Club de Deportes Cobresal or simply Cobresal, is a Chilean football club based in El Salvador,

Atacama The Atacama Desert ( es, Desierto de Atacama) is a desert plateau in South America covering a 1,600 km (990 mi) strip of land on the Pacific coast, west of the Andes Mountains. The Atacama Desert is the driest nonpolar desert in the w ...

, a Chilean mining camp, and participates in Campeonato Nacional. The team was founded on 5 May 1979, and the name of the club comes from the local

copper Copper is a chemical element with the symbol Cu (from la, cuprum) and atomic number 29. It is a soft, malleable, and ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. A freshly exposed surface of pure copper has a pinkis ...

mine establishment. Since its inception, the club has played its home games at the El Cobre Stadium. With a capacity of approximately 12,000, the stadium is able to seat more than the entire population of the town (7,000). During the history of Cobresal, the club has been champion once ( 2015 Clausura) and achieved one

Copa Chile The Copa Chile (''Chile Cup'') is an annual cup competition for Chilean football teams. Due to time constraints and club pressure, the trophy was cancelled in 2000, but returned in 2008. Its precursor was the Campeonato de Apertura (''Opening Ch ...

title in 1987, with players like the Chilean legend Iván Zamorano, Rubén Martínez and the club's historic top-scorer Sergio Salgado, footballers that also played in the

1986 Copa Libertadores The 1986 Copa Libertadores was the 27th edition of the Copa Libertadores, CONMEBOL's annual international club tournament. River Plate won the competition for the first time ever. Group stage Group 1 Group 2 Group 3 Group 4 ...

, in the first international tournament for the club. Cobresal's classic rival was Regional Atacama, where both teams disputed the III Region derby, but since the disappearance of that team as a result of financial problems, the team now plays the Copper derby with Cobreloa of Calama. Another important rivalry has been formed with another team from the Atacama region, Deportes Copiapó.

Club history

First seasons

On 5 May 1979, Cobresal was officially founded as an amateur club, with Luis Sugarret as the first president. The club began to play friendly matches in preparation for the first game of the club against a professional team. On 14 June, the club played the first match of its history against Incabus of

Diego de Almagro Diego de Almagro (; – July 8, 1538), also known as El Adelantado and El Viejo, was a Spanish conquistador known for his exploits in western South America. He participated with Francisco Pizarro in the Spanish conquest of Peru. While subd ...

, debuting with a 3–2 win, playing in August of that year against the professional team of

Coquimbo Unido Coquimbo Unido is a Chilean football club based in the city of Coquimbo. The club was founded August 30, 1958 and will play in the Chilean Primera División on 2022. Their home games are played at the Estadio Municipal Francisco Sánchez Rumoroso ...

, where Cobresal drew 3–3, playing of very well form. On 14 December 1979, Cobresal postulated to the National Association of Professional football for play in the

Second Division In sport, the Second Division, also called Division 2 or Division II is usually the second highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Following the rise of Premier League style compet ...

. For this was necessary that the Club Deportivo Hospital, a club of El Salvador, a mining camp of the Atacama Region, offered its affiliation to the

ANFA Anfa (Berber language: ''Anfa'' or ''Anaffa'', ⴰⵏⴼⴰ; ar, أنفا; es, Anafe; pt, Anafé) was the ancient toponym for Casablanca during the classical period. The city was founded by Berbers around the 10th century BC, with the Romans un ...

. Finally, on 26 February 1980, the incorporation of Cobresal was confirmed to the Second division as a professional team. In 1980, Cobresal kicked off its inaugural season in the Second Division at the Luis Valenzuela Hermosilla Stadium with a 2–1 away defeat to Regional Atacama on 20 April, with goals of Franklin Lobos and Rubén Gonzáles, under the guidance of Cobresal's first head coach Juan Zárate. The club's first professional victory was a 2–1 win over

Ñublense Club Deportivo Ñublense () is a professional football team based in Chillán, Ñuble Region, Chile. The club was formed in 1916 under the name of Liceo Fútbol Club. They compete in Chile's Primera División league. History Amateur era Ñub ...

for the sixth round of the tournament. Cobresal finished his first season in the 14th place with 39 points. After a regular 1981 season, finishing in 10th place of the table, the next season thanks to the 5th place achieved, Cobresal qualified to the Promotion play-offs and the club was promoted to the Chilean Primera División, under the guidance of Manuel Rodríguez Araneda. The club debuted in the Primera División with a 1–0 win over Arturo Fernández Vial at Concepción. However, Cobresal had the best season of its history finishing in the second place of the Group A, qualifying to the Championship play-offs. In the play-offs, Cobresal was runner-up of the tournament, achieving the second place under only two points of Universidad Católica. The 1985 season, the team qualified to the

liguilla, and qualify to the first international tournament in its history, having in the 1986 year the most successful season in the history of the club, the next season, Cobresal won its first

title in 1987 with players like Iván Zamorano, Rubén Martínez and Sergio Salgado. After the success in their last seasons, in 1989 suffered the departure Zamorano and Martínez.

The complicated 1990s

Cobresal began the 1990s with the left foot, when the club was relegated to the Primera B in 1992, after an eight-year stay in the topflight. For the next season, the club signed again to Manuel Rodríguez Araneda as coach, who achieves the mission of return to Cobresal to the Chilean Primera División, but being relegated again for the poor season of the club in the 15th place, after losing the Promotion play-offs. With the signing of Sergio Nichiporuk on replace of Rodríguez, the club after two good season in Primera B, returned to the first tier of the Chilean football in 1998, being champion of the tournament of notable form not losing any match in the 1997 season, but again lost the category of be defeated 7–5 by

Provincial Osorno Provincial Osorno is a association football, football club based in Osorno, Chile, Osorno, Los Lagos Region, Chile. The club is currently playing at the fourth tier of the Chilean football system, the Chilean Tercera División, Tercera División ...

in the aggregate result, via the Promotion play-offs. Finally, in 2001, thanks to the coach

Jorge Socías Jorge Luis Socías Tuset (born 26 October 1951)Jorge Socías
FBref is a Chilean Primera División.

Successful seasons in the Primera División

With Socías at the bench for the 2002 Apertura Tournament, Cobresal won his first match since his return to the first division, 2–1 to

Santiago Morning Club de Deportes Santiago Morning (popularly known as Chaguito Morning or Morning) is a Chilean professional football club based in Recoleta, Santiago. They compete in the Primera B. Santiago Morning was one of Primera División de Chile found ...

as visitor with goals of André Gómez and Jorge Baeza, receiving a goal of Carlos Cáceres from the other side. After a game win to Rangers, the club lost 4–1 their first game in the tournament against

Unión San Felipe Unión San Felipe is a Chilean Football club, their hometown is San Felipe in the V Región of Valparaíso. They play in the second level of the Chilean football league, the Primera B. They were the Copa Chile champions, and played the 2010 C ...

with a

hat-trick A hat-trick or hat trick is the achievement of a generally positive feat three times in a match, or another achievement based on the number three. Origin The term first appeared in 1858 in cricket, to describe H. H. Stephenson taking three wic ...

of Francis Ferrero and a goal Cristian Leiva, and a goal of Jorge Baeza for Cobresal. The club began to lose the games that disputed and made a poor season finishing last of his group in the fifth place with 12 points. After the bad season in the Apertura, in the next tournament still with Socías as coach, Cobresal reached the

play-offs The playoffs, play-offs, postseason or finals of a sports league are a competition played after the regular season by the top competitors to determine the league champion or a similar accolade. Depending on the league, the playoffs may be eithe ...

quarter-finals, being eliminated by

Colo-Colo Club Social y Deportivo Colo-Colo () is a Chilean professional football club based in Macul, Santiago. Founded in 1925 by David Arellano they play in the Chilean Primera División, from which they have never been relegated. The team has pla ...

, who finished be the champion of the Clausura. After the departure of

Jorge Socías Jorge Luis Socías Tuset (born 26 October 1951)Jorge Socías
FBref is a coach, a former footballer of the club that played at Cobresal during the 1980s. After two defeats in the tournament, against

Unión Española Club Unión Española S.A.D.P. is a professional football club based in the Independencia neighborhood, commune of Santiago, Chile. They currently participate in the Primera División de Chile. It has a branch of women's football, and competes ...

reached its first victory in the 2003 Apertura Tournament. They won 5–1 in home condition with goals of Juan Silva, Pedro Rivera, the

Uruguay Uruguay (; ), officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay ( es, República Oriental del Uruguay), is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast; while bordering ...

an centre back Alejandro Acosta, Damián Araya and Víctor González at El Cobre Stadium. The next week, Cobresal achieved an important 0–0 away draw with Universidad Católica at San Carlos. After the draw with Católica in

Santiago Santiago (, ; ), also known as Santiago de Chile, is the capital and largest city of Chile as well as one of the largest cities in the Americas. It is the center of Chile's most densely populated region, the Santiago Metropolitan Region, whos ...

, the club did not lose several matches, in where the most important results were a 4–0 home win over

and a 3–3 draw in the same condition with

Universidad de Chile The University of Chile ( es, Universidad de Chile) is a public research university in Santiago, Chile. It was founded on November 19, 1842, and inaugurated on September 17, 1843.

, that had good players like Mauricio Pinilla, Faustino Asprilla, Waldo Ponce and

Marcos González Marcos Andrés González Salazar (born 9 June 1980) is a Brazilian born Chilean professional football defender. Although born in Brazil, he moved to Santiago aged two and has Chilean citizenship. Noteworthy, he has scored in all the team which ...

. On 23 May, Cobresal achieved a very important victory 1–0 to

, who had as a key player to the former player of the club Iván Zamorano (aged 35 in 2003), who was an historic footballer in the club's short history at the moment. The club made a good campaign in the Apertura, qualifying in the 7th place of the table to the play-offs, winning in the first round to Colo-Colo, qualifying of rare form both teams, because the adversary of Cobresal qualified as best loser along with

Huachipato Club Deportivo Huachipato is a Chilean football club based in Talcahuano that is a current member of the Chilean Primera División. The club was founded 7 June 1947 and plays its home games at the Estadio CAP, which has a capacity of 10,500 p ...

, but in the next round the team was eliminated of the contest after a 7–1 loss with

Universidad de Concepción Universidad (Spanish for "university") may refer to: Places * Universidad, San Juan, Puerto Rico * Universidad (Madrid) Football clubs * Universidad SC, a Guatemalan football club that represents the Universidad de San Carlos de Guatemala ...

. After the Huerta's departure of Cobresal, who accepted a bid of the Bolivian side Bolívar, arrived the coach Julio Acuña on his replace. Acuña reached the Clausura Tournament's semi-finals, being eliminated by

at the Estadio Monumental with goals of Silvio Fernández Dos Santos in the 81st minute and in the 83rd minute. If Cobresal won the semi-finals key, could have faced to his rival Cobreloa in the Clausura's tournament. In the 2004 season, after the bad results of Acuña, for the Clausura Tournament, the club re–signed to Huerta and achieved that Cobresal finished in the fourth place of the aggregate table. In the 2005 Apertura Tournament, Cobresal achieved to qualify in the play-offs repechaje, but lost 4–3 against Deportes Concepción, in which scored in two times for the purple team Cristián Montecinos, Javier Cámpora and Hugo Centurión, whilst for Cobresal scored Diego Ruíz, Renzo Yáñez and César Carvajal. On 31 July, Huerta debuted the Clausura Tournament of the year with a 2–0 home win over

with goals of Yáñez and César Díaz. One week later, on 7 August, the club lost his first game in the tournament against

Deportes Puerto Montt Club Deportes Puerto Montt is a Chilean football club based in the city of Puerto Montt, Los Lagos Region. The club was founded on May 6, 1983, and currently plays in the Primera B de Chile, the second division of the country. Their home games ar ...

at Chinquihue, being defeated by that club 1–0 with a goal of Domingo Martínez in the 84th minute. After another defeat with

Santiago Wanderers Club de Deportes Santiago Wanderers is a football club based in Valparaíso, a founding member of the Chilean Football Federation. Their home ground, Estadio Elías Figueroa Brander, is in the north-west of the city. Wanderers have played thei ...

and a 1–1 draw with

, the club return to the triumphs against

at El Cobre Stadium, winning with a goal of Yáñez and a twice of Díaz. The following week, Cobresal achieved an important 3–2 away victory over

Deportes La Serena Club de Deportes La Serena S.A.D.P., is a Chilean football club based in the city of La Serena, Coquimbo Region. The club was founded 9 December 1955 and plays in the first division of the Chilean football league. Their home games are played ...

at La Portada with goals of Díaz again, Patricio Lira and Christian Mauvezin for Cobresal, the next match achieving another important result in the tournament, now at El Salvador, drawing 2–2 with

that is playing very well in this moment. The goals of Cobresal was of César Díaz and Renzo Yáñez in the 32nd minute and in the 47th minute, respectively. The team including was winning 2–0 the match, but with goals of Gonzalo Fierro in the 60th minute and a goal of Héctor Tapia in the 77th minute, Colo-Colo equalized the game, having also opportunities of win it. Cobresal after one loss with Everton, the club won the Copper derby with a

of Díaz at El Cobre Stadium, achieving the next week an important 1–1 home draw

, team that won the game with a goal of Waldo Ponce, but a goal of Luis Díaz in the 92nd minute equalized the game. The following match of the team in the Clausura against Universidad Católica was lost 1–0 with a goal of Jorge Ormeño in the 29th minute, game in also the keeper of the adversary José María Buljubasich achieved 1,323 minutes without conceding a goal. Cobresal finally qualified to the play-offs, being in the first position of his group with 27 points. After the defeat to

in the aggregate result, the club advanced to the semi-finals against Universidad de Chile, the first semi-final the club won 2–1 with goals from Juan Quiroga and Patricio Lira, whilst Marcelo Salas scored for "La U", but Cobresal lost the second 4–2 in the Estadio Nacional.

Stadium

When Cobresal postulated for play in the

Second division In sport, the Second Division, also called Division 2 or Division II is usually the second highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Following the rise of Premier League style compet ...

, one of the requirements was an appropriate stadium with a grass field. This was a great problem for the club, because El Salvador is located in the middle of the

Atacama Desert The Atacama Desert ( es, Desierto de Atacama) is a desert plateau in South America covering a 1,600 km (990 mi) strip of land on the Pacific coast, west of the Andes Mountains. The Atacama Desert is the driest nonpolar desert in th ...

it would be expensive to place grass. But the directive and the population's people achieved the construction of a new stadium that would have grass in the zone of the Sausalito field. Finally, after nearly a year of construction, El Cobre Stadium was opened on 1 June 1980. Years later, the capacity was increased to 20,752 persons to conform with CONMEBOL rules due to the participation of Cobresal in the

, despite the village's population being only a third of the stadium's capacity. In 1999, the artificial lights were installed to facilitate television broadcasts. The current capacity is 12,000 people, due to the elimination of standing-only zones for security reasons.

Honours

National honours

* Primera División: 1 :: 2015 Clausura *

: 1 ::

1987 File:1987 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The MS Herald of Free Enterprise capsizes after leaving the Port of Zeebrugge in Belgium, killing 193; Northwest Airlines Flight 255 crashes after takeoff from Detroit Metropolitan Airport, ...

Club Facts

*30 ''Seasons'' in '' Primera División'': (1984–1992, 1994, 1999, 2002-2016/17, 2019–) *13 ''Seasons'' in '' Primera B'': (1980–1983, 1993, 1995–1998, 2000–2001, 2017–2018) *2 ''Participations'' in '' Copa Libertadores'' (

1986 The year 1986 was designated as the International Year of Peace by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 **Aruba gains increased autonomy from the Netherlands by separating from the Netherlands Antilles. **Spain and Portugal enter ...

2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the Impeachment of Dilma Rousseff, impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses duri ...

) *2 ''Participations'' in '' Copa Sudamericana'' (

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...

2021 File:2021 collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: the James Webb Space Telescope was launched in 2021; Protesters in Yangon, Myanmar following the coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October 2021 coup in Sudan; Crowd shortly after t ...

) *Record Primera División victory — 8–1 ''v.''

(

1991 File:1991 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Boris Yeltsin, elected as Russia's first president, waves the new flag of Russia after the 1991 Soviet coup d'état attempt, orchestrated by Soviet hardliners; Mount Pinatubo erupts in the Phi ...

) *Record Primera División defeat — 0–7 ''v.'' Universidad Católica ( 2002-A) *Most goals scored Primera División matches — 83, Sergio Salgado (1984–88, 1994) *Most goals scored overall — 274, Sergio Salgado (1980–88, 1993–96) *Highest home attendance — 15,229 ''v.'' América de Cali Copa Libertadores, (18 April 1986)

South American cups history

Players

Current squad

2023 Summer Transfers

In

Out

Managers

* Juan Zárate (1979) * Óscar Andrade (1980) * Juan Zárate (1980) * Guillermo Díaz (1980) * Alicel Belmar (1982) * Manuel Rodríguez (1983–89) * Reinaldo Hoffmann (1989–91) * Gustavo Huerta & Juan Zárate (1991–92) * Manuel Rodríguez (1993–94) * Sergio Nichiporuk (1995–96) * Rolando García (1997) * Sergio Nichiporuk (1998–99) * Ricardo "Tato" Ortiz (1999) * Manuel Soto (2000) * Hermes Navarro (2000) *

Jorge Socías Jorge Luis Socías Tuset (born 26 October 1951)Jorge Socías
FBref is a Gustavo Huerta (2003) * Julio Acuña (2003–04) * Gustavo Huerta (2004–05) * Fernando Díaz (2006) * Sergio Nichiporuk (2006) *

José Cantillana José Miguel Cantillana Galea (, 1 October 1966) is a Chilean former footballer and coach. Career In 2005 he graduated as a football manager at the (National Football Institute) alongside former players such as Fernando Astengo, Eduardo Na ...

(1 Jan 2007 – 31 Dec 2009) * Luis Musrri (1 Jan 2010 – 8 March 2012) * Hermes Navarro (2012) *

Oscar del Solar Oscar, OSCAR, or The Oscar may refer to: People * Oscar (given name), an Irish- and English-language name also used in other languages; the article includes the names Oskar, Oskari, Oszkár, Óscar, and other forms. * Oscar (Irish mythology) ...

(8 March 2012 – 27 Feb 2013) *

(6 March 2013–1?) * Dalcio Giovagnoli (2014–1?) * Arturo Norambuena (2015) * Rubén Vallejos (2015–)

Footnotes

External links

Official Page – SpanishUnofficial Page – Spanish
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cobresal Football clubs in Chile Association football clubs established in 1979 Sport in Atacama Region 1979 establishments in Chile