C is for Cruzeiro
Cruzeiro Esporte Clube are from the city of Belo Horizonte, Brazil.
Founded on January 2, 1921, it is the only Brazilian team to have won the triple crown of Brazilian League, Brazilian Cup, State Championship, and all in the same year.
They are also one of only 4 teams in Brazil, to not be relegated, the others being Internacional, Flamengo, and Vasco da Gama
Even though the club's main focus is football, Cruzeiro also offers other less professional teams as well. These include track and field, bocce, and bowling. In addition the club also has a sports school for children of different ages, among the programs and sports offered there are bellet, basketball, futsal, gymnastic and volleyball.
History
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 Belo Horizonte to have its own club as well.
Yale, formed in 1910 and competed in the 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 of 1920, Yale separated and the Palestra Itália of Belo Horizonte also known as Palestra Mineiro was born.
On January 2, 1921, about 250 Italians met for the foundation of the Sociedade Esportiva Palestra Itália, or Societá Sportiva Palestra Itália. The adopted colours, as it could not be otherwise, were the same ones of the Italian flag: green, red, and white. The first uniform of the club was a green jersey, white shorts and red socks. 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 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 2-0.
On January of 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 after a defeat on their debut the name was removed. On October a consensus of the directors approved the name Cruzeiro Esporte Clube.
Only, however, in November of 1942, did Cruzeiro Esporte Clube make its first appearance to the world, using the blue-starred shirt, erasing themselves, of the existence of the Palestra Itália. Playing the club America, Cruzeiro won 1-0.
Rivalry
Like every state or region in Brazil, there are two main football forces and through out time they have become great rivals. Atlético and Cruzeiro are no exception. It’s the biggest derby in Minas, and besides Rio and Sao Paulo derbies, it’s one the biggest in Brazil.
There is always a big feud between the two fans, one claiming it is stronger than the other. Overall, Atlético has managed to win 184 derby matches, Cruzeiro has won 143 and there have been 120 draws, out of 432 derbies. Cruzeiro have won over 106 titles (official and nonofficial) making it by far the most successful of the two. Cruzeiro have also the biggest fan base in Brazil, besides Rio and Sao Paulo teams. Through championships and fans it is safe to say Cruzeiro are the most successful team in present day Minas, and Atlético were unable to prove this wrong as they were relegated to the Brazilian Série B in 2005.
Stadium
Estádio Governador Magalhães Pinto was built in 1965 and is the largest football stadium in the state of Minas Gerais.
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 more than 130,000 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 75,000 people.
Since the stadium's opening, the three important teams of Belo Horizonte have hosted their matches in Mineirão: Atlético Mineiro, Cruzeiro and América Mineiro. Mineirão has also hosted matches of the Brazilian national team.
Symbols
The club mascot was created by cartoonist Fernando Pieruccetti who was so inspired by the clubs ex-president's, Mario Grossa, personality of being so smart and cunning with the clubs business, that 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.
The evolution of Cruzeiro’s crest has followed the transformation of their kits. The club was born as Societá Sportiva Palestra Itália and so the crest was a rhombus with the initials SSPI. In 1943 however in a game against São Cristóvão, the club started to use their new crest which was a blue circle with five five white stars in it, symbolizing the constellation Cruzeiro. Cruzeiro use this crest on their jerseys, although they have switched to using the crest as just loose stars on the shirt many times.
Honours
(Well, let’s face it, they are all Mickey Mouse cups they’ve won)
Brazilian League: 1
Taça Brasil: 1
Brazil Cup: 4
Copa Sul-Minas: 2
Copa Centro-Oeste: 1
State Championships: 34
Copa Libertadores de América: 2
Supercopa Sudamericana: 2
Recopa: 1
Copa Oro: 1
Supercopa Masters: 1
British and Irish Connection
Not a sausage
Cruzeiro Esporte Clube are from the city of Belo Horizonte, Brazil.
Founded on January 2, 1921, it is the only Brazilian team to have won the triple crown of Brazilian League, Brazilian Cup, State Championship, and all in the same year.
They are also one of only 4 teams in Brazil, to not be relegated, the others being Internacional, Flamengo, and Vasco da Gama
Even though the club's main focus is football, Cruzeiro also offers other less professional teams as well. These include track and field, bocce, and bowling. In addition the club also has a sports school for children of different ages, among the programs and sports offered there are bellet, basketball, futsal, gymnastic and volleyball.
History
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 Belo Horizonte to have its own club as well.
Yale, formed in 1910 and competed in the 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 of 1920, Yale separated and the Palestra Itália of Belo Horizonte also known as Palestra Mineiro was born.
On January 2, 1921, about 250 Italians met for the foundation of the Sociedade Esportiva Palestra Itália, or Societá Sportiva Palestra Itália. The adopted colours, as it could not be otherwise, were the same ones of the Italian flag: green, red, and white. The first uniform of the club was a green jersey, white shorts and red socks. 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 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 2-0.
On January of 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 after a defeat on their debut the name was removed. On October a consensus of the directors approved the name Cruzeiro Esporte Clube.
Only, however, in November of 1942, did Cruzeiro Esporte Clube make its first appearance to the world, using the blue-starred shirt, erasing themselves, of the existence of the Palestra Itália. Playing the club America, Cruzeiro won 1-0.
Rivalry
Like every state or region in Brazil, there are two main football forces and through out time they have become great rivals. Atlético and Cruzeiro are no exception. It’s the biggest derby in Minas, and besides Rio and Sao Paulo derbies, it’s one the biggest in Brazil.
There is always a big feud between the two fans, one claiming it is stronger than the other. Overall, Atlético has managed to win 184 derby matches, Cruzeiro has won 143 and there have been 120 draws, out of 432 derbies. Cruzeiro have won over 106 titles (official and nonofficial) making it by far the most successful of the two. Cruzeiro have also the biggest fan base in Brazil, besides Rio and Sao Paulo teams. Through championships and fans it is safe to say Cruzeiro are the most successful team in present day Minas, and Atlético were unable to prove this wrong as they were relegated to the Brazilian Série B in 2005.
Stadium
Estádio Governador Magalhães Pinto was built in 1965 and is the largest football stadium in the state of Minas Gerais.
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 more than 130,000 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 75,000 people.
Since the stadium's opening, the three important teams of Belo Horizonte have hosted their matches in Mineirão: Atlético Mineiro, Cruzeiro and América Mineiro. Mineirão has also hosted matches of the Brazilian national team.
Symbols
The club mascot was created by cartoonist Fernando Pieruccetti who was so inspired by the clubs ex-president's, Mario Grossa, personality of being so smart and cunning with the clubs business, that 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.
The evolution of Cruzeiro’s crest has followed the transformation of their kits. The club was born as Societá Sportiva Palestra Itália and so the crest was a rhombus with the initials SSPI. In 1943 however in a game against São Cristóvão, the club started to use their new crest which was a blue circle with five five white stars in it, symbolizing the constellation Cruzeiro. Cruzeiro use this crest on their jerseys, although they have switched to using the crest as just loose stars on the shirt many times.
Honours
(Well, let’s face it, they are all Mickey Mouse cups they’ve won)
Brazilian League: 1
Taça Brasil: 1
Brazil Cup: 4
Copa Sul-Minas: 2
Copa Centro-Oeste: 1
State Championships: 34
Copa Libertadores de América: 2
Supercopa Sudamericana: 2
Recopa: 1
Copa Oro: 1
Supercopa Masters: 1
British and Irish Connection
Not a sausage
