Defensa y Justicia

Defensa y Justicia
Full nameClub Social y Deportivo Defensa y Justicia
NicknameEl Halcón (The Falcon)
Founded20 March 1935 (1935-03-20)
GroundEstadio Norberto Tomaghello
Capacity20,000[1]
ChairmanJosé Lemme
ManagerMariano Soso
LeaguePrimera División
202518th of 30
Websitedefensayjusticia.org.ar

Club Social y Deportivo Defensa y Justicia, commonly known as Defensa y Justicia, is an Argentine football club from Florencio Varela, Buenos Aires, established in 1935.[2] The senior squad currently plays in the Primera División, the top division of the Argentine football league system.

The team plays its home games at Estadio Norberto Tomaghello, with a capacity of approximately 20,000. Defensa y Justicia is one of the clubs with most seasons in Primera B Nacional, also having played in all the divisions of the Argentine league system since their debut in Primera D Metropolitana in 1978.[3]

In 2016, Defensa y Justicia qualified to play their first international tournament, the 2017 Copa Sudamericana.[4] The team advanced to second stage but then lost to Chapecoense on penalties.[5]

In 2021, the club achieved their first international titles after having won both, 2020 Copa Sudamericana to Lanús and 2021 Recopa Sudamericana beating Palmeiras on penalties.[6] Along with Boca Juniors and Deportivo Riestra, Defensa y Justicia is one of the clubs that have not been relegated since their promotion to Primera División.

History

The institution was founded on 20 March 1935 by a group of friends who wanted to form a local team. There are no sources explaining how the name was given to the club.[7] Presided by Norberto Tomaghello, Defensa y Justicia affiliated to Argentine Football Association, built its stadium, which was opened with a friendly match against Boca Juniors reserve team in December 1977.

The club's original colors were blue with white collars and cuffs, which were changed to yellow with green details. These were the colors of the bus line "El Halcón", a company that belonged to the club president at the time. This company used its buses to bring the fans to away games, and thus received the nickname "Los Halcones de Varela".[7]

Even though the club was founded as early as 1935, Defensa y Justicia did not play in official tournaments until 1978, when the team debuted in Primera D, defeating Cañuelas 2–1.[7] The starting line-up was: Ramón Correa; Benito López, Roberto Lucarini, Raúl Bustos, Alberto Cortez; Horacio Roselli, Jorge Giache, César Echeverry; Luis Briega, Héctor Cardozo, Oscar Bruno.

Defensa y Justicia played in Primera D until 1982 when the team won the championship and promoted to the upper division, Primera C. Only three years after, Defensa promoted again (this time to Primera B, the second division by then) after winning their second title. Defensa achieved promotion after beating Barracas Central 7–0. That same year, Defensa y Justicia played an "Octogonal", an 8-team tournament which winner promoted to Primera División.

After a 1–1 draw v Atlanta, the club promoted to recently created Primera B Nacional on 1 June 1986, achieving their second promotion within six months. In the first Primera B Nacional season, 1986–87, the team finished 10th. The following years Defensa would be relegated again, but the club returned to Primera B Nacional when winning the 1996–97 title in B Metro.

In 1998–99 season and coached by Ricardo Villa, Defensa was near to promote after eliminating Arsenal de Sarandí and Cipolletti, then losing to Chacarita Juniors (which would then promote along with champion Instituto) 4–2 on aggregate. In the 1999–2000 season, Defensa was coached by Jorge Burruchaga but could not qualify to "Torneo Reducido" (promotion and relegation playoff).

On 14 May 2014, coached by Diego Cocca, Defensa y Justicia reached promotion to Primera División for the first time in its history when they beat San Martín de San Juan 1–0 with the only goal of the match scored by Brian Fernández.[8][9]

Defensa y Justicia debuted in the 2014 Primera División on 9 August 9, 2014 v Racing Club, being defeated 3–1. The team did not make a good performance, finishing 18th out of 20 teams.[10] On the other hand, Defensa had a better performance in Copa Argentina where they eliminated Godoy Cruz and San Lorenzo, but lost to Atlético de Rafaela in quarterfinals.[11] In the next season, 2015 (contested by 30 teams due a restructuring of the tournament), Defensa y Justicia finished in the 21st position, with only 8 games won.

In June 2015, Ariel Holan was appointed as coach in replacement of José Oscar Flores. It was the first tenure of Holan at a professional club in Primera Division after having worked in several coaching positions at Arsenal de Sarandí, Independiente, and Estudiantes de La Plata. He had also worked with Matías Almeyda in River Plate. In 2015–16 Copa Argentina, Defensa eliminated Talleres de Córdoba and then Independiente in the second stage before losing to Belgrano. Nevertheless, in the 2016 Primera División season it was one of the six teams to qualify to 2017 Copa Sudamericana, the first international competition where the club participated.[4] The team advanced to the second stage after eliminating Brazilian side São Paulo on away goal rule but then lost to Chapecoense on penalties after the series ended 1–1 on aggregate.[5]

Being coached by Sebastián Beccacece, Defensa y Justicia made their first performance in 2018–19 Primera División season finishing 2nd. to champion Racing therefore qualifying for the 2020 Copa Libertadores group stage. Defensa y Justicia completed the season with 15 wins, 8 draws and only 2 losses over 25 matches played with 33 goals scored and 18 against. In 2018 Copa Sudamericana, the club eliminated América de Cali and El Nacional qualifying to group stages, where it eliminated Banfield being then beaten by Colombian side Junior on away goal rule after a 3–3 on aggregate.[12]

Players

Current squad

As of 2 March 2026[13]

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

No. Pos. Nation Player
2 DF  ARG Samuel Lucero
6 DF  SYR Emiliano Amor
7 FW  ARG Abiel Osorio (on loan from Elche)
8 MF  CHI César Pérez
9 FW  ARG Juan Miritello
10 MF  ARG Aaron Molinas
11 MF  ARG Éver Banega
15 MF  ARG Santiago Sosa
16 DF  ARG Ayrton Portillo
17 FW  ARG Agustín Hausch
19 MF  ARG David Barbona
20 MF  ARG Rubén Botta
21 DF  PAR David Martínez (on loan from River Plate)
No. Pos. Nation Player
22 GK  URU Cristopher Fiermarin
23 MF  ARG Mateo Aguiar
24 FW  URU Juan Manuel Gutiérrez (on loan from Almería)
25 FW  ARG Facundo Altamira (on loan from Godoy Cruz)
26 DF  PAR Darío Cáceres
27 DF  ARG Elías Pereyra
29 DF  ARG Damián Fernández
30 FW  PAR David Fernández
32 DF  ARG Nazareno Roselli
33 DF  ARG Lucas Souto
36 GK  ARG Lautaro Amadé
55 MF  ARG Julián López

Other players under contract

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

No. Pos. Nation Player
1 GK  ARG Marcos Ledesma
34 MF  ARG Tomás Escalante

Out on loan

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

No. Pos. Nation Player
3 DF  ARG Alexis Soto (at Rosario Central until 31 December 2026)
4 DF  ARG Francisco Marco (at Almagro until 31 December 2026)
5 DF  URU Lucas Ferreira (at Peñarol until 31 December 2026)
12 GK  ARG Facundo Masuero (at Nueva Chicago until 31 December 2026)
13 DF  ARG Hernán Zuliani (at San Martín SJ until 31 December 2026)
14 DF  ARG Ezequiel Cannavo (at Racing Club until 31 December 2026)
18 MF  ARG Lucas González (at Central Córdoba SdE until 31 December 2026)
28 FW  ARG Lautaro Fedele (at Atlanta until 31 December 2026)
31 MF  PAR Aldo Maíz (at Sportivo Luqueño until 31 December 2026)
No. Pos. Nation Player
35 MF  ARG Benjamín Schamine (at O'Higgins until 31 December 2026)
37 FW  ARG Leandro Espejo (at Chaco For Ever until 31 December 2026)
38 FW  ARG Gastón Togni (at Peñarol until 31 December 2026)
39 MF  ARG Tomás Ortiz (at Gimnasia Mendoza until 31 December 2026)
40 FW  ARG Facundo Echevarría (at Los Andes until 30 June 2026)
41 FW  ARG Gastón González (at Sarmiento until 31 December 2026)
42 MF  ARG Matías Miranda (at Macará until 31 December 2026)
43 MF  ARG Nicolás Palavecino (at Unión Santa Fe until 30 June 2026)
45 FW  ARG Nazareno Fúnez (at San Martín SJ until 31 December 2026)

Managers

Honours

National

International

References

  1. ^ "Defensa". www.defensaaldia.com.ar. Archived from the original on 2023-03-30. Retrieved 2016-05-31.
  2. ^ Defensa y Justicia Archived 2022-04-28 at the Wayback Machine on Vavel
  3. ^ "Defensa y Justicia logró el ascenso y escribe su historia". Clarín (in Spanish). 2014-05-15. Archived from the original on 2018-10-24. Retrieved 2023-10-31.
  4. ^ a b Leandro (2016-10-14). "¡Defensa y Justicia a la Copa Sudamericana 2017! - Infosur Diario, Estamos Cerca Informamos Mejor" (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 2023-01-29. Retrieved 2023-10-31.
  5. ^ a b "Chapecoense eliminó a Defensa y Justicia de la Copa Sudamericana". La Capital. 25 July 2017. Archived from the original on 11 January 2023.
  6. ^ Defensa y Justicia se quedó con la Recopa tras ganarle por penales a Palmeiras Archived 2021-11-27 at the Wayback Machine on DirecTV Sports, 15 Apr 2021
  7. ^ a b c El Nacimiento de una Pasión, Alejandro Fabbri, CI editores, Buenos Aires (2006)
  8. ^ "Se cumplen 5 años del ascenso de Defensa y Justicia". Tycsports.com. 2019-05-14. Archived from the original on 2023-07-01. Retrieved 2023-10-31.
  9. ^ "Histórico: Defensa y Justicia ascendió a Primera División". www.diariopopular.com.ar (in Spanish). 2014-05-14. Archived from the original on 2023-06-20. Retrieved 2023-10-31.
  10. ^ Argentina 2014 Archived 2023-03-28 at the Wayback Machine on the RSSSF by Osvaldo Gorgazzi
  11. ^ "Argentina 2013/14". RSSSF. Archived from the original on 2023-02-25.
  12. ^ Defensa y Justicia vs Junior: resumen, resultado y goles de la vuelta de cuartos Archived 2020-01-17 at the Wayback Machine on As.com
  13. ^ "Plantel". ligaprofesional.ar. Retrieved 2 March 2026.
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