Sport Club Corinthians Paulista

SC Corinthians Paulista

Full name	Sport Club Corinthians Paulista
Nickname(s)	Timão (Big Team) Coringão Todo Poderoso (The Almighty) Bando de Loucos (bunch of crazies)
Founded	September 1, 1910
Ground	Estádio Alfredo Schürig (Capacity: 13,969)[1] Estádio do Pacaembu (Capacity: 37,952) New Corinthians Stadium (Under Construction)
Chairman	Andrés Sanchez
Coach	Adilson Batista
League	Campeonato Paulista Campeonato Brasileiro Série A
2009	1st (Paulista); 10th (Campeonato Brasileiro Série A)
Home colours Away colours

Sport Club Corinthians Paulista, or simply Corinthians (Portuguese pronunciation: [koˈɾĩtʃiɐ̃s]), is a Brazilian sports club based in São Paulo, Brazil known mostly for its association football team.

Corinthians was founded in 1910 by a group of labourers—mainly of Portuguese, Italian and Spanish descent—hoping to create a popular club in the city of São Paulo to play against the elite clubs that already existed. They are named after the English amateur team Corinthian F.C., which had played a number of exhibition matches during a tour of Brazil.

The football team is among the most successful in Brazil, having won the first edition of the FIFA Club World Championship, the Brazilian Série A four times, the Brazilian Cup three times, a record the São Paulo State Championship 26 times (five of them unbeaten), and a number of other titles. Corinthians fans are widely known as "Fiel", Portuguese for "faithful" or "loyal".

Corinthians is arguably the most popular football team in São Paulo with about 30 million fans, surpassed only in Brasil by Flamengo who have the most number of fans. The two clubs leave São Paulo FC in third place with about half the number of fans (16 million).

History

1914-São Paulo State Champions (1st trophy)
Fúlvio, Casemiro do Amaral and Casemiro Gonzalez; Police, Biano and Cesar; Aristides, Peres, Amilcar, Dias and Neco

The Centennial Champion

Corinthians are known in Brazil as the "Centennial Champion", because of the coincidence 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
• 1988 - State Champions; Abolition of slavery was in 1888
• 2000 - World Champions; Discovery of Brazil was in 1500

The Champion of Champions

Corinthians is also known in Brazil as the "Campeão dos Campeões" (Champion of Champions), because in 1915 the team broke with the Paulista League and did not participate in that year's tournament, which was won by Germania. At the end of the season, Corinthians challenged Germania to a game and won 4-1. Challenged to face Palmeiras, the champion of the Apea League (another league of those times), Corinthians was again triumphant with a 3-0 victory. As a sidenote, the victorious team in those challenges was also the 1914 and 1916 undefeated São Paulo State Championship champion.

There is also another story that could explain the nickname. In 1930, even though there was yet no national championship in Brazil, there was a challenge match between the champions of the São Paulo and the Rio de Janeiro state championships. On February 16, in a match against Vasco da Gama, in Rio de Janeiro, Corinthians won 4-2, with goals scored by Filó (2), De Maria and Gambinha, bringing home the "Champion of Champions" trophy.

Today, the nickname is used in the second line of the club's official anthem.

Corinthians Invasion (Invasão Corinthiana)

The "Corinthians Invasion" happened in 1976, when the Corinthians fans invaded the Mário Filho Stadium (Maracanã) in Rio de Janeiro during the semifinal of the Brazilian Championship of 1976. In the game between Fluminense and Corinthians, around 70 thousand fans supporting Corinthians had left the State of São Paulo to see the team. Those in attendance participated in the biggest human displacement in peace time, according to the Guinness Book of Records. The game went into extra time, followed by a penalty shootout which was won by Corinthians. In November 2006, a special team jersey was released celebrating the 30th anniversary of the invasion.

Corinthians Democracy (Democracia Corinthiana)

The Corinthians Democracy was a unique ideological movement in the world, known in Brazil as one of the key moments in the struggle against the military dictatorship that governed the country at the time.

Led by Socrates and Wladimir, the players took some control of the team's management, deciding things that would affect them, and one of the decisions they took is known as one of the most important actions against the dictatorship.

In 1982, the players voted to print on the back of their shirts an announcement, "Vote on the 15th", to motivate people to vote on November 15, in the elections that would help Brazil to end its dictatorship.

Corinthians Anthem

Salve o Corinthians
(Hail Corinthians)
O campeão dos campeões,
(The Champion of the champions)
Eternamente dentro dos nossos corações
(Eternally inside our hearts)
Salve o Corinthians de tradições e glórias mil
(Hail the Corinthians of thousand traditions and glories)
Tu és orgulho
(You are the pride)
Dos esportistas do Brasil
(Of Brazil's sportsmen)

Teu passado é uma bandeira,
(Your past is a flag)
Teu presente, uma lição
(Your present, is a lesson)
Figuras entre os primeiros
(You stand among the firsts)
Do nosso esporte bretão
(Of our British sport)

Corinthians grande,
(Great Corinthians)
Sempre Altaneiro,
(Always towering)
És do Brasil
(You are Brazil's)
O clube mais brasileiro
(Most Brazilian club)

Corinthians' Fans

The club shares the lead of the biggest number of fans in Brazil with Flamengo. However, the exact number of fans is controversial. Between 2004 and 2007, three different surveys were conducted by the research firms Ibope, Data Folha and CNT/Sensus to measure which was the favorite football team in Brazil. According to the results [1], Corinthians was preferred by 13.2% to 17% of the Brazilian population, which represents approximately 30 to 35 million fans. Flamengo was preferred 22%(45 million fans).

Corinthians’ fans are famous for being passionate about the team and loyal supporters. In April 2009, the club released a tribute documentary to its fans. Named Fiel, the documentary highlights the fans' support in one of the most difficult moments in the team’s history: when it was downgraded to the second division in 2007. Directed by Andrea Pasquini and written by Serginho Groisman and Marcelo Rubens Paiva, the movie shows several fans and players’ testimonials.

In 2009, another documentary about the fan's love for the team was released. Directed by Di Morreti, 23 anos em 7 segundos – O fim do Jejum Corinthiano portrays the historical moment when, in 1977, Corinthians won the Campeonato Paulista, after 23 years without wining any Championships.

Among Corinthians’ fans there are some international celebrities such as the president of Brazil Luiz Inacio Lula Silva, the racing drivers Ayrton Senna, Emerson Fittipaldi and Rubens Barrichello, and the former vocalist of the heavy metal band Iron Maiden, Paul Di'Anno.

There are also several Corinthians' organized fan clubs of football factories, among them Gaviões da Fiel (the largest in the world), Camisa 12, Pavilhão 9 and Estopim da Fiel.

The Musketeer

Corinthians' official mascot is the musketeer, symbol of bravery, audacity and fighting spirit. The adoption of that character recalls the first years of the club. In 1913 most of the football leaders of the São Paulo State founded the APEA (Paulista Athletic Sports Association).

In the depleted Paulista League was left with only Americano, Germania and Internacional, known as the "three musketeers" of São Paulo football. Corinthians joined the three as D'Artagnan, being the fourth and most adored musketeer, just like Alexandre Dumas, père's novel The Three Musketeers. To be accepted in that "musketeers universe", Corinthians had to show its bravery. As there was many other teams who coveted the spot in the Liga Paulista, Corinthians participated in a selective tournament against Minas Gerais and São Paulo, two other great teams of Paulista amateur football at that time. The Corinthian team beat Minas 1-0 and São Paulo 4-0, earning acceptance into the group and acquiring the right to participate in the Special Division of the Paulista League in the following year.

Saint George

An important symbol for Corinthians is Saint George. Saint George is one of the most devoted Catholic Saint in Brazil, and still is often remembered as The Corinthians Patron, and is very devoted in São Paulo's team Headquarters, and over all country, for most of the club's fans. The Estádio Alfredo Schürig is popularly known as Parque São Jorge, and its address is Rua São Jorge, 777 , Sao Paulo.

Rivalries

• Palmeiras: Palestra Itália (now known as Palmeiras) was founded in 1914 by a group of Italians, incorrectly known as former members of Corinthians. This mistake occurred because some players, including Bianco, which had Italian family, left Corinthians over Palmeiras (known at the time as Palestra Itália). The match remains one of the most important derbies in Brazil, and it known as the Derby Paulista.

• Other rivals: Corinthians also have a historic rivalry with São Paulo and Santos. The rivalry against São Paulo is known as "O Majestoso" (the majesty one) and peaked in the 90s, after Corinthians won its first Campeonato Brasileiro ever against São Paulo, in 1990. The game between Corinthians and Santos is known as "Clássico Alvi-negro" (the black and white derby) because of the colors of both teams. Pelé made the Corinthians fans suffer throughout the 60s, leading Santos to an 11-year winning streak over Corinthians in the State Championship. In the 80s, Corinthians evened the score, going on a seven-year unbeaten streak of their own. The rivalry declined in the 1990s, as Santos' glory days were nothing but distant memories and Corinthians was on the upside, winning the Campeonato Brasileiro in 98 and 99 and the FIFA Club World Cup in 2000. That all changed in the 2000s, however, after Corinthians' "dream team" was dismantled following disheartening defeats in the Copa Libertadores of 99 and 2000 and fate smiled on Santos, as homegrown world-class young talents Robinho and Diego led the club to a Campeonato Brasileiro title over Corinthians in 2002.

Colours

Even though the club has been recognized by the colours black and white for most of its history, the first Corinthians' kit originally consisted of cream shirts and black shorts. But when the shirts were washed, the cream colour gradually became white. After that, early in the club's history, the official colours were changed, so the club would not waste much money on buying new kits. In 1954 the black with thin white stripes uniform was introduced, and became the alternative uniform. The original cream color of the first uniform would come back as a reference in 2007, with the golden third uniform. The purple has been associated as a fan color for long ago and, since 2008, has been used as a well-succeeded third uniform – in popular culture, corintiano roxo (purple corintiano) is a fanatic supporter of Corinthians.

1910 Kit

1916-Present

1954-Present

1990

1996

2000

2005

2006 3rd Kit

1972, 2007, 2008

2008 2nd Kit

2008 3rd Kit

2009 3rd Kit

Crests

1913

The Corinthians' shirt had no crest before 1913, when the club joined the Liga Paulista and became able to play official matches in the São Paulo State Championship. The club then debuted its first symbol, with the letters "C" and "P", which stood for Corinthians Paulista.

The first crest was created by the lithographer Hermógenes Barbuy, brother of Corinthians' player Amílcar, in 1914. But the crest changed often before 1919, when a new crest (part of the present crest) debuted on Corinthians' shirts in 1919. Presenting a São Paulo State flag in a circle and the club's name, S.C. Corinthians Paulista, written around it, the S.C. meaning: Sport Club.

The crest changed yet again in 1940 when the modernist painter and former member of Corinthians' reserve squad Francisco Rebolo González created the club's definitive crest, with the anchor and two oars (a reference to the aquatic sports practiced in the club), making it unique. The definitive crest has been revised a few times.

Manufacturer and sponsors

Manufacturer:

• Topper (1982–87)
• Finta (1988–94)
• Penalty (1995–98)
• Topper (1999–02)
• Nike (2003–)

Sponsors:

• Bombril (1982) - back
• Cofap (1983)
• Citizen (1984) - back
• Bic (1984)
• Corona (1984)
• Kalunga (1985–94)
• Suvinil (1995–96)
• Excel-Econômico (1997–98)
• Embratel (1998)
• Batavo (1999–00)
• Pepsi (2000–04)
• Kolumbus (2003) - sleeves
• Samsung (2005–07)
• Medial Saúde (2008–09)
• Ford (2009) - one game only
• Locaweb (2009) - one game only - sleeves
• Vivo (2009) - one game only - shoulders
• Aacd (2009) - one game only
• Visa (2009) - one game only
• Panasonic (2009) - one game only - sleeves
• Lupo (2009) - one game only - shorts
• Batavo/Perdigão/Brasil Food (2009)
• Grupo Silvio Santos/Banco Panamericano (2009) - shoulders/lower back
• Neo Química Genéricos - (2010-)
• Bozzano (2009-) - sleeves
• Avanço (2009-) - under sleeves
• Assim (2010-) - shoulders/lower back

Stadiums

As soon as founded Corinthians needed somewhere to host its matches. The team initially played on a field owned by a wood seller, and henceforth was known as Campo do Lenheiro (Portuguese for wood seller's field). The field's conditions were not ideal as the players and fans had to clean the place before every match.

Four years after being included to play the São Paulo State Championship, in 1918, a more appropriate stadium was required, as the fame and number of fans increased after winning two state championships. Associates, players and fans managed to build another stadium, known as Bom Retiro Stadium which would be Corinthians home ground for nine years.

In 1928, club chairman Alfredo Schürig purchased the terrain where the social club now stands, known as Parque São Jorge. Inside the social club a stadium (named after Schürig) was built. Most known as Fazendinha (Portuguese for small farm) or Parque São Jorge Stadium' this stadium would host Corinthians matches for a long time.

Municipal Prefecture Stadium Paulo Machado de Carvalho (known as Pacaembu) was inaugurated in 1940. As the team with the biggest fanbase in the city, Corinthians would play its bigger matches in the public stadium for a bigger attendance. Eventually every Corinthians home match would be played there.

As the capacity of Pacaembu decreased with time, to 37,000 spectators as of its last improvement in 2008, Corinthians is forced to play sometimes in rival's São Paulo FC ground (Morumbi Stadium) when the expected attendance is superior to Pacaembu's capacity.

Several projects of a new stadium were presented to the public since the 1960s. The club owns property in Itaquera conceded for the building of its new stadium by the Municipal Prefecture in 1970s. In the 1990s Corinthians inaugurated its first training centre there, known as CT de Itaquera.

Former partner group HTMF bought land in the Raposo Tavares Highway in late 1990s for the stadium construction but the partnership ended soon after that.

In late 2006 a NGO called Cooperfiel established a fund drive for a new stadium.^[2]

Former Chairman Alberto Dualib had conversations with Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (an ardent supporter of the club) to ask him for financial assistance to build a new stadium for the team. In that meeting, the president demanded to talk to former coach Emerson Leão and tell him he trusted on him to "fix" the team, which has been having problems with greedy players and jealousy amongst them. It is also said that the real purpose of that meeting was that Dualib could talk to Lula about Boris Berezovsky's arrival.

Corinthians' practice field is home to Brazil's first FIFA certified artificial turf pitch. This synthetic turf pitch, called Xtreme Turf, was manufactured by ACT Global Sports.

As of 2009, there are some conjectures that the government of São Paulo might make a deal for a 30-year allotment of Pacaembu. Besides that, Fazendinha is being improved to host some matches and shows starting 2010

In August 2010 the president of CBF, Ricardo Teixeira, along with Governor of São Paulo state, Albert Goldman, and the mayor of São Paulo, Gilberto Kassab announced that the opening ceremony of the World Cup of Brazil will be held in the New Corinthians Stadium to be built by private enterprise in the district of Itaquera, in the eastern part of São Paulo city.^{[3] [4]}

Squad

Squad 2010, August 05, 2009.^[5]

First team squad

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

No. Position Player 1 GK Júlio César 2 DF Alessandro 3 DF Chicão 4 DF William 5 MF Ralf 6 DF Roberto Carlos (vice-captain) 7 MF Elias 8 MF Jucilei 9 FW Ronaldo 10 MF Bruno César 11 MF Danilo 13 DF Paulo André 14 DF Leandro Castán 15 MF Paulinho 16 DF Dodô

No. Position Player 17 MF Edu Gaspar 18 MF Boquita 19 FW Souza 20 MF Matías Defederico 21 FW Iarley 22 GK Rafael Santos 23 FW Jorge Henrique 25 MF Tcheco 27 MF William Morais 28 MF Moacir 29 GK Danilo Fernandes 31 FW Dentinho 33 DF Thiago Heleno 34 GK Aldo Bobadilla

On loan

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

No. Position Player -- FW Bill (on loan to Coritiba until November 30th) -- DF Bruno Bertucci (on loan to São Caetano until November 30th) -- DF Bruno Octávio (on loan to Bahia until December 31th) -- DF Careca (on loan to Nacional until November 10th) -- DF Diego (on loan to Ceará until December 31st) -- FW Edno (on loan to Botafogo) -- DF Eduardo Ratinho (on loan to Sport Recife until December 10th) -- MF Eduardo Ramos (on loan to Fortaleza until December 10th) -- DF Everton Ribeiro (on loan to São Caetano until December 31st)

No. Position Player -- DF Jadson (on loan to Icasa until November 30th) -- DF Kadu (on loan to Figueirense until December 31st) -- MF Marcelo Oliveira (on loan to Grêmio Prudente until December 31st) -- MF Moradei (on loan to São Caetano until November 30th) -- MF Morais (on loan to Bahia until December 31st) -- FW Otacílio Neto (on loan to Goiás until December 31st) -- DF Renato (on loan to Bahia until December 31st) -- DF Sergio Escudero (on loan to Argentinos Juniors) -- MF Wellington Saci (on loan to Goiás until December 31st)

Notable Players

Technical Staff

Current Technical Staff

• Adilson Batista — Head coach
• Toninho Oliveira — Fitness coach
• Carlos Alberto Pimentel — Assistant fitness coach
• Marcos Antonio Romando — Goalkeeping coach
• Dr. Paulo Antonio de Faria — Club doctor
• Dr. Joaquim Grava — Head of Medical Department
• Dr. Renato Fraga Moreira Lotufo — Physiologist
• José Alberto Fregnani Gonçalves — Physiotherapist
• Paulo Rogério Vieira — Physiotherapist
• Christine Fernanda Machado Neves — Nutritionist
• Alexandro Gonçalves Dias — Masseur
• José Lazaro do Nascimento — Masseur
• Cleber Costa de Souza — Masseur
• Fábio Luiz Novi — Physiotherapist

Notable managers

Corinthians first official manager was Uruguayan Pedro Mazzulo appointed in 1933. Before that, usually the leader player (captain) accumulated also the head coach function. Former player Neco was the first appointed manager to win a championship with the club, in 1937.

Nelsinho Baptista in 1990, Vanderlei Luxemburgo in 1998, Oswaldo de Oliveira in 1999 and Antônio Lopes in 2005 are the four managers that succeeded to win the Brazilian championship trophy with the club. Osvaldo Brandão is known as one of the most important managers in the club's history for leading the group to win the São Paulo State Championship in 1977, after 23 years without a trophy.

Another notorious manager Mano Menezes wrote his name in the club's history after leading Corinthians back to first division in 2008, after Corinthians was relegated for the first time ever in 2007. Mano also led Corinthians to a Runner-Up campaign in Brazilian Cup 2008, an unbeaten title in São Paulo State Championship 2009 and a first place victory in Brazilian Cup 2009. Then on July 26th, 2010 Mano Menezes left Corinthians to take Brazil's National Team coach position.

Honours of professional football (66)

Official honours (41)

International Competitions (FIFA): (1)

• FIFA Club World Championship: Brazil 2000

National competitions (CBF): (9)

• Brazilian Championship Serie A: 1990, 1998, 1999, 2005

• Brazilian Championship Serie B: 2008

• Brazilian Cup: 1995, 2002, 2009

Unbeaten champion in 1995

• Brazilian Supercup: 1991

Inter-state Competitions (FPF and FFERJ): (5)

• Rio-São Paulo Tournament: 1950, 1953, 1954, 1966, 2002

State competitions (FPF): (26)

• São Paulo State Championship: 1914, 1916, 1922, 1923, 1924, 1928, 1929, 1930, 1937, 1938, 1939, 1941, 1951, 1952, 1954, 1977, 1979, 1982, 1983, 1988, 1995, 1997, 1999, 2001, 2003, 2009

Unbeaten champion in 1914, 1916, 1929, 1938 and 2009

• São Paulo State Championship runners-up: 1918, 1921, 1925, 1936, 1942, 1943, 1945, 1946, 1947, 1955, 1962, 1966, 1968, 1974, 1984, 1987, 1991, 1993, 1994, 1998, 2005

Friendly tournaments (25)

International tournaments (10)

• Pequeña Copa del Mundo (VEN) (1):1953
• Charles Miller International Tournament (BRA) (1): 1954
• City of Turin Tournament (ITA) (1): 1966
• Apollo V Cup (USA) (1): 1969
• Costa del Sol Tornament (ESP): 1969
• Independence of Mexico Cup (MEX) (1): 1981
• Nations Cup (USA) (1): 1985
• Ramón de Carranza Trophy (ESP) (1): 1996
• Santos City Internacional Summer Tournament (BRA) (2): 1986, 1987

National tournaments (15)

• São Paulo City Cup: 1942, 1943, 1947
• Mayor of São Paulo Cup: 1953
• Gold Quinela: 1942
• Missões Tournament: 1953
• Charles Miller Tournament: 1955
• Brasília Tournament: 1958
• São Paulo Cup: 1962, 1975
• Recife Cup: 1965
• People's Tournament: 1971
• Laudo Natel Cup: 1973
• Porto Alegre City Cup: 1983
• Bandeirantes Cup: 1994

Amateur football (13)

Youth Competitions (13)

• Copa São Paulo de Juniores (7): 1969, 1970, 1995, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2009
• Dallas Cup (2): 1999, 2000
• Nike Cup (1): 2003
• Copa Sub-17 de Promissão: 2002, 2003, 2007

Further information:Corinthians Youth Team

PS: Copa São Paulo de Juniores is the most important 'Youth Competition' in Brazil, being considered nowadays the 7th most important tournement there. (in order, FIFA Club World Cup, Copa Libertadores, Campeonato Brasileiro Serie A, Brazilian Cup, Copa Sudamericana and the State Championships).

References

External links

Official websites

• Official website (Portuguese), (English), (Spanish)

Corinthians related websites

• Acervo SCCP - all matches and history of Corinthians
• Committee for Preservation of Corinthians' Memories
• Corinthians'saga of 2007/2008 Movie
• (Portuguese) Timao Web - News of Corinthians
• FIFA Home Page
• Biro Biro (former player)
• Internet Poll All Time Best XI
• All Time Best XI Placar Magazine
• Book - Top 10 Idols
• Corinthians fan page on Facebook
• Corinthians on Twitter