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SC Corinthians Paulista

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Carioca (talk | contribs) at 02:09, 25 November 2005 (reverted edits by 209.6.203.5 to last version by Carioca. Corinthians is not yet the 2005 Brasileiro champion). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

Sport Club Corinthians Paulista, commonly known as Corinthians, are a Brazilian football team from São Paulo in Brazil.

Corinthians
File:Corinthians simbolo.gif
Full nameSport Club Corinthians Paulista
Nickname(s)Timão
FoundedSeptember 1, 1910
GroundParque São Jorge (aka Fazendinha)
(Saint George's Park - aka Little Farm),
São Paulo, Brazil
Capacity18,386
ChairmanAlberto Dualib
ManagerAntônio Lopes
LeagueBrazilian Série A
2004Brazilian Série A, 5th

The team's nickname, Timão, is usually thought to be the augmentative form of time (team), but the word actually means rudder; a ship's steering wheel (which was depicted in the original badge, as well as ropes which have been also removed from the current one).

History

Foundation

The Corinthians was founded September 1, 1910, by a group of (chiefly Italian and Spanish) labourers in the neighbourhood of Bom Retiro, under the lights of a oil lamp, in the Rua dos Imigrantes (Immigrants Street). Their idea was to found a football team in which anyone could display his abilities in the sport, since back then, in the beginning of the 20th century, football in Brazil was played mainly by British descendants and people who worked for British companies, like the São Paulo Railway. In other words, Corinthians, like club Flamengo in Rio de Janeiro, was one of the first "popular" football clubs in Brazil.

The origin of the name

Among the founders, the first ideas for the name of the club were full of Brazilian national spirit: Carlos Gomes Football Club and Futebol Clube Santos Dumont. However, these prominent Brazilian names were put aside after the English amateur team Corinthians, that wear pink and brown shirts, won all six games in São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro during an exhibitional tour of Brazil. The name Sport Club Corinthians Paulista was agreed upon, as an homage to the great British club of the beginning of the past century. The name was suggested by Joaquim Ambrósio, one of those five labourers who founded the club.

Becoming great

In the first few years after its foundation, Corinthians Paulista played first in local tournaments, and then in the São Paulo State Championships. Its first winning season was in 1914, as they became State Champions of that year. Other triumphs followed. As a popular team, the number of Corinthians supporters is huge. In Brazil, the club is in the 2nd position in number of supporters, behind Flamengo [1], [2].

The Great Rival

In 1914, inspired by the visit of two Italian clubs, some Italian immigrants, members of Corinthians, decided to form a club (football and basketball) of their own, the Palestra Itália (now known as Sociedade Esportiva Palmeiras). They were instantly labeled as betrayers and the teams became rivals, not only because of the "betrayal", but also because Corinthians had many immigrant supporters in its beginning and the new club quickly divided the suport among them. The two teams remain the two bitterest and fiercest rivals in São Paulo to this day.

The Centennial Champion

Corinthians are known in Brazil as the "Centennial Champion", because of the coincidence featured in the years of some of its conquests:

1922 - State Champions; Brazil's independence from Portugal was in 1822

1954 - State Champions; Foundation of the city of São Paulo was in 1554

The Club in 2004-2005

The club's situation in early 2004 was one the most difficult in its history. Bad administration, lack of money and terrible campaigns both in the 2003 Brazilian Championship and in the 2004 São Paulo State Championship were worrying its millions of supporters. Fortunately some young players like forward Jô (17 years old) and defenders Betão and Wendel (both 20) and a new manager Tite helped the team to improve from their terrible start. At the end of the championship, Corinthians finished in the 5th place and won entry to the Copa Sudamericana (a minor continental championship).

More recently, Corinthians have signed a controversial deal with an international fund of investors (MSI) that grants the company pretty much control of the club for 10 years, in exchange for large invesments. This has brought many good quality players to the team, such as former Boca Juniors star Carlitos Tevez, midfielders Marcelo Mattos, Gustavo Nery, Roger, Javier Mascherano and Carlos Alberto, defender Seba Dominguez and Marinho as well as a new coach, Passarella, who was quickly replaced by Márcio Bittencourt, after an unexpected 5-1 loss for one of Corinthians' greatest rivals: São Paulo.

Despite the new reinforcements on field, Corinthians had a slow start in 2005 state championship, but the team improved its position considerably, managing to finish in 2nd. By August, Corinthians has won the "first round" (a symbolic title) of Brazilian championship and is tipped the favorite team to win the championship season 2005.

Last September, after a sequence of bad results, coach Márcio Bittencourt was dismissed and Antônio Lopes became Corinthians' new coach. He had a good start eliminating River Plate in the Copa Sudamericana and taking Corinthians back to the lead of the national championship.

Stadium

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Corinthians' stadium is Estádio Parque São Jorge, built in 1928, with a maximum capacity of 18,386 people. But, actually, Corinthians play almost every match in Pacaembu, the Municipal Stadium also called Paulo Machado de Carvalho with a maximum capacity of 38,800. Alternatively, the team will sometimes play in the higher capacity Morumbi, usually in very important games.

Trivia

The Mule's Skull

There is a popular superstition in Brazil (of probable African origin) saying that a place can be made unwholesome or cursed by burying a mule's skull in it. In 1976, after 22 years of no success, Corinthians was startled by the "revelation" that a mule's skull had been found buried exactly in the midfield of Parque São Jorge during the replacement of the grass. The superstitious fans believed that the curse had ended (although no record of the finding subsist). The team eventually won the 1977 São Paulo State league.

FIFA World Champions

In the year 2000, FIFA created the Club World Championship, a competition that should have been played every two years, but has had a single tournament so far because of lack of interest from UEFA clubs. Corinthians entered the competition as the host country's (Brazil) previous champions, and managed to win the title.

In Brazil there is much discussion if Corinthians should be called "World Champions" after winning the FIFA Club World Championship in 2000. Practically every supporter of any rival club in Brazil consider that Corinthians is not a legitimate champion, taking in consideration that the club has never won the traditional America's title, the "Copa Libertadores da América".

The second edition of the Club World Championship organised by FIFA is to be held in December this year in Japan, to replace the Intercontinental Cup, whose winners were duly noted by FIFA as being World Champions.

Corinthians' group results were as follows:

Corinthians - Raja Casablanca (Morocco): 2:0

Corinthians - Real Madrid (Spain): 2:2 (in this game, the forward Edílson scores a historical goal when he passed the ball between the legs of Real Madrid defender Karembeu);(A match with referre problems, with 7 yellow cards (though no red), with a "legitimate" goal by the Brazilian club disallowed).

Corinthians - Al Nassr (Saudi Arabia): 2:0 (in this game, Corinthians scored a contraversial goal, that enabled the Brazilian team to play the final, due to having scored more goals than Real Madrid).

The seven points won in the group stage enabled Corinthians to play the grand final of the tournament against Brazil's Vasco da Gama, in the Maracanã Stadium. The final match ended in a 0:0 draw, and in the penalty shootout Corinthians won 4:3 after Vasco player Edmundo missed his penalty.

Team

  • Goalkeepers: Fábio Costa, Marcelo, Júlio Cesar and Thiago
  • Defenders: Sebastián Domínguez, Betão, Wescley, Marcos Vinicíus and Marinho
  • Left Defenders: Gustavo Nery and Ronny
  • Right Defenders: Coelho, Eduardo Ratinho and Edson
  • Midfielders: Roger, Fabrício, Carlos Alberto, Rosinei, Hugo, Dinélson, Bruno Octávio, Marcelo Mattos and Javier Mascherano
  • Forwards: Carlos Tévez, Bobô, Nilmar, Jô
  • Coach: Antônio Lopes

Honours

Historic Players

Famous Coaches

Famous Matches


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