Raja CA
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| Full name | Raja Club Athletic نادي الرجاء الرياضي | |||
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| Nickname(s) | Raja Mondial (Raja of the world) The People's Team Green Eagles Green Devils L'khadra (The green) L'Khadra l'Wataniya (National Green) the voice of the Nation | |||
| Short name | Raja CA, RCA | |||
| Founded | 20 March 1949 | |||
| Ground | Stade Mohamed V Casablanca, Morocco | |||
| Capacity | 45,000 | |||
| President | Jawad Ziyat | |||
| Head coach | Patrice Carteron | |||
| League | Botola | |||
| 2018–19 | 2nd | |||
| Website | Club website | |||
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Raja Club Athletic (Raja CA or RCA) (Arabic: نادي الرجاء الرياضي; transliterated: nādī ar-Rajāʾ ar-Riyāḍi) is a sports club with sections in many different disciplines based in Casablanca, Morocco. Founded on March 20, 1949 by Moroccan unions, Raja CA is a club known for the success of its football section. Only team to never have left the elite of the Moroccan championship since its beginning in 1956. The club plays its meetings at Stade Mohammed V since it's inauguration in 1956.
Raja CA is widely considered as the biggest football club in Morocco, and holds the distinction of being the only arab club to reach the final of the 2013 FIFA Club World Cup. Raja is also the more titled in the Maghreb in the CAF Champions League. It is also one of the most prestigious clubs on the continent, in 1999, in a ranking established by the FIFA, Raja is ranked 10th club in the world following its performances at the 2000 Mondialito. According to a CAF ranking of the best African clubs of the 20th century, Raja was ranked third in Africa after Zamalek SC and Al Ahly SC, knowing that Raja was created in the middle of this century, also, with 16 trophies won since 2000, Raja CA is also the most successful moroccan club of the 21st century. Nowadays, Raja is the fifth most successful club in Africa with 8 titles in official continental competitions
Raja CA has longstanding rivalries with some clubs, including Wydad AC (the confrontation between the two clubs, the Casablanca derby, is one of the most famous in the world) where the Green Eagles show a historical superiority over his rival in term of victories and goals.
Raja is the most supported club in Morocco, and has been appointed by Marca as the most popular of the continent, it is traditionally considered the club of the people, while Wydad is historically closer to the upper class, Now this obsolete social cleavage has given way to an intense rivalry in football.
The green club is chaired by Jaouad Ziyat since September 13, 2018, succeeding to the provisional committee of Mohamed Aouzal who led Raja for 5 months after the resignation of the controversial Said Hasbane. The French Patrice Carteron is the coach since January 2018.
History
Beginning
The club joined the Moroccan league at its foundation by the Royal Moroccan Football Federation in 1956. The prohibition of entrusting the presidency to a Moroccan was quickly circumvented by leaving this chair for six months to Benabadji Haji, a Muslim of Algerian descent who benefited from French nationality. The French authorities, taken aback by this scheme, were forced to accept the accomplished fact.
So in 1949, Raja, composed exclusively of Moroccan players, started its first year in the Division of Honour. It moved to the second division in its first season and reached the first division in 1951 and was therefore the first team to integrate the Moroccan first division after matches dams.[clarification needed] Since then, the club has been considered an elite Moroccan football team.
The first coach of the club was Kassimi Kacem and Raja was known to be very successful under his leadership. Along with Boujemaa Kadri, a peerless leader, the two would distinguish themselves by working methodically and effectively, administratively and organizationally. This duo would survive all the ups and downs of the club's history and establish the reputation of Raja in many areas.
The 1990s : National and african supremacy
Unlike his two most serious competitors who won titles in the years 1950-1970 and early 1990s for Wydad AC and the 1960s and 1980s for AS FAR, Rajaouis had to wait nearly forty years, 1988 exactly to see themselves champions of Morocco. Between 1996 and 2001, Raja CA became the team to beat that won six league titles successively, a accomplishment that no other team has ever equaled. This glamorous period culminated in 1999 when Raja confirmed its continental supremacy and established itself as the best African team with victories in the CAF Champions League, the African Super Cup and the Afro-Asian Club Championship. Raja is the first Arab and African club to qualify for the 2000 FIFA Club World Championship in Brazil. Raja is eliminated in the first round after three defeats against Corinthians (0-2), Al Nasr (3-4) and Real Madrid (2-3) 23, match where, despite the defeat, Raja humiliates the european champions and is acclaimed by the Brazilian public after an extraordinary performance of beautiful game with "Raja Style", iconic game style of the Greens. On the national level, in addition to the wins in Botola, Raja obtain the 1996, 2002 and 2005 editions of the Moroccan Throne Cup and, internationally, the club added several other trophies: the Champions League was won in 1997 and 1999, the CAF Cup in 2003, the African Super Cup in 2000, the Afro-Asian Club Championship in 1999.
Appearances on the international circuit
2000 FIFA Club World Cup
Raja Casablanca is the the first African team to participate in the Club World Cup. They competed in the first edition that took place in 2000 in Brazil. The competition allowed them to confront some of the great football teams from around the world, such as Real Madrid from Spain and Corinthians from Brazil.
2013 FIFA Club World Cup
Raja Casablanca became the second club to reach the FIFA Club World final as the host nation's national champions, after Brazilian club Corinthians, and the first under the current seven-club format since the 2007 edition, as they defeated Auckland City FC then C.F. Monterrey and Atlético Mineiro (3–1) at the semi-final of the 2013 FIFA Club World Cup.[1]
Style
Since its inception, Raja has always had a reputation of being a team of artists playing enjoyably and having fun. Pere Jego has installed a collective game, specific, based on short passes, the one-two, the offensive and individual achievement, hence the label "Raja lfraja" (Raja of the show).
With this system, Raja frightened their opponents and they were able to humiliate the biggest clubs with a spectacular game marked by small bridges as well as combinations of high level without worrying about the score. The team did not win a national title until 1974 with its first taste of the throne and in 1988 with its first victory in the championship followed by a Champions League in 1989, without counting the championship title refused to Raja in the 1959–1960 season.
The appearance on the world circuit had attracted the attention of many football experts. Just after 1997 Champions League, the team received an invitation from Marcello Lippi's Juventus to play a preparation match at Palermo. Their style of play led to Raja gaining the support and encouragement of 40,000 Brazilians at the Morumbi stadium in São Paulo, during its historic performance in the Club World Cup in 2000 in its game against Vicente Del Bosque's Real Madrid.[2]
Honours
 | This section needs additional citations for verification. (July 2014) |
International competitions
- Runners-up: 2013
- Winner: 1998
Domestic competitions
- Moroccan League: 11
- Winners: 1987–88, 1995–96, 1996–97, 1997–98, 1998–99, 1999–00, 2000–01, 2003–04, 2008–09, 2010–11, 2012–13
- Winners: 1974, 1977, 1982, 1996, 2002, 2005, 2012, 2017
African competitions
- CAF Champions League: 3 Winners: 1989, 1997, 1999
- Runners-up: 2002
- Winner: 2018
- CAF Cup: 1
- Winner: 2003
Regional competitions
- Winner: 2015
Friendly competitions
- International Friendship Abha Cup: 1
- Winner: 2004[3]
- Runner-up: 2001
- Arab Summer Cup: 1
- Winner: 2007
- Ahmed Antifi Tournament: 2
- Winner: 2009, 2016
- Runner-up: 2010
Performance in CAF competitions
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Presidents
Managers
Current squadNote: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
Current technical staff
Notable playersAcademy players
The Academy of Raja is among the best academies in Africa, and has always produced great players who have played for Raja as well as the Moroccan national team. Some notable players include:
Goalscorers by season
.jpg)  Transfers
Club Logos and identity Colors and kitsThe colors of the team are green and white. The green color was chosen by the club's founders because it symbolizes hope and growth. Green is also considered the traditional color of Islam. On top of that, green is one of the colors of the Moroccan flag. White is the color of the hometown of the club, Casablanca These colors were used since the team's first matches in 1949. The jersey of the Greens was long made by the German Adidas, during a period from 1968 to 1980, where he was replaced by Puma until 1995. In 1990, Raja entered into his first sponsorship deal with Chimicolor, making him the first Moroccan club to display a sponsor on his jersey. Comes after that the Moroccan bank of Africa and the East (BMAO) and ODEP 'known today as MarsaMaroc'. From 1995 to 1999, the club is sponsored by Danone and Lavazza for a year, but the club changes equipment manufacturer each season, and sees succeed successively Adidas, Uhlsport, Umbro and Adidas another time. After his victory in the 1999 CAF Champions League, Raja a contract Hummel valid until 2002, the jersey will be sponsored during this period by Western Union, Fiat, Asta[disambiguation needed] and Coca-Cola, In 2001, Raja signed a contract with the French sports management company Transatlas Sports Management (TSM) which has made Raja one of the first clubs in Africa to have a commission for marketing and advertising. When the Hummel contract expires, the club gives his jersey to the Italian Kappa for a period of 6 years, and also signed with Siera who remains the main sponsor until now. Then, Lotto is the equipment supplier of the club from 2008 to 2013, then Adidas takes over again until 2017. Since 2017, it is the Italian Legea.
MascotThe eagle meanwhile, in a period marked by the colonization of the country and the resistance, represented for the founders the strong, prestigious and combative bird. The charisma of the animal is very representative of the history of the club, Raja was able to fly over his opppnents despite difficulties. He naturally stands out as one of the club's emblems and mascots for many years. StarsMany football clubs around the world sport stars on their jerseys, and Raja is no exception. The jerseys of Raja have four golden stars. Each of his stars represents one of his victories in African or national competition. The first three (at the bottom of the logo) symbolize his three cups in the CAF Champions League of 1989, 1997 and 1999; the fourth (the biggest at the top of the logo) was added in 2011 following the tenth win in Botola Pro.         The kit of the club in the 1990s. It is one of the most famous in the history of the team. InfrastructureMohamed V Stadium (D'honor)Mohamed V Stadium was called the Marcel Cerdan stadium in 1955–56 and the Honnor stadium in 1956–81. It was inaugurated on 6 March 1955 and it knew two renovations in 1981 and 2000. It's the official stadium for the Raja Club Athletic and also for Wydad Club Athletic. Mohamed V Stadium is part of a large sports complex in the heart of the city of Casablanca, specifically in the upscale neighbourhood of Maârif. It has today a capacity of 67,000 spectators (more than 80,000 in 2000), not counting the North and South turns that have no seats, but where environments are warmer, and in 1997 it beat a record of 110,000 spectators in a match of Morocco against Ghana. The south turn or "Magana" (the clock in Moroccan dialect) ended up with the main groups of Raja Casablanca fans. In 2007, the stadium was equipped with a semi-artificial turf which is acceptable under international standards. As well, the seats in the stands, the sanitary facilities and athletics track were all replaced.
Sport facilitiesSports facilities available to Raja Casablanca:
SupportersThe southern part of Complexe Mohamed V is fully occupied by supporters (ultras) of the club; it is the famous area called LMAGANA. Four sectors of this area of the stadium can be distinguished:
In 2013, according to a ranking that was done by a football website, the supporters of Raja Casablanca are among the world's 10 best football supporters, reaching fourth place. In 2014, after the amazing show of ultras of the club in the FIFA Club World Cup when Raja Casablanca had reached the final, they occupied first place in Africa and third in the whole world according to an annual ranking by Ultras World. The supporters of Raja Casablanca are distributed in 2 ultras:
Clashes between the two groups dramatically erupted on 19 March 2016, during the match Raja Casablanca vs Chabab Rif Al Hoceima, leading to the death of two boys and leaving over 50 people badly injured but they reconciled with each other after these clashes of that night.[5] RivalriesCasablanca Derby The Casablanca derby (Arabic: الدربي البيضاوي) is a derby between the Moroccan football clubs Raja and Wydad. Matches are played in the Stade Mohamed V, often containing a fierce and vibrant crowd. The Casablanca derby has extensive national media coverage and is a topic of debate for several days before and after the match between the fans of both clubs, whether in the streets, schools or workplace. The first match between the two rivals was in 1956 in which Raja won 1–0. In 1978, Raja players withdrew from the match against Wydad during the second half after their goalkeeper received a red card and a penalty was awarded.[6] In 1996, Raja won 5–1 in the quarter-finals of the 1995–96 Coupe du Trône; this score is the highest between the two rivals.
The ClassicoClassic match between Raja CA and ASFAR. It is considered one of the greatest games of Botola after the derby, some times he even managed to overtake him. The rivalry between the two clubs does not lack history, there was a rivalry in the 1960s, after the Botola controversy of 1959-1960, where the Royal Moroccan Football Federation (Frmf) decided to take the title away from Raja, which was tied with ASFAR and KAC in ponits, but which exceeded them in terms of difference in goals. the rivalry continues with spectacular matches whether in Rabat or Casablanca in the coming years In the 1980s, both teams were at their peak where ASFAR were crowned champions of Africa in 1985 and Raja in 1989, and they could be entertained by Moroccans with high level matches. In the 1990s, this rivalry experienced a big decline because of the crushing superiority of Raja, which widely dominated all his rivals during this period, it is in the 2000s, exactly in 2005 that the Raja-ASFAR rivalry took a new breath and regained a lot of intensity, when the ASFAR have gained the title after beating Raja at Mohammed V stadium in the last day of the Botola. This match is a turning point in the history of the rivalry where it will take on a more intense dimension, where the hooligans of both teams will also increase the aggravation of tensions between the two big clubs. In 2013, a season similar to that of 2005, but this time it is the consecration of Raja as champion of Morocco and the cup of the throne, and ASFAR, vice champion of the two competitions, the club more dream did not win the Moroccan classic Sponsors
Actual sponsors
References
External links Wikimedia Commons has media related to Raja CA.
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