Moca FC

Moca FC
Full nameMoca Fútbol Club
Nickname(s)The Cradle of Dominican Football
Founded1971; 53 years ago (1971)
GroundEstadio Complejo Deportivo Moca 86
Moca, Dominican Republic
Capacity7,000
ManagerMaximiliano Viera
LeagueLiga Dominicana de Fútbol
Websitemocafc.com.do

Moca Fútbol Club is a Dominican professional football team based in Moca, Dominican Republic, founded in 1971. Their home stadium is Estadio Complejo Deportivo Moca 86, and the team plays in the Liga Dominicana de Fútbol (LDF).

History

From 1971 until 2015, Moca FC was the team with the most championships in the now defunct semi-professional football league, Primera División de Republica Dominicana. With 13 titles, Moca was the most popular club in that league. Its province is the "House of the Dominican Football".[citation needed]

In 2015, after the LDF folded, Moca joined the new professional Dominican football league in the first division, Liga Dominicana de Fútbol.

Their classic rivals are Atlético San Cristóbal and Cibao FC.

2023 CONCACAF Caribbean Cup

Moca FC advanced to the Semi-Finals where they defeated S.V. Robinhood in leg 1 but lost in leg 2 in penalties.[1] This resulted in Moca FC having to fend for title of 3rd place, which would still qualify them for the CONCACAF Champions Cup. On December 5, 2023, Moca FC won on aggregate 3–2 against Harbour View FC,[2] clinching 3rd place in the 2023 CONCACAF Caribbean Cup. This is the first time Moca FC has ever advanced to the CONCACAF Champions Cup.

Stadiums

Roster

Senior Roster

As of July 12, 2023[3]
No. Pos. Player Nation
25 GK Pascual Ramirez  Dominican Republic
23 GK Odalis Baez  Dominican Republic
22 GK Robinson Robert  Dominican Republic
2 DF Kelvin Duran  Dominican Republic
21 DF Adrián Salcedo  Dominican Republic
4 DF Jose F Gomez  Dominican Republic
26 DF Carlos Rosell  Dominican Republic
17 DF Alexander Vidal C  Dominican Republic
27 DF Jefry Holguin  Dominican Republic
7 DF Sebastian Valencia  Colombia
35 DF Alfredo Cortorreal  Dominican Republic
14 DF Enrique De Jesus  Dominican Republic
15 DF Mathews Tejeda  Dominican Republic
16 MF Yensy Gil  Dominican Republic
10 MF Alejandro Carrera  Venezuela
8 MF Richard Dabas  Dominican Republic
5 MF Simón Veras  Dominican Republic
6 MF Cliford Thomas  Haiti
12 MF Víctor Sánchez  Dominican Republic
99 MF Michel Cardenas  Colombia
9 FW Juan Angeles  Dominican Republic
18 FW Julio Rosario  Dominican Republic
20 FW Ronaldo De Pena  Dominican Republic
30 FW Luis Martin G  Dominican Republic
19 FW Gustavo Ascona  Argentina
34 FW Rodolfo Ford  Panama
11 FW Tairon Rodriguez  Dominican Republic
28 FW Samil De la Rosa  Dominican Republic

Youth academy

Moca has historically been a hotspot for many outstanding and developing soccer players for the Dominican Republic national football team. Among these are: Jonathan Faña, Richard Dabas, Jean Carlos López, Ernesto Trinidad. As of the 2023 season, Moca FC has several young players already established in its senior team such as Enrique de Jesus, Alfredo Cortorreal, Simón Veras and Ronaldo Peña.

Moca FC currently has an affiliated/reserve U-23 team in "LDF Expansion", a semi-professional development league that is unofficially considered as the second division of the Dominican Republic. Participation in the academy is free for all players and participants are eligible to be signed to the Moca FC senior team as a homegrown player.[citation needed]

The Youth Academy operates a soccer development program for scouting and identifying players within local clubs throughout Moca. The club also operates the Escuela Jonathan Faña, a pre-academy feeder program for players aged 8–14 which aims to provide training and development for advanced local players and identify potential academy players.[4] Along with the aforementioned football academy exists The Moca Juniors Program, a program designed to provide supplemental development for U-12 players & other Moca-area youth clubs.[citation needed]

Current first team staff

References

  1. ^ "Game Details". Concacaf. 2023-07-14. Archived from the original on 2023-12-21. Retrieved 2023-12-06.
  2. ^ "Game Details". CONCACAF. CONCACAF. Archived from the original on 16 December 2023. Retrieved 6 December 2023.
  3. ^ {based on the wikipedia spanish page of moca fc and the official information of the Dominican football league (LDF)|title=Moca FC Senior Roster|
  4. ^ Dominguez, Angel. "Escuela de Fútbol Jonathan Faña, una escuela en el mismo trayecto del balompié dominicano". DOCE. Archived from the original on 29 September 2023. Retrieved 29 November 2023.