Santos FC

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For the English football club, see Santos F.C. (England).
Santos
Santos
Full nameSantos Futebol Clube
Nickname(s)Peixe (The Fish, although the
traditional mascot is actually a whale),
Santástico and Alvinegro praiano
Founded1912
GroundVila Belmiro, Santos, Brazil
Capacity20,120
ChairmanBrazil Marcelo Teixeira
ManagerBrazil Vanderlei Luxemburgo
LeagueBrazilian Série A
2005Brazilian Série A, 10th

Santos Futebol Clube is a Brazilian football team from Santos, São Paulo state, Brazil.

It was founded as 'Santos Foot-Ball Club' on April 14, 1912, through the initiative of three sports enthusiasts from Santos: Raimundo Marques, Mário Ferraz de Campos and Argemiro de Souza Júnior. The club won its first state tournament in 1935, and again 20 years later, in 1955. Pelé (chosen as "Athlete of the Century" by the IOC in 1999) started his career with the team in 1956, at the age of 15. With Pelé, Santos won the Intercontinental Cup in 1962 and 1963.

History

The Golden Years

The club enjoyed its peak in the sixties, having players like Pelé, Coutinho, and Pepe. The club's popularity, nation-wide, was enormous.

In its golden years it won 9 state championships; two Libertadores cups; 6 (out of 10) Brazilian championships; and played exhibition games worldwide, showing the best Brazilian-style football at its moment of glory.

Unfortunately, however, the end of the club's golden age coincides with the substitution of the Taça Brasil with the Campeonato Brasileiro, which it would take the club 30 years to win.

Stopping War

It is really true that the club's popularity was so great that it could halt a war so that people could watch it play. The mythical event (which many dismiss as an urban legend) occurred in 1969 in the Congo. The Kinshasa (the former Belgian Congo) and the Brazzaville (the former French Congo) governments were engaged in a war when Santos arrived at the Kinshasa airport heading to Brazzaville, where it would play against the Congo National Team.

Instead of sending them away, the Kinshasa government gently produced a brief truce, escorted them to the border and back in safety. After playing their previously arranged match (19/1/1969), the team returned to Kinshasa (again escorted by the militia) and met Congolese president, who told them that they would only be allowed leave if they played against a local team.

On January 21 1969 Santos played against a quickly-assembled Congolese juvenile national team and won by 2-0. The Congolese president wanted a rematch and, on January 23 1969 Santos played against Kinshasa Leopards, "losing" by 3-2. After that, they were allowed to take off.

In the meantime the war had been in a halt in both sides of the border, but it started over as soon as their plane left.

Santos After Pelé

The end of the golden age also coincides with the retirement of Pelé from professional soccer, in 1972, after a low-profile participation in the first Brazilian Championship.

From 1972 onwards Santos only won two important titles, the 1978 and 1984 São Paulo state championship. It was also the runner-up in the Brazilian championships of 1983 (won by Flamengo) and 1995 (won by Botafogo), both finals having extremely contested rulings by officials. However, since the late eighties, the club was seen as decadent, and many believed its glory days were over.

The Recent Years

The "resurrection" of Santos started when President Marcelo Teixeira decided to try a new management formula to run the soccer team during those extremely tough financials years, that basically was to sell all the expensive stars, hire a top notch coach that could be able to develop new emerging talents for the professional league. Superstitious, Marcelo Teixeira also decided to put a statue of Modesto Roma that was one of his greatests idols, inside of the Vila Belmiro Stadium. Roma called "Gigante da Vila" due to his body dimensions was the greatest club executive director of all times, run the club during the golden age, and was the man responsible for keeping that amazing team together during the 60's, declining several international offers to sell Pelé. Modesto Roma usually stated to the press his famaous dictum " Da bola para a bola" meaning that all the money received to play should be reinvested to keep and hire the best soccer players of all time. The club would undergo a long process of rehabilitation, including the renewal of its stadium (which had for years been one of the worst playing fields in Brazil), the hiring of important players and, most important of all, a strong investment in infrastructure (training fields, medical and physiotherapical facilities) and the formation of players.

This rehabilitation policy proved effective and the club was soon replenished with numerous young talented players (among them Robinho, Diego, Elano, Léo and Renato). In 2002 Santos were national champions for the first time since 1968, and in 2004 won the league again. The club has also done well in most tournaments in which it takes part and is seen as a major favourite for the current league.

Stadium

Main article: Estádio Vila Belmiro

Santos' home stadium is the Urbano Caldeira (also known as Vila Belmiro), inaugurated on October 12, 1916. Nowadays it has a capacity of 20,120 people, but its record is almost 33,000 people, in a game against Corinthians (tie, 0-0), 1964.

Current Team

During the course of 2006 Santos adopted a new formation, 3-5-2, because of this the line-up has changed: Fábio Costa, Julio Manzur, Ronaldo Guiaro, Luiz Alberto, Dênis, Maldonado, Kléber, Cléber Santana, Rodrigo Tabata, Jonas e Reinaldo.

Trivia

They play in an all-white uniform, with a second choice uniform of black and white vertical stripes and black shorts. However, according to the club's statute, the team's first choice uniform is a striped shirt with white shorts and white socks.

A fan of the team is known as a Santista.

The club has been nicknamed Peixe (literally, "Fish") for decades, but the usual mascot is a whale (which is not a fish, but a marine Mammal). The nickname evokes the circumstance that Santos, Brazil, the city where it is located, is a seaport, when all other big clubs from São Paulo are from inland.

Santos' greatest rival is Corinthians and its glory days coincided with most of the proverbial 23 years Corinthians endured without winning anything.

Titles

Squads to have won national honours

1961 - Taça Brasil

Final game: 5 x 1 against EC Bahia. Team: Laércio (Silas); Lima, Mauro (Olavo) and Dalmo; Zito and Calvet; Dorval, Tite, Coutinho, Pelé and Pepe.

1962 - Taça Brasil

Final game: 5 x 0 against Botafogo. Team: Gilmar; Lima, Mauro and Dalmo; Zito and Calvet; Dorval, Mengálvio, Coutinho (Tite), Pelé and Pepe.

1963 - Taça Brasil

Final game: 2 x 0 against EC Bahia. Team: Gilmar; Ismael, Mauro and Geraldino; Haroldo (Joel) and Lima; Dorval, Mengálvio, Coutinho, Pelé and Pepe.

1964 - Taça Brasil

Final game: 0 x 0 against Flamengo. Team: Gilmar; Ismael, Modesto and Geraldino; Zito and Haroldo; Toninho Guerreiro (Lima), Mengálvio, Coutinho, Pelé and Pepe.

1965 - Taça Brasil

Final game: 1 x 0 against Vasco. Team: Gilmar; Carlos Alberto Torres, Mauro, Geraldino and Lima; Orlando, Dorval, Mengálvio, Coutinho, Pelé and Pepe.

1968 - Taça de Prata

Final game: 2 x 1 against Vasco. Team: Cláudio; Carlos Alberto Torres, Ramos Delgado, Marçal and Rildo; Clodoaldo and Lima; Edu, Toninho Guerreiro (Douglas), Pelé and Abel (Adílson)

2002 - Campeonato Brasileiro Série A

Final game: 3 x 2 against Corinthians. Team: Fábio Costa; Maurinho, Alex, André Luiz and Léo; Paulo Almeida, Renato, Elano, Diego (Robert) (Michel) and Elano; Robinho and William (Alexandre)

2004 - Campeonato Brasileiro Série A

Round-robin tournament, without play-offs. Last game: 2 x 1 against Vasco. Base team: Mauro; Paulo César, Avalos, Leonardo and Léo; Fabinho, Preto Casagrande, Ricardinho and Elano; Robinho and Deivid.

Famous players

Famous Coaches

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