Defensa y Justicia

Defensa y Justicia
Full nameClub Social y Deportivo Defensa y Justicia
Nickname(s)El Halcón (The Falcon)
Founded20 March 1935 (1935-03-20)
GroundEstadio Norberto Tomaghello
Capacity20,000[1]
ChairmanJosé Lemme
ManagerTobías Kohan and Alejandro Kohan (caretakers)
LeaguePrimera División
202421th
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 1 May 2025[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
1 GK  ARG Facundo Masuero
2 DF  ARG Samuel Lucero
3 DF  ARG Alexis Soto
4 DF  ARG Agustín Sienra
5 MF  ARG Facundo Gutiérrez (captain)
6 DF  URU Lucas Ferreira
7 FW  ARG Abiel Osorio
8 MF  CHI César Pérez
9 FW  ARG Juan Miritello
10 MF  ARG Aaron Molinas
11 FW  ARG Gastón Togni
12 GK  ARG Facundo Quintana
13 DF  ARG Lucas Souto
14 DF  ARG Ezequiel Cannavo
15 DF  ARG Damián Pérez
16 MF  ARG Valentín Larralde
17 FW  ARG Agustín Hausch
18 DF  ARG Ignacio Galván (on loan from Racing Club)
19 MF  ARG David Barbona
20 MF  ARG Lucas González
No. Pos. Nation Player
21 MF  ARG Matías Miranda
22 MF  ARG Santiago Sosa
24 MF  ARG Maximiliano González (on loan from Lanús)
25 GK  ARG Enrique Bologna
26 FW  ARG Francisco González
27 DF  ARG Fernando Farías
28 DF  ARG Emanuel Aguilera
29 FW  ARG Gastón González
30 DF  COL Kevin Balanta (on loan from Tijuana)
31 FW  ARG Uriel La Roza
32 MF  ARG Matías Sosa
33 MF  ARG Nicolás Palavecino
34 DF  ARG Rafael Delgado
35 MF  ARG Benjamín Schamine
36 GK  ARG Roberto León (on loan from Racing Club)
37 FW  ARG Matías Ramírez (on loan from Godoy Cruz)
38 DF  ARG Tobías Rubio (on loan from Racing Club)
39 FW  ARG Luca Franco
44 MF  ARG Mateo Aguiar

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
— GK  URU Cristopher Fiermarín (at Deportes Tolima until 31 December 2025)
— GK  ARG Marcos Ledesma (at Barracas Central until 31 December 2025)
— GK  ARG Lautaro Amadé (at Racing Montevideo until 31 December 2025)
— DF  PAR Darío Cáceres (at Nacional until 31 December 2025)
— DF  ARG Hernán Zuliani (at San Martín T. until 31 December 2025)
— DF  ARG Francisco Marco (at Los Andes until 31 December 2025)
— DF  ARG Pedro Ramírez (at Deportivo Riestra until 31 December 2025)
— MF  ARG Julián López (at Tigre until 31 December 2025)
— MF  ARG Rodrigo Herrera (at Platense until 31 December 2025)
— MF  PAR Rodrigo Bogarín (at Querétaro until 31 December 2025)
— MF  PAR Aldo Maíz (at Guaraní until 31 December 2025)
No. Pos. Nation Player
— MF  ARG Tomás Ortiz (at Chacarita Juniors until 31 December 2025)
— MF  ARG Braian Rivero (at Racing (Córdoba) until 31 December 2025)
— MF  ARG Manuel Duarte (at Barracas Central until 31 December 2025)
— MF  ARG Tomás Escalante (at San Martín SJ until 31 December 2025)
— FW  ARG Luciano Herrera (at Newell's Old Boys until 31 December 2025)
— FW  ARG Lautaro Fedele (at Atlanta until 31 December 2025)
— FW  ARG Ayrton Portillo (at San Martín SJ until 31 December 2025)
— FW  ARG Facundo Echevarría (at Arsenal de Sarandí until 31 December 2025)
— FW  ARG Federico Versaci (at Tristán Suárez until 31 December 2025)
— FW  ARG Leandro Espejo (at Olimpo until 31 December 2025)

Managers

Honours

Senior titles

Keys
  •   Record
  • (s) Shared record
Type Competition Titles Winning years
International
 Copa Sudamericana 1 2020
Recopa Sudamericana 1 2021

Other titles

Titles won in lower divisions:

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 1 May 2025.
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