Millonarios F.C.

Millonarios

File:Millionarios.png
Full name	Club Deportivo Los Millonarios
Nickname(s)	Los Embajadores (The Ambassadors), El Ballet Azul (The Blue Ballet), Los Albiazules (The White Blues), Millos
Founded	1937 as Juventud Bogotana June 18, 1946 as Club Deportivo Los Millonarios
Ground	Nemesio Camacho (El Campín) Bogotá, Colombia
Capacity	42.000
Chairman	Juan Carlos López
Manager	Luis Augusto García
League	Fútbol Profesional Colombiano
2009 - II	9th
Home colours Away colours

Club Deportivo Los Millonarios is a Colombian football club based in Bogotá. As of 2009, Millonarios shares with rival América de Cali being the team with the most Fútbol Profesional Colombiano championships, 13 in total, although they 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 in 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.

History

Alfredo di Stéfano's uniforms exhibited in Real Madrid Museum

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, Mario Vanemerak, 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 Balleta 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 and start a new chapter in Colombian football.

Honours

File:LasCopasdeMillonarios.JPG

The Club Trophies

File:TrofeoTorneoBodasdeOroRealMadrid.JPG

Torneo Bodas de Oro Real Madrid Trophy, won in 1952 in the Santiago Bernabéu Stadium.

National honours

• Fútbol Profesional Colombiano
  • Winners (13): 1949, 1951, 1952, 1953, 1959, 1961, 1962, 1963, 1964, 1972, 1978, 1987, 1988
  • Runners up (9): 1950, 1956, 1958, 1967, 1973, 1975, 1984, 1994, 1995/1996
• Copa Colombia
  • Winners (2): 1952/1953, 1962/1963
  • Runners up (1): 1951/1952

International honours

• Pequeña Copa del Mundo de Clubes
  • Winners (1):1953
  • Runners up (1):1952

• Copa Merconorte
  • Winners (1): 2001
  • Runners up (1): 2000

• Copa Simón Bolívar
  • Winners (1): 1972

Performance in CONMEBOL competitions

• Copa Libertadores: 14 appearances

Best: Semi-Final in 1960, 1973, 1974 - Quarterfinal in 1962, 1963, 1964, 1989, 1995

• Copa Sudamericana: 2 appearances

2004: Preliminary Round

2007: Semi-Final

• Copa Merconorte: 4 appearances

1998: Semi-Final

1999: Group Stage

2000: Finalist

2001: Champion

Stadium

El Campin, opened in 1938, has been Millonarios' main field since the club former creation. The stadium has an actual capacity of 48,600 seated spectators.

Honours:

• Copa America 2001
• 2011 FIFA U-20 World Cup

Current Squad 2010

As of January 17, 2010.

First team players

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

No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
1	GK	URU	Juan Angel Obelar
2	DF	COL	Luis Miguel del Risco
3	DF	COL	Oswaldo Henríquez
4	DF	COL	José Mera
5	MF	COL	Frey Ramos
6	DF	COL	Luis Hernán Mosquera
7	MF	COL	Yovanny Arrechea
8	MF	COL	Rafael Robayo
9	FW	ARG	Hernán Boyero
12	GK	COL	José Fernando Cuadrado
13	DF	COL	Charles Quinto
15	MF	COL	John Jairo Ulloque
16	DF	COL	Alex Díaz
17	MF	COL	Omar Vásquez
18	FW	COL	Giovanny Mancilla
19	DF	COL	Mauricio Casierra
22	MF	COL	Luis Enrique Mena
23	DF	COL	Pedro Franco
24	FW	COL	Edier Tello

No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
25	MF	COL	Elkin Blanco
26	DF	COL	David Pérez
27	FW	COL	Yuber Asprilla
28	FW	COL	Víctor Salazar
29	FW	COL	Ervin González
32	FW	COL	Juan Sebastián Agudelo
--	GK	COL	Juan Sebastián Villate
--	DF	COL	Luis Malagón
--	DF	COL	John Castro
--	DF	COL	Yoiber González
--	DF	COL	Sebastián Gualdrón
--	MF	PAR	Sebastián Ramírez
--	MF	COL	Rubén Mina
--	MF	COL	José Cuero
--	MF	COL	Cristhian Subero
--	MF	COL	Omar Andrés Rodríguez
--	FW	COL	Wilson Cuero
--	FW	COL	Juan David Moreno
--	FW	COL	Leonardo Castro

Youth team players

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

No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
--	GK	COL	Adrián Pacheco
--	DF	COL	Daniel Almanza
--	DF	COL	Gustavo Quitián
--	DF	COL	Julio César Ortiz
--	DF	COL	Boris Palacios
--	MF	COL	John Elí Rivas

No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
--	MF	COL	José Rapalino
--	MF	COL	Cristhian Alarcón
--	MF	COL	Julio Gaitán
--	MF	COL	Javier Ramírez
--	FW	COL	Pedro Cambindo
--	FW	COL	Daniel Escamilla

Coaching and Medical Staff

Name Role Luis Augusto"El Chiqui " García Manager Diego Barragán Assistant Manager Nilton Bernal Assistant Manager Juan Carlos García Assistant Manager Ricardo Solórzano Fitness Coach Yohanni Velásquez Goalkeeping Coach Haroldo Yepes Club Doctor James Barrero Kinesiologist Alirio Ramírez Utilitarian Wilson Barrero Utilitarian Historical Goal Scorers Country Player Seasons Goals Alfredo Castillo 1948-56 133 Arnoldo Iguarán 1983-91 y 1993-95 120 Alfredo Di Stéfano 1949-52 96 Marino Klinger 1957-66 96 Alejandro Brand 1969-82 91 Willington Ortiz 1972-79 90 Miguel Ángel Converti 1975-77 85 José María Ferrero 1967-69 85 Juan José Irigoyen 1977-79 81 Jaime Morón 1971-74, 1977-82 80 Óscar Eduardo Juárez 1986-91 74 Delio Gamboa 1961-65, 1973-74 68 Carlos Rendón 1988-95 66 Rubén Antonio Pizarro 1960-65 59 Pedro Cabillón 1948-50 57 Freddy León 1990-95 57 Juan Gilberto Funes 1984-86 55 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. External links Millonarios Official Web Site Dimayor profile of the team Template:Fb start