Sport Club Corinthians Paulista is a Brazilian sports club, based in São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil, most known for its football team, is a traditional and popular Brazilian football club. In 2004, it was estimated that Corinthians had 24 million fans, making it the second most popular club in Brazil.
Corinthians finished the Brazilian Championship 2007 in the 17th position and the team was relegated to the second division of national football (soccer). In 2008, the team is competing in the Campeonato Brasileiro Série B, which is the second division of Brazilian championship.
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., now Corinthian-Casuals.
The football team is one of the most successful in Brazil, having won the first edition of the FIFA Club World Championship, the Brazilian Série A 4 times, the Brazilian Cup 2 times, the São Paulo State Championship 25 times, amongst other honours. Corinthians fans are widely knows as "Fiel", Portuguese for "faithful" or "loyal".
As a multisport club, Corinthians also have amateur and professional volleyball, handball, taekwondo, judo, swimming, tennis and futsal teams.
History
Colors
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 (Alvi-Negro). 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 wouldn't waste much money on buying new kits.
Crests
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, when the club debuted their first symbol, with the letters "C" and "P", which stand for Corinthians Paulista.
The first crest was created by the lithographer Hermógenes Barbuy, brother of the Corinthians' player Amílcar, in 1914, but the crest changed often before 1919, when a new crest (part of the present crest) debuted in 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, where S.C. stand for Sport Club.
The crest changed 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 nautic sports practiced in the club), making it unique. The definitive crest was revised a few times.
Stadiums
- Campo do Lenheiro: The first Corinthians' stadium wasn't actually a stadium. The team played on a field, owned by a wood seller, and because of that, known as Campo do Lenheiro (Portuguese for Wood Seller's Field).
- Estádio do Bom Retiro: After that, in 1918, the club's players and fans managed to build another stadium for the club, and Corinthians would play at the Estádio do Bom Retiro for 9 years.
- Parque São Jorge: In 1928, the chairman Alfredo Schürig (after whom the stadium is named) bought the terrain where Parque São Jorge is placed now. Corinthians would play there for a long time.
- Estádio do Pacaembu: In the last years, the second biggest stadium in the city, the Municipal Stadium of Pacaembu is the venue used by the club to play their home matches.
In late 2006 a NGO called Cooperfiel commenced a fund drive for a new stadium.
Corinthians Former Chairman Alberto Dualib has recently met with Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (an ardent Corinthians´ fan) to ask him for financial help to build a new stadium for the deserving 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.
The 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
Rivalries
- Palmeiras: Palestra Itália (now known as Palmeiras) was founded in 1914 as an Italians only club. Some Corinthians' Italian members and the player Bianco, the only Italian in the Corinthians' squad, then left to join the new club and were labeled as traitors. Because of that, the teams became rivals, and remain the fiercest rivals in São Paulo to this day.
- Other Rivals: Corinthians also have a very historic rivalry with São Paulo and Santos.
Notable Squads
Formation: Pyramid (2-3-5)
Squad: Valente; Perrone and Atílio; Lepre, Alfredo and Police; João da Silva, Jorge Campbell, Luiz Fabi, César Nunes and Joaquim Ambrósio.
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Formation: Pyramid (2-3-5)
Squad: Sebastião; Flávio and Casemiro; Police, Bianco (Plínio) and César; Américo, Peres (Fiu), Amílcar, Aparício and Neco.
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Formation: Pyramid (2-3-5)
Squad: Colombo (Mário); Rafael (Grané) and Del Debbio (Pinheiro); Gelindo, Amílcar (Rueda) and Ciasca; Peres II, Neco, Gambarotta, Tatu and Rodrigues.
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Formation: Pyramid (2-3-5)
Squad: Tuffy; Grané and Del Debbio; Nerino, Guimarães (Soares) and Munhoz; Aparício (Filó), Neco (Peres III), Gambinha, Rato and De Maria (Rodrigues).
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Formation: Metodo (2-3-5)
Squad: Gylmar (Cabeção); Homero and Olavo (Rosalém, Alan); Idário, Goiano (Touguinha) and Roberto Belangero (Julião); Cláudio, Luizinho, Baltazar (Nardo), Carbone (Rafael) and Mário (Simão);
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Formation: 4-3-3
Squad: Tobias; Zé Maria, Moisés, Ademir (Zé Eduardo) and Wladimir; Russo, Luciano (Givanildo) and Basílio (Neca); Vaguinho, Geraldão and Romeu Cambalhota.
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Formation: 4-3-3
Squad: Solito (Emerson Leão); Alfinete, Mauro, Daniel González (Juninho) and Wladimir; Paulinho, Sócrates and Zenon; Ataliba (Eduardo Amorim), Casagrande and Biro-Biro.
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Formation: 4-4-2
Squad: Ronaldo; Giba, Marcelo Djian, Guinei and Jacenir; Márcio Bittencourt (Ezequiel), Wilson Mano, Tupãzinho and Neto; Fabinho and Mauro (Paulo Sérgio).
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Formation: 4-4-2
Squad: Nei; Índio (Rodrigo), Batata, Gamarra and Silvinho; Vampeta, Gilmar (Ricardinho), Rincón and Marcelinho Carioca; Edilson (Didi) and Mirandinha (Dinei).
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Formation: 4-4-2
Squad: Dida; Índio (Daniel), Adilson (João Carlos), Fábio Luciano (Márcio Costa) and Kléber; Rincón (Gilmar), Vampeta (Edu), Marcelinho Carioca and Ricardinho; Edilson (Dinei) and Luizão (Fernando Baiano).
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Formation: 4-4-2
Squad: Fábio Costa; Coelho (Eduardo), Betão, Marinho (Sebá) and Gustavo Nery; Marcelo Mattos, Bruno Octávio (Javier Mascherano), Rosinei (Carlos Alberto) and Roger; Nilmar (Jô) and Tevez.
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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
- 1988 - State Champions; Abolition of Slavery was in 1888
The Champion of Champions
Corinthians is also known in Brazil as the "Campeão dos Campeões" (Champion of Champions). That's because in 1915 the team broke up with the Paulista League and didn't participate on that year's tourney, won by Germania. At the end of the season, Corinthians defied the champions and won by 4-1. Challenged to face Palmeiras, the champion of the Apea League (another league of those times), Corinthians didn't back off, and beat the rivals by 3-0. As a sidenote, the victorious team on those challenges was also the 1914 and 1916 undefeated
São Paulo State Championship champion.
There's also another story that could explain that 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, on a match against Vasco da Gama, in Rio de Janeiro, Corinthians won by 4-2, with goals scored by Filó (2), De Maria and Gambinha, bringing home the "Champion of Champions" trophy.
Nowadays that nickname is used on the second verse of the club's official anthem.
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 English).
In the now-poor Paulista League remained only Americano, Germania and Internacional, known so far as the "three musketeers" of the paulista football. Corinthians therefore joined those three teams as D'Artagnan, being the fourth and most adored musketeer, just like Alexandre Dumas, père's novel The Three Musketeers. To be accepted on that "musketeers universe", Corinthians had to show its bravery. As there was many other teams who wanted that spot on 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. With class and competence, the corinthian team beat Minas by 1-0 and São Paulo by 4-0, being accepted in the group and acquiring the right to participate in the Special Division of the Paulista League in the following year.
Corinthians Invasion (Invasão Corinthiana)
The so-called "Corinthians Invasion" happened in
1976, when the Corinthians fans invaded the Mário Filho Stadium (
Maracanã) in
Rio de Janeiro during the semi final of the Brasileirão 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 important movements that struggled against the military dictatorship that dominated the country.
Led by Socrates and Wladimir, the players took some control of the team's management, deciding the thing 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 announce, "Vote on 15th" to motivate people to vote on November 15th, in the elections that would help Brazil to end the dictatorship.
Corinthians World Champion
The first edition of the
FIFA Club World Championship took place in
Brazil in
2000. Eight club sides representing every corner of Planet Football converged on
Rio de Janeiro and
São Paulo to bask under the warm South American sun in the nation considered by most to be the true heart and soul of the beautiful game. It was the two Brazilian participants, Rio's
Vasco da Gama and Corinthians of São Paulo that met under the scorching South American sun in a star-studded local Final. The São Paulo side just managed to pip their rivals 4-3 in a penalty shootout after 120 minutes of tactical, goalless football. After drawing with
Real Madrid and disposing of Saudi Arabia's
Al Nassr and Morocco's Raja Casablanca in the first round, Corinthians and their stable of thoroughbreds - Vampeta, Freddy, Rincon, Edu, Dida and the incomparable Edilson - ran out worthy champions in front of a crowd of 73,000 in Rio's fabled
Maracana Stadium. Corinthians played the final match with Dida, Índio, Fábio Luciano, Adílson & Kléber; Vampeta (Gilmar), Rincón, Marcelinho Carioca & Ricardinho (Edu); Edílson (Fernando Baiano) & Luizão. Coach: Oswaldo de Oliveira
Players
Current Squad
Squad for the
Brazilian Cup and
Brazilian Serie B as of 18 May 2008.
First Team Squad
(vice-captain) (captain) (on loan from Dynamo Kyiv) (on loan from São Bernardo-SP) (on loan from Toulouse) (on loan from Iraty-PR)
Out on loan
Players training separately
- Players waiting to be loaned or negotiated.
- ''Including players that returned from loan and aren't included in the first team.
Supporting players from Under-20 and Under-17 Squad
- Including players who have been playing on Under 20 competitions
- Players with first squad call-ups are wikilinked.
- Squad Numbers refer to players' first team squad number
Transfer window 2008
Players In:
Signed Players
Loan returns
Loans
Players Out:
Players which contract expired
Players which rescinded contract
Transferred players
Loan returns
Loans
Player Records
All-time Top 10 Goalscorers
As of
September 2,
2008Top from current squad:
Dentinho (19)
All-time Top 10 Appearances
As of
September 2,
2008Top from current squad:
Fabinho (221)
Historic players
Players with great relevance to Corinthians' history.
| | - Zenon (1981-1986)
- Daniel González (1982)
- Carlos (1984-1988)
- Wilson Mano (1986-1992, 1994)
- Ronaldo(1988-1998)
- Viola(1988-1989, 1992-1995)
- Neto (1989-1993)
- Ezequiel (1990-1995)
- Tupãzinho (1990-1996)
- Dinei (1990-1992, 1998-2001)
- Rivaldo (1993-1994)
- Marcelinho Carioca (1993-1997, 1997-2001, 2006)
- Célio Silva (1994-1998)
- Freddy Rincón (1997-2000, 2004)
- Edilson (1997-2000)
- Ricardinho (1998-2002, 2006)
- Carlos Gamarra (1998-1999)
- Vampeta (1998-2000, 2002-2003, 2007)
- Luizão (1999-2002)
- Dida (1999-2001, 2002)
- Carlos Tévez (2005-2006)
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| Corinthians All Time Best Eleven (Super Futebol Magazine - 5000 games special) |
Others famous athletes who also played for Corinthians
Staff
Current Staff
- Mano Menezes — Head coach
- Toninho Oliveira — Fitness coach
- Carlos Alberto Pimentel — Assistant fitness coach
- Marcos Antonio Romando — Goalkeeping coach
- Dr. Fábio Luiz Novi — Club doctor
- 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
Historic Managers
Official sponsors
Corinthians current sponsors are Nike and Medial Saúde.
Official honours of professional football (38)
World Competitions (FIFA): 1
National Competitions (CBF): 7
Competitions Inter-State (FPF and FFERJ): 5
Competitions State of São Paulo (FPF): 25
- 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
Matches
Notable Matches
See also
References
External links
Official websites
Corinthians related websites