Millonarios F.C.

Millonarios
Full name Millonarios Fútbol Club S.A.
Nickname(s) Millos,
Embajadores (The Ambassadors),
El Azul (The Blue),
Albiazules (The White-Blues),
El Ballet Azul (The Blue Ballet),La Casa Azul (Blue House)
Founded 18 June 1946 (1946-06-18)
Ground Estadio El Campín
Bogotá, Colombia
Ground Capacity 36,343[1]
Owner Azul & Blanco S.A.
Chairman Enrique Camacho Matamoros
Manager Rubén Israel
League Categoría Primera A
2015 6th
Website Club home page

Millonarios Fútbol Club is a professional Colombian football team based in Bogotá, that currently plays in the Categoría Primera A. They play their home games at the El Campín stadium.

The team was initially created in 1937 by students from the "Colegio San Bartolomé". After the team initially was unsure about which name it would want to use, Unión and Juventud were originally favoured, it got under the influence of the city administration of Bogotá and operated as Club Municipal de Deportes. Millonarios was formally founded on June 18, 1946, thanks to the efforts of Alfonso Senior Quevedo, who became the first chairman.

Millonarios has won the Colombian league 14 times. They are also the third Colombian team to achieve a major international title, the Copa Merconorte in 2001. Since the beginning of the Colombian professional football league, Millonarios has won many domestic tournaments, the last one in 2012 after a 24-year wait.

Millonarios is also one of only three teams that have played every first division tournament in the country, along with their traditional rivals Santa Fe and Atlético Nacional.[2]

History

Millonarios is one of the most successful teams from Colombia and a major soccer representative of the Americas in the 20th century. Having their peak during the 1950s. Millonarios has won 14 first division titles. Millonarios has been known to have one of the largest fan bases in Colombia.

The Ballet Azul

Millonarios greatly benefited from a major players' strike in the Argentinian league in 1948, which caused a great diaspora of players towards Colombia. The most successful period for the club was during the early 1950s due the notable Argentinean presence. During this period with the squad that was known as The Blue Ballet, that featured great players such as Alfredo di Stefano, Adolfo Pedernera, Néstor Rossi, Julio Cozzi, Antonio "Maestrico" Báez, Hugo Reyes, Reinaldo Mourin and other figures in Argentina, mainly from River Plate. Thanks to the great football that showed these players on the field, Millonarios was named by several media outlets in South America and Europe, as the best team in the world in the early 1950s.

In 1951, Colombia was suspended by FIFA due to the recruitment of international players without a pass; the teams were forced to return all expatriate players that had participated in the tournament through irregular means. This edict signed the departure of di Stefano in February 1953, receiving bids from Barcelona and Real Madrid, who came to win the bid for the player.[3]

Small Club World Cup

In 1952, a group of Venezuelan sports entrepreneurs created the Small Club World Cup, a friendly competition that brought together leading European and South American teams. Millonarios was invited to participate in the 1952 and 1953 editions. In its first appearance, the team finished with seven points, behind Real Madrid (double tie 1–1) and Brazilian Botafogo (4–4 tie and defeat 0–2); the tournament was played in a two-round scheme, and involved host La Salle of Venezuela (double win 4–1 and 5–1).

In its participation in 1953, the team was crowned undefeated champion with 11 points, above River Plate of Argentina (5–1 win and 1–1 tie), Rapid Wien of Austria (double win 2–1 and 4–0) and Spanish Espanyol of Barcelona (double win 6–0 and 4–0). This friendly tournament is considered by some to be a predecessor of the Intercontinental Cup, now known as FIFA Club World Cup, though not its equivalent.

2000s

Millonarios had further improvement when former Manchester City assistant manager Juan Carlos Osorio was appointed as the new Millonarios' Manager, which led the club to 3rd position in the League Stage of the Mustang Cup, and 5th in the addition of all the year's performance, taking the club once again into the Copa Sudamericana, while the financial situation of the team also had a notable recovery. In July 2007, Osorio left Millonarios to manage Major League Soccer side Chicago Fire, and he was replaced with Martín Lasarte; after a brief, but very unsuccessful period with Lasarte, Millonarios then hired Argentinian Mario Vanemerak as their new manager. Under Vanemerak, Millonarios began to shine again, most notably in the Copa Sudamericana 2007, where they eliminated several powerful teams, most notably Brazilian champions São Paulo in the quarter-finals, thanks to two goals from Ricardo Ciciliano. As of October, 2007, Millonarios qualified for the Copa Sudamericana semi-finals, although they had a less impressive performance in the local tournament.

2010s

Plagued by financial problems, and with no major titles in the last decade, the club finally initiated a bankruptcy process that led to its being bought by a society composed of about 4,000 fans, Azul & Blanco, SA This movement also meant a change in playing style which started with the hiring of Venezuelan coach Richard Páez. The change has proved successful, both financially and as related to championships. With Páez as coach, the team was able to win the Copa Colombia 2011 tournament, after winning both games against Boyacá Chicó, thus classifying to 2012 Copa Sudamericana. In June 24, 2012, it was confirmed that Hernán Torres would be the new coach.

In Copa Sudamericana, the team was highly successful, reaching semi-finals after eliminating Inti Gas, Guaraní, and the Brazilians Palmeiras, and Gremio, being eliminated by runner-up, Tigre. This came as a relief after an embarrassing defeat to Real Madrid in a friendly match to honor Alfredo Di Stéfano.

Despite the defeat, the team played a great first phase in the Colombian tournament, classifying to the play-offs as the best team of the semester. After a very difficult series of matches, the team reached the Finals which were to be played against Independiente Medellín. The first match was played in Medellín, and ended in a 0–0 tie. The final game was played December 16, 2012 in Bogotá, and ended up 1–1, thus the result had to be determined by a penalty shootout. Goalkeeper Delgado managed to stop a final shoot, and Millonarios won its 14th championship, the first Fútbol Profesional Colombiano title in about 24 years.

As the 2012 Finalización champion, Millonarios qualified to 2013 Copa Libertadores, where it played the second stage against Bolivian San José, Mexican Tijuana, and Brazilian Corinthians.

Under coach Ricardo Lunari, Millonarios started 2015 with three home victories against Patriotas, Cúcuta Deportivo and Cortuluá. Meanwhile, their debut in the Copa Colombia came with defeat against La Equidad.

Rivalries

Millonarios has forged many rivalries with several teams from the league, most notably with local rivals Santa Fe. This derby is popularly called El Clásico Capitalino (The Capital Classic). There are also strong rivalries with other teams like América de Cali, Atlético Nacional and Deportivo Cali.

Honours

National honours

1949, 1951, 1952, 1953, 1959, 1961, 1962, 1963, 1964, 1972, 1978, 1987, 1988, 2012 II
Runners-up (9): 1950, 1956, 1958, 1967, 1973, 1975, 1984, 1994, 1995-96.
1952-1953, 1962-1963, 2011
Runners-up (2): 1951-52, 2013

International honours

1953
Runners-up (1): 1952
2001
Runners-up (1): 2000
1972

Performance in CONMEBOL competitions

Best: Semi-finals in 1960, 1973, 1974 - Quarter-finals in 1962, 1963, 1964, 1989, 1995

1960: Semi-finals
1962: Quarter-finals
1963: Quarter-finals
1964: Quarter-finals
1968: First Round

1973: Semi-finals
1974: Semi-finals
1976: First Round
1979: First Round
1985: First Round

1988: First Round
1989: Quarter-finals
1995: Quarter-finals
1997: Round of 16
2013: First Round

2004: Preliminary Round
2007: Semi-finals
2012: Semi-finals
1998: Semi-finals
1999: Group Stage
2000: Finalist
2001: Champion

Players

First-team squad

As of 11 April 2016

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Position Player
1 Colombia GK Brayan Silva
2 Colombia DF Gabriel Díaz
3 Colombia DF David Valencia
4 Colombia DF Carlos Valencia
5 Colombia DF Andrés Cadavid
6 Colombia MF Yilmar Angulo
7 Colombia MF Oscar Barreto
8 Colombia MF Rafael Robayo
9 Colombia FW Michael Rangel
10 Colombia MF Jonathan Estrada
11 Argentina FW Maximiliano Núñez
12 Colombia GK Ramiro Sánchez
13 Colombia MF Harold Santiago Mosquera
14 Colombia MF David Silva
15 Colombia DF Deiver Machado
No. Position Player
17 Colombia MF Henry Rojas
18 Colombia MF Rafael Carrascal
19 Colombia MF Mario González
20 Colombia DF Héctor Quiñones
21 Colombia FW Andrés Ramiro Escobar
22 Colombia MF Yulián Mejía
23 Colombia DF Lewis Ochoa
24 Colombia MF Jorge Carrascal
25 Colombia MF Elkin Blanco
27 Uruguay GK Nicolás Vikonis
28 Colombia DF Stiven Vega
29 Colombia DF Carlos Henao
30 Paraguay FW Christian Ovelar
32 Colombia FW Jonathan Agudelo

Out of loan

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Position Player
Colombia MF Yhonny Ramírez (on loan at Junior)
No. Position Player
Colombia FW Cristhian Alarcón (on loan at Atlético Huila)

Records

Most capped players

Source: BDFA

R Player P Career App.
1 Colombia Bonner Mosquera MF 1990–01, 2002–06 550
2 Colombia Alejandro Brand FW 1969–78, 1981–82 385
3 Colombia Julio Edgar Gaviria DF 1968–77 382
4 Colombia Euclides "Tizon" González DF 1971–81 371
5 Colombia Arnoldo Iguarán FW 1983–91, 1993–95 336
6 Colombia Alonso "Pocillo" Lopez DF 1974–80, 1982–85 335
7 Colombia Willington Ortiz FW 1972–79 328
8 Colombia Miguel "El Nano" Prince DF 1989–98 321
9 Colombia Rafael Robayo MF 2005–11, 2012– 317
10 Colombia Arturo Segovia DF 1972–79 316

Last updated on: 5 February 2016

Top scorers

Source: BDFA

R Player P Career App.
1 Argentina Alfredo Castillo FW 1948–57 131
2 Colombia Arnoldo Iguarán FW 1983–91, 1993–95 120
3 Colombia Willington Ortiz FW 1972–79 96
4 Colombia Marino Klinger FW 1957–66 96
5 Colombia Alejandro Brand FW 1969–78, 1981–82 91
6 Argentina Colombia Spain Alfredo Di Stéfano FW 1948–53 88
7 Argentina Miguel Ángel Converti FW 1975–77 85
8 Argentina José María Ferrero FW 1967–69 85
9 Argentina Juan José Irigoyen FW 1977–79 81
10 Colombia Jaime Morón FW 1971–74, 1977–82 80

Last updated on: 5 February 2016

Notable foreign players

Managers

References

  1. FIFA Web
  2. Stokkermans, Karel (3 October 2013). "Coventric!". RSSSF.com.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Club Deportivo Los Millonarios.
This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Sunday, April 24, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.