Cusco FC

Cusco

Full name	Cusco Fútbol Club
Nickname(s)	Los cusqueños Los dorados El Imperio Guerreros dorados La máquina dorada
Founded	August 28, 2008; 15 years ago (2008-08-28) as Real Garcilaso
Ground	Inca Garcilaso de la Vega, Cusco, Peru
Capacity	45,056
President	Julio Gerardo Vásquez Granilla
Manager	Luis Flores
League	Liga 1
2024	Liga 1, 5th of 18
Website	Club website
Home colours Away colours

Cusco Fútbol Club (known as Real Garcilaso until 2019) is a professional Peruvian football club based in the city of Cusco, that competes in the Liga 1, the top flight of Peruvian football. It was founded on 28 August 2008 as Real Garcilaso, changing their name to Cusco FC in 2019. The teams home stadium is Estadio Inca Garcilaso de la Vega, which is shares with city rivals Cienciano and Deportivo Garcilaso.

History

Beginnings

The club was founded in 2008 by students of the Inca Garcilaso de la Vega school as Real Garcilaso, in that year Real Garcilaso played the second division in Cusco. Real Garcilaso got to the finals where they defeated Cienciano and went up to first division of Cusco. They participated in the Copa Perú up until 2011, where they got promoted to the Peruvian Primera División, then known as the Torneo Descentralizado.

In the 2010 Copa Perú, the club qualified for the National Stage but was eliminated by Sportivo Huracán de Arequipa in the Round of 16.

In the 2011 Torneo Intermedio, the club was eliminated by Sport Áncash in the quarter-finals.

In the 2011 Copa Perú, the club defeated Pacífico in the finals and was promoted to the 2012 Torneo Descentralizado. for the first time.

Copa Libertadores

Real Garcilaso qualified for the 2013 Copa Libertadores for the first time. The club was eliminated by Colombian team Santa Fe in the quarter-finals. The tournament was Real Garcilaso's best result in an international competition.

In the 2014 Copa Libertadores, according to Soccerly, Cruzeiro player Paulo César Fonseca do Nascimento (better known as Tinga) was subjected to racist abuse at the game against Real Garcilaso in Huancayo. The South American Football Federation (CONMEBOL) tweeted that they would “handle this situation and any pertinent sanctions.” The club ended up getting eliminated in the Group Stage.

Primera División

In the 2012 Torneo Descentralizado, the club had a successful campaign with Andy Pando who was the tournament's top goal scorer, and made it to the final where it was defeated by Sporting Cristal. It also qualified for the 2013 Copa Libertadores second round after being placed second on the aggregate table. In 2013, They reached the final for the second year in a row and qualified for the 2014 Copa Libertadores after finishing as the top club during the tournament's first stage. In the Liguilla A, the club fought against Sporting Cristal for a spot in the finals which they played against Universitario. After winning at home and losing away, a third match was played in which they lost the play-offs 4–5 on penalties.

On 23 December 2019, Real Garcilaso announced its name change to Cusco Fútbol Club.^[1]

In the 2021 season, the team finished next to last and was relegated to the Liga 2. In the 2022 Liga 2, Cusco won the league and got promoted back to the Liga 1, where they currently still stand.

Rivalries

Cusco FC has a rivalry with other Cusco clubs, Deportivo Garcilaso and Cienciano. The three clubs share the same home stadium, Estadio Garcilaso.

Stadium

Cusco FC play their home games in Estadio Garcilaso de la Vega which is in Cusco. It was named after the Peruvian Inca Garcilaso de la Vega. When first inaugurated in 1950, it had a spectator capacity of 22,000 and had a running track. In 2004, the stadium's capacity was expanded to 42,000, losing its running track, because of Cienciano's success in international tournaments and it would be a venue in the 2004 Copa América. The team also plays some games at Estadio Túpac Amaru in Sicuani.

The club's current training ground is at the Complejo Deportivo in Oropesa, approximately 25 km east of Cusco.

Current squad

As of 31 January, 2024.

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

No. Pos. Nation Player 2 DF  PER Jonathan Bilbao 3 DF  PER Franz Schmidt 4 DF  PER Francys Arévalo 5 MF  PER Miguel Aucca (captain) 6 MF  ARG Alan Pérez 7 FW  PER James Morales 9 FW  PER Luis Ramos 10 MF  ARG Iván Colman 11 FW  ARG Juan Manuel Tévez 13 GK  PER Andy Vidal 14 DF  PER José Zevallos 15 MF  PER Sebastián Zarabia

No. Pos. Nation Player 16 MF  PER Oswaldo Valenzuela 17 DF  CHI Pablo Cárdenas 18 FW  PER Jhosep Núñez 19 DF  PER Alonso Tamariz 20 MF  PER André Vasquez 21 DF  PER Alonso Yovera 22 FW  ARG Lucas Colitto 23 DF  ECU Rubén Ramírez 26 FW  ARG Nicolás Silva 27 FW  PER Rely Fernández 29 MF  PER Eslyn Correa 33 GK  PER Carlos Solís

Honours

National

League

• Peruvian Primera División:

Runner-up (3): 2012, 2013, 2017

• Torneo Apertura:

Runner-up (1): 2017

• Torneo Clausura:

Runner-up (2): 2015, 2017

• Peruvian Segunda División:

Winners (1): 2022

• Copa Perú

Winners (1): 2011

Regional

• Región VIII:

Winners (1): 2011

Runner-up (1): 2010

• Liga Departamental de Cusco:

Winners (1): 2010

• Liga Provincial del Cusco:

Winners (1): 2010

• Liga Distrital del Cusco:

Winners (1): 2010

• Segunda Distrital del Cusco:

Winners (1): 2009

Performance in CONMEBOL competitions

Competition	A	P	W	D	L	GF	GA
Copa Libertadores	4	24	7	4	13	18	35
Copa Sudamericana	1	4	1	1	2	4	5

A = appearances, P = matches played, W = won, D = drawn, L = lost, GF = goals for, GA = goals against.

Season	Competition	Round		Club	Home	Away
2013	Copa Libertadores	Group Stage		Santa Fe	1–1	0–2
				Deportes Tolima	0–3	1–0
				Cerro Porteño	5–1	1–0
		R2		Nacional	1–0	0–1 (pen. 4–1)
		QF		Santa Fe	1–3	0–2
2014	Copa Libertadores	Group Stage		Cruzeiro	2–1	3–0
				Defensor Sporting	0–2	4–1
				Universidad de Chile	1–2	1–0
2016	Copa Sudamericana	First Stage		Aucas	1–0	1–2
		Second Stage		Palestino	2–2	0–1
2018	Copa Libertadores	Group Stage		Santos	2–0	0–0
				Estudiantes	0–0	0–3
				Nacional	0–0	0–4
2019	Copa Libertadores	First Stage		Deportivo La Guaira	1–0	2–1

Managers

• Roberto Arrelucea (Jan 1, 2010–Dec 20, 2010)
• Freddy García (Jan 1, 2011–14)
• Luis Flores (2014)
• Mariano Soso (2015)
• Tabaré Silva (2015)
• Jorge Espejo (2016)
• Wilmar Valencia (2016)
• Duilio Cisneros (2017)
• Gustavo Coronel (2017)
• Marcelo Grioni (2017)
• Óscar Ibáñez (2018)
• Tabaré Silva (2018)
• Victor Reyes (2018)

See also

• List of football clubs in Peru
• Peruvian football league system

References

External links

• Official website
• Cusco FC on Facebook