FM2009: Official Cruzeiro EC - "A Raposa"

Welcome to Minas Gerais

Full name - Cruzeiro Esporte Clube

Nickname - A Raposa(The Fox)

Founded - 1921 as Palestra Itália

Ground - Mineirão (Capacity: 75,000)

President - "Zezé Perrella"

Manager - Adílson Batista

League - Campeonato Brasileiro Série A

History

Palestra years

Early Palestra years

Cruzeiro was born off a political administrative crisis at Yale, one of the first sporting clubs of Belo Horizonte, a city where already some Italian 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 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 the club was a green jersey, white shorts and red stockings. On the shield, in the form of a rhombus, were the initials SSPI. The club 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, which was the club 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 the club took 10 months to create a new name and symbol for the club that was entirely Brazilian. The name was changed to Ypiranga, but this name did'nt got the affection of the congress of the Advice, so this name 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, 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 glorious Palestra Itália. The first presentation as Cruzeiro Esporte Clube happened in November 11, 1942, in the fields of América, 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-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 the club to win five Campeonato Mineiro titles in a row, and the conquest of Taça Brasil on top of Santos of Pelé (winning 6x2 in the Mineirão and 3x2 in São Paulo).

In 1976, Cruzeiro conquered its first Copa Libertadores de América, over River Plate of Argentina, being runners-up in the same competition in 1977, defeated by Boca Juniors of Argentina. In the Campeonato Brasileiro, in 1974 Cruzeiro were runners-up for the first time, after losing a very confusing, decisive match against Vasco. Later in 1975 once again they were runners-up, this time losing to International 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, 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 the club 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 the club'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 (2003) and many other titles not listed. In this period, several icons of Brazilian soccer wore the club's jersey. Among them, we can mention Charles, Boiadeiro, Douglas, Ademir, Ronaldo, Nonato, Dida, Ricardinho, Marcelo Ramos, Alex Alves, Sorín, Fred, and Alex.

Rivalry with Atlético

As it is usual in many Brazilian states, there are two main football powerhouses and through out time they have become greatest rivals. Atlético 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 Alex, conquered the triple crown. 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 Brazilian League, Cruzeiro also won the Brazilian Cup and the State Championship to become the first Brazilian team to win the triple crown.

In 2004, Cruzeiro continued to do well, winning the Belo Horizonte Youth Cup, and, with stars such as Argentine 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 competiton for the title. They finished in 3rd place, qualifying once again for Copa Libertadores 2009.

In 2009, the International Federation of Football History and Statistics (IFFHS) ranked Cruzeiro as the fourth best team of Brazil (after São Paulo, Fluminense and Flamengo) and 39th best team of the world.

Mineirão

Estádio Mineirão (meaning Big Mineiro Stadium), officially Estádio Governador Magalhães Pinto (Governor Magalhães Pinto Stadium) established in 1965 after Governor Magalhães Pinto, is the largest football stadium in the state of Minas Gerais, Brazil, and one of the strongest candidates to be a host stadium in the 2014 FIFA World Cup to be held in the country. On February 25, 1960, the government of the Union and the Federal University of Minas Gerais gave Minas Gerais land in the neighborhood of Pampulha, Belo Horizonte, for the construction of the stadium. The Mineirão was planned by Eduardo Mendes Guimarães Júnior and Caspar Garreto, both architects. The structural project was undertaken by engineer Arthur Eugênio Jermann. The construction workmanship was directed by engineer Gil Cesar Moreira de Abreu. From 1963 to the date of its inauguration on September 5, 1965, approximately five thousand people were involved in the construction. The festivities marking the opening of the stadium included parachute jumpers, music, and an inaugural football match. The events were attended by 73,201 people.

The inaugural match at Mineirão Stadium was played by the Minas Gerais state team and the Argentinian team, River Plate. It is said that Mineirão had held 132,834 people in 1997 in the match between Cruzeiro and Villa Nova in the final match of the state league, but in this match, women and children did not have to pay. The paying attendance was 74,857, and there were 56,618 women and children who entered for free. For safety reasons the capacity of Mineirão had been reduced for the majority of its 40 years of history. In 2004, by imposition of FIFA, the capacity of the stadium was reduced to less than 72,000 people. To apply for FIFA's requirements and be used in the 2014 World Cup, the stadium will undergo reforms, to finish the ceiling above the audience and widen the car park. Since the stadium's opening, three important teams in Belo Horizonte have hosted their matches in Mineirão: Atlético Mineiro, Cruzeiro Esporte Clube and América Mineiro (which also has a private stadium). Mineirão has also hosted matches of the Brazilian national team. Atlético Mineiro is the club which has brought more people to Mineirão Stadium: through 2002, 20,887,391 people watched 1,011 matches of Atlético. In close second is Cruzeiro, with 19,544,507 attendees of 1,062 matches. These statistics do not include derbies.

FM

Info

Fierce Rivals - Atlético Mineiro

Other Rivals - América (MG)

Finances - Okay

Est Value - £22M (Loan Debt: £5.75M)

Media Prediction - 3rd

Stadium

Capacity - 69333 all-seater

Stadium Condition - Good

Under Soil Heating - Yes

Roof - No

Pitch Condition - Perfect

Facilities

Corporate - Top Corporate Facilities

Training - Top Training Facilities

Youth - State of the Art Facilities + Academy

Expectations

The Cruzeiro wage bill is £156K at the start of the game. The following are the options given by the chairman.

Top Half Finish

£300K - £180Kp/w

Continental Position

£400K - £205Kp/w

Title Challenge

£425K - £210Kp/w

Winner

£475K - £215Kp/w

Squad

Fábio - GK

Rafael - GK

Jancarlos - DR

Jonathan - DR

Thiago Heleno - DC

Leonardo Silva -DC

Gustavo - DC

Léo Fortunato - DC, DM, MC

Fabrício - DM, MC

Marquinhos Paraná - DRC, DM, AMRLC

Elicarlos - DM, MC

Henrique - DM, AMC

Juan Pablo Sorin - D/WB/ML

Ramires - DM, MC

Fernandinho - D/WBL, AMLC, FC

Gérson Magrão - AMLC, FC

Wágner - AMLC

Kléber - FC

Thiago Ribiero - FC

Wanderley - FC

Soares - ST

Wellington Paulista - ST

Key Players

Fabio

Thiago Heleno

Ramires (center)