Internacional are a traditional Brazilian football team from Porto Alegre in Rio Grande do Sul, founded on April 4, 1909. Home stadium is the Gigante da Beira-Rio, capacity 58,306. They play in red shirts, white shorts and socks. As of 2006, Internacional are the current FIFA Club World Cup and Libertadores Cup champions.
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| Full name | Sport Club Internacional | ||
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| Nickname(s) | Colorado (The Red) Inter | ||
| Founded | April 4, 1909 | ||
| Ground | Beira-Rio, Porto Alegre, Brazil | ||
| Capacity | 58,306 | ||
| Chairman | Vitório Piffero | ||
| Manager | Abel Braga | ||
| League | Brazilian Série A (1st division) | ||
| 2006 | Brazilian Série A, 2nd | ||
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History
Early in the 20th Century, three young men from São Paulo who had recently arrived in Porto Alegre wanted to play soccer. But were not admitted at any club in town, because they were newcomers in Porto Alegre so they decided to found their own club. On the night of Monday, April 4 1909, in the basement of a house, and driven by three men (brothers Henrique and José Poppe Leão, and Luiz Madeira Poppe) 40 young men (twice more people than expected to attend the reunion) founded Sport Club Internacional. One of the two most popular soccer clubs in Rio Grande do Sul was born there, together with Grêmio.
The Gigante da Beira-Rio stadium, the home of Internacional, was inaugurated on a clear afternoon of Sunday, April 6 1969 with the Internacional 2-1 victory against Benfica of Portugal. Inter supporters collaborated as they could to build the stadium, like as bringing cement, nail boxes, iron bars or some bricks. The people's effort helped a lot for the construction of the imponent Gigante da Beira-Rio. In early times, the stadium had capacity for more than 90,000 spectators, and now, with the modern regulations by FIFA, the correct capacity is about 58,306 supporters.
In addition to the stadium, the club also owns the Beira-Rio Sportive Complex, including auxiliary training fields, Gigantinho Sportive Gymnsasium and the Nautical Complex. All teams from every categories work together and players have close relationships with their professional superstars and idols since the youth divisions. The Gigante complex also has restaurants, headquarters for players, physical training rooms, shops, museum, rooms for the Directors Board, management, marketing, telephony, parking and bank. It also has one of the best-equipped dressing rooms of Brazil, one of the most complete and luxurious in the world, inaugurated in 2004. Gigantinho is the largest sportive gymnasium owned by a club in the country, having 18,000 people capacity and perfect safety, acoustical and luminosity conditions for all kind of events, like music shows or public concourses.
In 1975, Internacional was the first club of Rio Grande do Sul to win the Brazilian Championship, making the state soccer to overpass the frontiers with a historical 1-0 victory (and the called "Iluminated Goal" of Elías Figueroa) against Cruzeiro from Minas Gerais, at the Gigante da Beira-Rio. It was also at Beira-Rio stadium that Inter became two-times Brazilian champions, in 1976 against Corinthians, winning by 2-0 goal margin. And, in 1979, Internacional becomes the first and only club ever to win the Brazilian Championship without a single defeat at all in their campaign, with a win in the last game against Vasco da Gama by a score of 2-1. Their successful run continued at the international level, as in 1980 the team reached the finals of the Copa Libertadores de América where they lost against Nacional de Montevideo. And, as expected, the title of Brazilian Cup against Fluminense in 1992 was again at Beira-Rio stadium, by the smallest margin 1-0.
The club remained in football ostracism for over a decade, but were runners-up of the Campeonato Brasileiro in 2005, losing the title to Corinthians in the last round and after a controversial season that saw matches being cancelled because of a match-rigging scandal. In 2006, Internacional won their two biggest titles: the Copa Libertadores de América and the FIFA Club World Cup after beating FC Barcelona 1-0 in Yokohama.
Champions of South America
On August 16, 2006, Inter managed to secure a draw against São Paulo in the second leg of the Copa Libertadores final match and were crowned South American champions for the first time ever.
The campaign included eight wins, six draws, and just one defeat, to Ecuador's Liga Deportiva Universitaria in the quarter-finals. To win the title, Internacional had to move past two clubs that had won the tournament three times - Uruguay's Club Nacional de Fútbol and Brazil's São Paulo, who were the current champions.
Against São Paulo, Internacional arguably won the title away in the first leg. Stunning the 80,000 são-paulinos attending the match at the Morumbi stadium, Rafael Sóbis scored twice in the second half before defender Edcarlos scored for São Paulo. Internacional needed just a draw in the second leg at home, and they enjoyed the home advantage to the fullest and left the pitch qualified for the FIFA Club World Championship, which they played in December in Japan. They made it to the final where they faced Barcelona, and won with a late goal by Adriano, giving them the title for the "Best Club in the World 2006".
Striker Fernandão, who, along with Tinga, scored in the final match at the Beira-Rio stadium, was one of the 14 players finishing as top scorer of the Libertadores, with five goals. He was voted Man of the Match against São Paulo and won a Toyota Corolla as the prize. Fernandão put the car up for auction and gave the money to charity organizations.
Libertadores Campaign
- 16/02/2006 - Maracaibo 1 X 1 Internacional - (Jose Pachencho Romero, Santa Rita)
- 23/02/2006 - Internacional 3 X 0 Nacional - (Beira-Rio, Porto Alegre)
- 08/03/2006 - Pumas 1 X 2 Internacional - (Universitario, Mexico City)
- 22/03/2006 - Internacional 3 X 2 Pumas - (Beira-Rio, Porto Alegre)
- 04/04/2006 - Nacional 0 X 0 Internacional - (Parque Central, Montevideo)
- 18/04/2006 - Internacional 4 X 0 Maracaibo - (Beira-Rio, Porto Alegre)
- 27/04/2006 - Nacional 1 X 2 Internacional - (Parque Central, Montevideo)
- 03/05/2006 - Internacional 0 X 0 Nacional - (Beira-Rio, Porto Alegre)
- 10/05/2006 - LDU 2 X 1 Internacional - (La Casa Blanca, Quito)
- 19/07/2006 - Internacional 2 X 0 LDU - (Beira-Rio, Porto Alegre)
- 27/07/2006 - Libertad 0 X 0 Internacional - (Defensores Del Chaco, Asuncion)
- 03/08/2006 - Internacional 2 X 0 Libertad - (Beira-Rio, Porto Alegre)
- 09/08/2006 - São Paulo 1 X 2 Internacional - (Morumbi, São Paulo)
- 16/08/2006 - Internacional 2 X 2 São Paulo - (Beira-Rio, Porto Alegre)
Champions of the World
After winning the Libertadores, Internacional won a place in the FIFA Club World Cup 2006, along with continental champions FC Barcelona (Spain), Club América (Mexico), Al Ahly (Egypt), Jeonbuk Motors (South Korea) and Auckland City (New Zealand). After a preliminary round between the champions of Asia, Africa, Oceania and CONCACAF, Inter were seeded to play the Egyptians for the semifinals. The match was not nearly as easy as expected, Inter having scored the opener with Alexandre Pato but conceded an equaliser in the second half. Luckily, late substitute Luiz Adriano managed to scored the winner and booked the team a place in the final against giants FC Barcelona. The Spaniards advanced after a lavish 4-0 win over Club América and went to the final match regarded as favourites by the world media.
Playing the underdog, coach Abel Braga adopted a defensive formation and applied tight marking against the Catalan team, especially against superstars Ronaldinho and Deco. Even though FC Barcelona dominated possession, the game remained goalless until late in the second half. When it seemed the affair might be decided on a penalty shoot-out, Inter skipper Fernandão became injured and was replaced by Adriano Gabiru. It took the substitute just a few minutes for him to write his name in the history of football. Assisted by forward Iarley, Adriano scored the winner in 81th, much to the dismay of the Spaniards. FC Barcelona kept pushing for an equaliser, but Inter held firmly until the final whistle.
Honours
National honours
- Brazilian Championship: 1975, 1976 and 1979
- Brazilian Cup: 1992
- State Championship (Campeonato Gaúcho) (37 times): 1927, 1934, 1940, 1941, 1942, 1943, 1944, 1945, 1946, 1947, 1948, 1950, 1951, 1952, 1953, 1955, 1961, 1969, 1970, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1974, 1975, 1976, 1978, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1984, 1991, 1992, 1994, 1997, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005
International honours
- File:FIFA Club World Cup 2006 logo.gifFIFA Club World Cup: (2006)
- File:Copa Toyota Libertadores.pngCopa Libertadores de América: (2006)
Other achievements
- Once champions of Eurovoetbal Tournament (Netherlands) in 2006.
- Once champions of Campeonato Brasileiro Sub-20 in 2006.
- Once champions of Taça Belo Horizonte de Juniores in 1990.
- Nike Cup (Under-15 World Championship) champions in 2000.
- Base of the Brazilian National Team when winning the 1956 Pan-American Games, at Mexico City.
- Base of the Brazilian National Team when winning the Silver Medal in 1984 Olympic Games, at Los Angeles.
- Four-times Brazilian Under-20 champions at São Paulo Cup, in 1974, 1978, 1980 and 1998.
- Three times champion of Copa Macaé de Juvenis: 2000, 2001 and 2005.
- Six-times champion of Copa Santiago de Futebol Juvenil: 1990, 1992, 1993, 2001, 2003, 2005, 2007
Current squad
As of January 26 2007
Principal
First team squad
Competition: Libertadores Cup Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
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Technical staff
- Abel Braga – Head Coach
- Leomir Machado – Assistant Coach
- Ilo Roxo – Goalkeeping Coaches
- Eduardo Silva – Fitness Coaches
- Roberto Moreno (Robertinho) – Technical Assistant
- Carlos Poisl, Luciano Ramires, Luiz Crescente, – Club Doctors
- César Abs, Túlio menesez – Physiotherapists
- Paulo Renato Avis da Silva (Banha), Juarez Quintanilha – Masseurs
Inter B Team
Competition: Campeonato Gaúcho
As of January 26 2007 Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
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Technical staff
- Luiz Carlos de Lorenzi (Lisca) – Head Coach
- Hilário Melo – Fitness Coaches
Transfers in
| — | DF |  BRA
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Chiquinho (return from Palmeiras) |
| — | FW | BRA
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Christian (from Corinthians) |
| — | FW | BRA
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Gustavo (return from São Caetano) |
| — | MF | BRA
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Jean (from Ponte Preta) |
Transfers out
| — | MF | BRA
|
Fabinho (to Fluminense) |
| — | FW |  COL
|
Rentería (to Porto) |
| — | DF | BRA
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Fabiano Eller (to Atlético Madrid) |
Players on loan
| — | DF | BRA
|
Camozzato (to Standard Liege) |
| — | FW | BRA
|
Diego (to Sport Recife) |
| — | MF | BRA
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Diogo (to Paulista) |
| — | GK | BRA
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Eduardo (to Santa Cruz) |
| — | DF | BRA
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Felipe Soares (to Standard Liege) |
| — | DF | BRA
|
Frederico (to Standard Liege) |
| — | FW | BRA
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Léo Gamalho (to América (RN)) |
| — | FW | BRA
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Rafael Porcellis (to Santa Cruz) |
| — | MF | BRA
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Ricardinho (to Botafogo) |
| — | MF | BRA
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Rodrigo Paulista (to América (RN)) |
Base Division
Junior Team (Under-20)
As of January 26 2007 Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
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Technical staff
- Marcelo Estigarribia – Head Coach
- Daniel Pavan – Goalkeeping Coaches
Juvenil Team (Under-18)
As of January 26 2007 Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
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Technical staff
- Osmar Loss – Head Coach
- André Volpe – Fitness Coaches
- Leonardo Corbellini – Goalkeeping Coaches
- André Jardine – Technical Assistant
Anthem
Internacional's anthem was composed by Nélson Silva, in 1957, and is called Celeiro de Ases (meaning "Factory of Aces").
Stadium
Internacional's current stadium is Estádio Beira-Rio, inaugurated in 1969, with a maximum capacity of 58,306 people. Beira-Rio replaced the Estádio dos Eucaliptos, which hosted two 1950 FIFA World Cup matches. Beira-Rio is currently tipped to be one of the venues of a likely FIFA World Cup to be played in Brazil in 2014.
Ultras
- Barra Brava Guarda Popular Colorada
- Torcida Organizada Camisa 12
- Torcida Organizada Super FICO (Força Independente Colorada)
- Torcida Organizada Nação Independente Comando Vermelho
Some famous players
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Argentina
Chile Paraguay Uruguay |
Famous Coaches
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Top Scorers
| File:SC internacional.GIF | |
| Player | Goals |
| Carlitos
|
326 |
| Bodinho
|
244 |
| Claudiomiro
|
210 |
| Valdomiro
|
192 |
| Larry Pinto de Faria
|
180 |
| Tesourinha
|
176 |
 Villalba
|
145 |
| Ivo Diogo & Jair
|
123 |
| Adãozinho
|
113 |
| Alfeu
|
107 |
Top Appearances
| File:SC internacional.GIF | |
| Player | Matches |
| Valdomiro
|
803 |
| Bibiano Pontes
|
523 |
| Dorinho
|
461 |
| Luiz Carlos Winck
|
457 |
| Claudiomiro
|
424 |
| Gainete
|
408 |
| Mauro Galvão
|
396 |
| Falcão
|
392 |
| Bráulio
|
386 |
| Carlitos
|
384 |
External links
- Official website
- OleOle's LIVE Coverage of Internacional at the FIFA Club World Cup 2006
- Tens of thousands welcome home the World Champion - Video
Other clubs
This club should not be confused with Sport Club Internacional of São Paulo, formed August 19 1899, founder members of the Liga Paulista or the Sport Club do Recife of Recife.
Internacional's greatest rival is Grêmio, and every match between the two sides is a highly fierce and mythic derby of Brazilian football, called a "Gre-Nal".