Cruzeiro

Cruzeiro is a football (soccer) club from Brazil.

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Cruzeiro Esporte Clube is a List of football clubs in Brazil, from the city of Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, founded on January 2, 1921.

Even though Cruzeiro's main focus is football (soccer), Cruzeiro also supports a professional volleyball team and semi-professional teams as well, these include track and field, bocha, and bowling.

History

Palestra years

Early Palestra years

Cruzeiro was born off a political administrative crisis at Yale Atlético Clube, one of the first sporting clubs of Belo Horizonte, a city where already some Italy immigrants militated. The Italians in Belo Horizonte, wanted to follow the example of the Italians in São Paulo, who had established a football club, the Palestra Itália, now Sociedade Esportiva Palmeiras. The people of Belo Horizonte wanted the Italian colony in Minas Gerais to have its own club as well.

Yale, formed in 1910, competed in the Campeonato de Belo Horizonte (Belo Horizonte Championship) up to 1925, when it gave up football. The majority of the players of Yale were of Italian origin and when the Palestra Itália was created, had a total bond to the new club. With the disagreement in Yale, in a rainy night on December 1920, Yale separated and the Palestra Itália (of Belo Horizonte) was born, also known as Palestra Mineiro.

Later Palestra years

The initiative was taken by Null Savini, Spagnuolo Sundays, Sílvio Pirani, Júlio Lazarotti, Hamleto Magnavacca, Henriqueto Pirani, Marguerite Funatino and João Ranieri. Other Italians had promised to help in what was necessary, especially financially. Some years later, Yale ended, but in the same time its still lives, through Cruzeiro. On December 20, 1920, the Italian Consul of Belo Horizonte decided on a meeting, which had the presence of 195 people, of which 92 had signed an act. Some proposals had been made and approved, marking a new meeting to be held on January 2, 1921, at the same time and place. On this day, January 2, 1921, about 250 Italians had appeared for the great event, the foundation of the Sociedade Esportiva Palestra Itália, or Societá Sportiva Palestra Itália. The adopted colors, as it could not be otherwise, were the same ones of the Italian flag: green, red, and white (in 2005 the colors reappeared in the training uniforms). The first uniform of Cruzeiro was a green jersey, white shorts and red stockings. On the shield, in the form of a rhombus, were the initials SSPI. Cruzeiro only allowed participation of men from the Italian colony, until 1925, when it opened its doors for sportsmen of any nationality

The debut of the Palestra in the lawns of Belo Horizonte was in the Stadium of the Prado Mineiro. It was in a friendly, on April 3, 1921, against a combination from Nova Lima, uniting players of Villa Nova Atlético Clube, which was Cruzeiro of the English, and Palmeiras, another team form that city. The Palestra won 2 v 0. The goals were from Nani (Lazarotti João), in the 16 minute of the first half and in the 7 minute of the second half. The Palestra team was formed by: Nullo, Polenta and Ciccio; Checchino, Américo and Bassi; Lino, Spartaco, Nani, Henriqueto and Armandinho. Nova Lima: Ferreira, Marcondes, Ruanico, Christovão, Bahiano, Oscar, Raymundo, Gentil, Badu, Damaso e Juá.

The first official presentation of the Palestra to the sporting public of Belo Horizonte was in a game against Clube Atlético Mineiro, where the Palestra won 2 to 0. The team of the Palestra contained: Nullo, Henriqueto and Polenta; Grande, Gallo and Checchino; Pederzoli, Parizi, Nani, Attílio and Armandinho.

Finally Cruzeiro EC

In January 1942, Brazil entered the Second World War and a decree of the Federal Government forbade the use of terms from enemy nations in entities, institutions, establishments, etc. With this, the Italian name was removed and the directors of Cruzeiro took 10 months to create a new name and symbol for Cruzeiro that was entirely Brazilian. The name was changed to Ypiranga, but this name didn't get the affection of the congress of the Advice, so it was removed. In October a consensus of the directors approved the name Cruzeiro Esporte Clube. Cruzeiro is the constellation of the Southern Cross, and can only be seen from the southern hemisphere, therefore, it was not related to Italy. The uniform also switched to a blue shirt and stockings, and white shorts, (vice-versa when away).

Only, however, in November 1942, did Cruzeiro Esporte Clube make its first presentation to the world, using the blue-starred shirt, erasing themselves of the existence of the Palestra Itália. The first presentation as Cruzeiro Esporte Clube happened in November 11, 1942, in the fields of América Futebol Clube (MG), a game refereed by João Narciso. Cruzeiro Esporte Clube won 1 to 0 over America, with a goal by Ismael, in the 38 minutes of the first half. Cruzeiro‘s team that day was: Geraldo II, Gerson and Azevedo; Rizão, Juca and Caieirinha; Nogueirinha, Orlando Fantoni, Niginho, Ismael and Zezé Papatela. Manager: Bengala. America: Aldo, Lulu, Pescoço, Cabral, Célio Bizzoto, Du, Coquinho, Alfredinho, Gabardinho, Gerson and Cara Larga. Manager: Jacyr de Assis.

With the inauguration of the Mineirão, the Giant of Pampulha, in 1965, Cruzeiro transformed itself, permanently. It became a national football power, and became well known. The “celestial team” introduced Brazil and the world to stars such as Tostão, Piazza, Natal, Dirceu Lopes, and many others. Cruzeiro became the first great football force in Brazil, aside from the Rio de Janeiro-São Paulo teams.

Golden era

Cruzeiro started to have national prominence in the 60s, when a team with players such as Tostão, Wilson Piazza and Fontana took Cruzeiro to win five Campeonato Mineiro titles in a row, and the conquest of Taça Brasil on top of Santos Futebol Clube of Pelé (winning 6x2 in the Mineirão and 3x2 in São Paulo).

In 1976, Cruzeiro won its first Copa Libertadores de América, over Club Atlético River Plate of Argentina, being runners-up in the same competition in 1977, defeated by Boca Juniors of Argentina. In the Campeonato Brasileiro Série A, in 1974 Cruzeiro were runners-up for the first time, after losing a very confusing, decisive match against Club de Regatas Vasco da Gama. Later in 1975 once again they were runners-up, this time losing to Sport Club Internacional in the final. In the 1970s Cruzeiro was successful in other tournaments. In 1976, one of their finest moments, they were in the Intercontinental Cup (football), now renamed as the FIFA Club World Championship, for the first time and faced a strong Bayern Munich side who defeated them 2-0 on aggregate (0-0 at the Mineirão and 2-0 in Munich).

The 80s were not very positive for the club, since Cruzeiro neither had much success nor won many titles, although the drought did not last long.

Among the top Brazilian football clubs, Cruzeiro has an impressive list of honors that can only be compared to a few others in Brazil. It is undoubtedly the most successful club in present-day Minas Gerais. In 1990 Cruzeiro's drought vanished and it initiated a sequence of 15 years earning at least one trophy per year. That included two Supercopa Sudamericana (1991, 1992), a South American Recopa (1998), four Copa do Brasil (1993, 1996, 2000, 2003), a Copa Oro (1995), a Supercopa Masters (1995), two Copa Sul-Minas (2001, 2002), nine Campeonato Mineiro (1990, 1992, 1994, 1996, 1997,1998, 2003, 2004), a Copa Centro-Oeste (1999), Supercampeonato Mineiro (2002), a second Copa Libertadores de América (1997) and the Campeonato Brasileiro Série A (2003) and many other titles not listed.

In this period, several icons of Brazilian soccer wore Cruzeiro's jersey. Among them, we can mention Charles, Boiadeiro, Douglas, Ademir, Ronaldo Luís Nazário de Lima, Nonato, Dida (goalkeeper), Ricardinho, Marcelo Ramos, Alex Alves, Juan Pablo Sorín, Frederico Chaves Guedes, Ramires, Guiherme, and Alex.

Rivalry with Atlético

As it is usual in many Brazilian states, there are two main football powerhouses and throughout time they have become greatest rivals. Clube Atlético Mineiro and Cruzeiro are no exception. It’s the biggest derby in the state of Minas Gerais, and besides Rio and São Paulo derbies, it is one of the greatest in Brazil.

There is always a big feud between the two fan sides, some claiming one is stronger and the other claiming the other is stronger. Overall, Atlético has managed to win 169 derby matches, Cruzeiro has won 139 and there have been 113 draws, out of 420 derbies. Cruzeiro has won over 106 titles (official and nonofficial).

But when the two play it seems like history or statistics mean nothing to the players, because every time the teams play each other, a show is truly put on for their fans.

Modern age: 2003-Present

The biggest breakthrough of the last decade happened in 2003, when Cruzeiro, under the command of the respected coach Vanderlei Luxemburgo and captained by Alexsandro de Souza, conquered the Triple Crown of Brazilian Football. For years Cruzeiro has struggled to win the Brazilian League, without success. After a few second places, in 2003 they were finally able to win the only title it did not have until then, winning 100 points during the season, and scoring just over 100 goals. It will be a long time until another club achieves the same success as Cruzeiro did in 2003. In 2003, besides winning the Campeonato Brasileiro Série A, Cruzeiro also won the Copa do Brasil and the Campeonato Mineiro to become the first Brazilian team to win the triple crown.

In 2004, Cruzeiro continued to do well, winning the Taça Belo Horizonte de Juniores, and, with stars such as Argentina Juan Pablo Sorín, the Campeonato Mineiro. After much glory, in 2005 Cruzeiro did not win a major competition, something they’ve been doing since 1990. Not only did they not win a title they ended up in 8th place in the Brazilian league in 2005, a bad performance for them. In 2006, with a combination of young and experienced talent, they got off to a good start winning the Campeonato Mineiro, their 34th state championship, now only 4 titles away from archrivals Atlético. They have also got off to a good start in the league table, making some believe they might have a good placement in the table, this year. Cruzeiro ended up in 10th place. In 2007, Cruzeiro lost the Campeonato Mineiro crown to archrivals Atlético Mineiro in the final, but had a good performance in the Campeonato Brasileiro. Cruzeiro ended up the national league in 5th place, qualifying once again for Copa Libertadores. In 2008, Cruzeiro had a good start in the Copa Libertadores, but were eliminated by Boca Juniors in the round of 16. Cruzeiro won the state tournament defeating Atlético Mineiro in the finals, avenging the previous year defeat. In the Brazilian League, Cruzeiro were contenders to the title up to 3 rounds before the end, when they were eventually ousted from the competition for the title. They finished in 3rd place, qualifying once again for Copa Libertadores 2009, in which won the 2nd place.

In 2009, the International Federation of Football History and Statistics (IFFHS) ranked Cruzeiro as the second best team of Brazil (after Grêmio ) and 11th best team of the world, ahead of teams like Real Madrid, A.C. Milan and Liverpool F.C.

Symbols

Mascot

Fernando Pieruccetti, more popularly known as Mangabeira, created Cruzeiro's mascot. The mascot is a fox (raposa, in Portuguese). Cruzeiro is widely known in the country for their mascot, it appears on TV and on websites that have to do with Cruzeiro.

Mangabeira was inspired by the clubs' ex-president, Mario Grossa, celebrity known for being very smart and cunning, and he thought the fox was perfect. "He was a guy who never let anyone trick him. He was so sly, crafty, intelligent and clever just like a fox", observed the cartoonist.

Crest

The evolution of Cruzeiro’s crest has followed the transformation of their uniforms. Cruzeiro was born as Palestra Itália and so the crest was a rhombus with the initials SSPI. In 1943 however in a game against São Cristóvão de Futebol e Regatas,
the club started to use a new crest which was a blue circle with five white stars in it, symbolizing the Southern Cross. Cruzeiro used this crest on their jerseys, alternatively switching to loose stars on the shirt many times. As in 2004 the crest has been on the shirts rather than just loose stars. They also changed their crest from just a circle with five stars to having CRUZEIRO ESPORTE CLUBE being written around it. Lately they have been adding features to the crest, like in 2003 when the it had two trophies on its sides, representing two Copa Libertadores de América conquers. In 2005 they added a crown to the crest along with the two trophies, representing the triple crown title of 2003. In 2006 they dropped the two trophies and just kept the crown on top.

Uniforms

See the complete article Historic Evolution of Cruzeiro EC Uniforms

Presidents

- Aurélio Noce (1921-1922)
- Alberto Noce (1923-1924)
- Américo Gasparini (1925-1926, 1928)
- Antonio Falci (1927, 1929-1930)
- Braz Pelegrino (1927-1928)
- Lidio Lunardi (1931-1932)
- José Viana de Souza (1933)
- Miguel Perrela (1933-1936)
- Romeo de Paoli (1936)
- Osvaldo Pinto Coelho (1936-1940)
- Ennes Cyro Poni (1941-1942)
- Together: João Fantoni, Wilson Saliba, Mario Torneli (1942)
- Mário Grosso (1942-1947)
- Fernando Tamietti (1947, 1950)
- Antônio Cunha Lobo (1947-1949)
- Antônio Alves Simões (1949)
- Manoel F. Campos (1950)
- Divino Ramos (1951)
- José Greco (1952-1953, 1955)
- Wellington Armanelli (1954)
- José Francisco Lemos Filho (1954)
- Eduardo S. Bambirra (1955-1956)
- Manoel A. de Carvalho (1957-1958)
- Antonio Braz Lopes Pontes (1959-1960)
- Felicio Brandi (1961-1982)
- Carmine Furletti (1983-1984)
- Benito Masci (1985-1990)
- Salvador Masci (1990)
- César Masci (1991-1994)
- José Perrella de Oliveira Costa (1995-2002)
- Alvimar de Oliveira Costa (2003-2008)
- José Perrella de Oliveira Costa (2009-2011)

The club's anthem,

As of June 3, 2009. Sources from official website.

Jersey numbers to be used in Copa Libertadores 2009 games.

Notable players

Notable managers

- Vanderlei Luxemburgo (won the triple crown in 2003)
- Levir Culpi (won the Copa do Brasil in 1996)
- Luiz Felipe Scolari (left to manage the national team in 2001)
- Paulo Autuori de Mello (won the Copa Libertadores de América in 1997)
- Adílson Dias Batista (current manager)
- Zezé Moreira (won the Copa Libertadores de América in 1976)

Records & Statistics

Statistics 2002/03 Historic Season

{ (2): 1976, 1997

- Supercopa Sudamericana (2): 1991, 1992

- Recopa Sudamericana (1): 1998

- Copa Oro (1): 1995

- Supercopa Masters (1): 1995

Domestic

- Campeonato Brasileiro Série A (1): 2003

- Taça Brasil (1): 1966

- Copa do Brasil (4): 1993, 1996, 2000, 2003

- Copa Sul-Minas (2): 2001, 2002

- Copa Centro-Oeste (1): 1999

- Campeonato Mineiro (36): 1926, 1928, 1929, 1930, 1940, 1943, 1944, 1945, 1956, 1959,1960, 1961, 1965, 1966, 1967, 1968, 1969, 1972, 1973, 1974, 1975, 1977, 1984, 1987, 1990, 1992, 1994, 1996, 1997, 1998, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2006, 2008, 2009

Friendly tournaments

- Copa Bimbo (1): 2009

Youth

- Campeonato Brasileiro Sub-20 (1): 2007

- Copa São Paulo de Juniores (1): 2007

- Taça Belo Horizonte de Juniores (5): 1985, 1993, 1995, 2001, 2004

- Copa Santiago de Futebol Juvenil (2): 2002, 2004

- Copa Macaé de Juvenis (2): 2007, 2008

- Copa Internacional de Futebol Sub-17 de Promissão (3): 2004, 2005, 2006

Notes and References

Atlético Mineiro, Atlético Paranaense, Botafogo, Coritiba, Cruzeiro, Figueirense, Flamengo, Fluminense, Goiás, Grêmio, Internacional, Ipatinga, Nautico Recife, Palmeiras, Portuguesa São Paulo, Santos, São Paulo, Sport Recife, Vasco da Gama, Vitria