Diriangén FC (Nicaragua)

Diriangén FC are giants among boys in Nicaraguan football. The winningest team of all time in their home country, they've weighed in with a whopping 26 league wins since their inception in 1917. They don't seem as keen on the cups mind, as they've only reeled in a brace of wins in their national knockout trophy in the mid-nineties.

They're based, not in the capital, but in the city of Diriamba, a settlement famous for its week long festivals, and named in part after the much loved Chorotega chieftain, Diriangén, from where the football team get both their name and nickname - Caciques being a local dialect word for Chieftens. Indeed, the legendary old fella even appears on their club crest, so instilled in the city's collective identity as he is.

Their biggest rivals are Real Estelí, despite them only winning a measly eight titles - although the bulk of those have been in the last ten years - which has signalled a relatively lean spell for The Chieftens.

Their most famous former star is the local legend Mauricio Cruz Jiron, who played for both Diriangén and the national side for just shy of twenty years. He scored a tasty 170 goals in his time with The Caciques, and went on to manage them on a couple of occasions, between long stints as national manager.


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