all the scoring there would be. (Mapabore were, correspondingly, the first finalist never mind champion from an association that had not participated in Globe Cup 1.) They drew with Gamboa FC to open Super Cup 21 before losing to Albrecht FC.
And beyond
Mapabore came second in season nineteen, with the Globe Cup title still a point of pride; they were invited to Aeropag Football Invitational 6 as a result of winning that title, but bureaucratic ineptitude on Mapabore's end forestalled team participation. Instead, they focused on TQCC25 (where they finished last in their group) and then the domestic season (where they finished eighth).
Hoping to jolt the offense awake, Mapabore Juventud signed mercurial striker Gunsedal Cisneros before season twenty-one. This paid off, as they rose to third, and that only on one goal of differential behind Alianza Ciruelas. In Globe Cup 24, they beat Volerander FC to make the group stage, where they finished second. Though they beat Beningrad, Psychiatrists would defeat Mapabore without need for tiebreakers. Mapabore came third (again, without tiebreakers) again in the Clausura.
