Millonarios Fútbol Club
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This article may be expanded with text translated from the corresponding article in the Spanish Wikipedia. (March 2009) Click [show] on the right for instructions.
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| Full name | Millonarios Fútbol Club | ||
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| Nickname(s) | Embajadores (The Ambassadors), El Azul (The Blue ), Albiazules (The White Blues), Millos, El Ballet Azul (The Blue Ballet) |
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| Founded | June 18, 1946 | ||
| Ground | Estadio El Campín Bogotá, Colombia (Capacity: 40,343[1]) |
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| Chairman | Felipe Gaitán Tovar | ||
| Manager | Richard Páez | ||
| League | Fútbol Profesional Colombiano | ||
| 2011-II | 4th |
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Millonarios Fútbol Club is a Colombian football club based in Bogotá. As of 2011, Millonarios shares with rivals América de Cali the most Fútbol Profesional Colombiano championships, 13 in total, although Millonarios haven't won this tournament since 1988. They are also the third Colombian team to achieve a major international title, the Copa Merconorte in 2001. The team was initially created in 1937 by students from two schools in the city of Bogotá: "Colegio San Bartolomé" and "Instituto La Salle". Millonarios, as the team it is now, was officially founded on June 18, 1946, thanks to the efforts of Alfonso Senior Quevedo, Millonarios first chairman. From the beginning of the Colombian Soccer Tournament, Millos won many domestic tournaments, the last one in 1988.when he got thirteenth conquest. At present (2011) is a process of administrative restructuring after meeting plunged into the worst crisis in sport, administrative and financial history, which even threatened with liquidation.
It is also one of only three teams that have played every Premier League tournaments in the country, with its traditional rival, Santa Fe and Atletico Nacional. [4]
From the beginning of the Colombian championship in 1948 achieved the highest number of local titles were played and formed a team called the Blue Ballet, which was considered one of the best in the world during the decade of 1950, [citation needed] when he got many international triumphs, among them the Cup Golden Jubilee of Real Madrid and Little Club World Cup 1953, which gave the team the adjectives "Ambassador", the "most successful" and "more time champion "of the Colombian championship (a brand now shares with the America de Cali, who managed to match him in the year 2008 (after 57 consecutive years during which the blue team was the first solo).
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[edit] History
Throughout its history, Millonarios has had famous players, including: Alfredo di Stéfano, Adolfo Pedernera, Juan Gilberto Funes, "El Búfalo", Willington Ortiz, Arnoldo Iguarán, Daniel "Tito" Onega, Fernando Areán, Carlos Valderrama, Carlos Ángel López, Alfredo Castillo, Sergio Goycochea, Delio "Maravilla" Gamboa, Miguel Angel Converti, Jaime Morón, Amadeo Carrizo, Alejandro Brand, René Higuita, Mario Vanemerak, John Mario Ramírez and Pedro Alberto Vivalda. Carlos "El Pibe" Valderrama was actually expelled from Millonarios as the Coach and Board of Directors thought he was not good enough for football.
The Ballet Azul
The most successful period for the club had place during the early 1950s due the notable Argentinean players incoming. Alfredo di Stéfano, Adolfo Pedernera and Nestor Rossi made the legendary team that built the renamed 'Ballet Azul'. These notable player abandoned Millonarios in 1954, some of them returned to their original teams while others that remained continued their careers in Europe, this was the case for Alfredo di Stéfano who transferred to Real Madrid; He is still considered one of the best player of all time [1]
2000s crisis and recovering
During the 2000s, Millonarios has endured a financial crisis. The club had two of their worst crises in 2 seasons: In 2002 the club had their worst financial situation, to the point that many people feared the possibility of Millos coming to an end. After a decent 2003 performance, chaos reappeared in later 2004 (while playing the Copa Mustang II), when Millos had their worst league campaign, finishing second from bottom. Millos also played in the Copa Sudamericana 2004, where they were knocked out by Atlético Junior in the preliminary phase.
From this point, Millonarios began a slow process to recover their former glory, managing to get again into the cup's group stage in 2006, something they didn't do at the previous tournament. Millos had further improvement when former Manchester City F.C. 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 Millos 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 FC in the quarter-finals, thanks to two goals from Ricardo Ciciliano. As of October 25, 2007, Millonarios has qualified for the Copa Sudamericana semi-finals, although they had a less impressive performance in the Colombian Copa Mustang II 2007 so far. The club currently is involved in a bankruptucy process that promises to cancel the team's debts.
[edit] Honours
[edit] National honours
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- 1949, 1951, 1952, 1953, 1959, 1961, 1962, 1963, 1964, 1972, 1978, 1987, 1988
- Runners-up (9): 1950, 1956, 1958, 1967, 1973, 1975, 1984, 1994, 1995-96
- Copa Colombia: (3)
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- 1952-1953, 1962-1963, 2011
- Runners-up (1): 1951-52
[edit] International honours
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- 1953
- Runners-up (1): 1952
- Copa Merconorte: (1)
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- 2001
- Runners-up (1): 2000
- Copa Simón Bolívar: (1)
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- 1972
[edit] Performance in CONMEBOL competitions
- Copa Libertadores: 14 appearances
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- Best: Semi-Finals in 1960, 1973, 1974 - Quarter-Finals in 1962, 1963, 1964, 1989, 1995
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- Copa Sudamericana: 2 appearances
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- 2004: Preliminary Round
- 2007: Semi-Finals
- Copa Merconorte: 4 appearances
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- 1998: Semi-Finals
- 1999: Group Stage
- 2000: Finalist
- 2001: Champion
[edit] Current Squad 2012
As of January 19, 2012.
[edit] First team players
Note: Flags indicate national team as has been defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
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[edit] Rivalries
Millonarios has forged many rivalries with several teams from the Mustang Cup, most notably with local rivals Santa Fe, in fact, the match between both teams is called El Clásico Capitalino; there are also strong rivalries with other teams like América de Cali, El Clásico con más estrellas, Atlético Nacional, El Clásico de la rivalidad regional, and Deportivo Cali, El Clásico con historia.
[edit] References
[edit] External links
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