Brazilian professional football clubSoccer club
Cruzeiro Esporte Clube (Brazilian Portuguese: [kɾuˈzejɾu esˈpoʁtʃi ˈklubi]), known simply as Cruzeiro, is a Brazilian sports ⚽️ club based in Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais.
Although competing in a number of different sports, Cruzeiro is mostly known for its ⚽️ association football team.
Its football team is the most prestigious team in Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais.
It plays in the Campeonato Brasileiro ⚽️ Série A, the top tier of the Brazilian football league system, as well as in the Campeonato Mineiro, the state ⚽️ of Minas Gerais's premier state league.
The club was founded on 2 January 1921, by sportsmen from the Italian colony of ⚽️ Belo Horizonte as Palestra Itália.
As a result of the Second World War, the Brazilian federal government banned the use of ⚽️ any symbols referring to the Axis powers in 1942.
The club board members rebaptized the club with the name of a ⚽️ leading national symbol: the Cruzeiro do Sul's constellation.
Cruzeiro play their home games at the Mineirão stadium, which currently holds up ⚽️ to 62,547 spectators.
Cruzeiro's regular kit colors are blue shirts and white shorts with white socks.
Cruzeiro is one of Brazil's most ⚽️ successful clubs.
It won the Campeonato Brasileiro Série A for the first time in 1966, after defeating Santos' Os Santásticos in ⚽️ the final series.
[2] Cruzeiro has won the Brasileirão again in 2003, 2013 and 2014, obtaining the best campaign in the ⚽️ present format of the competition.
Cruzeiro has also won record six Copa do Brasil titles and the Campeonato Mineiro 39 times.
Cruzeiro ⚽️ won the defunct state competitions Taça Minas Gerais five times, the Copa dos Campeões Mineiros twice, Copa Sul Minas twice, ⚽️ the Torneio Início 10 times and the Supercampeonato Mineiro once.
A Raposa also obtained many international laurels such as two Copa ⚽️ Libertadores, two Supercopa Libertadores, one Recopa Sudamericana, one Copa de Oro and one Copa Master de Supercopa.
Cruzeiro is one of ⚽️ the two Brazilian clubs to complete the Domestic Treble, a feat accomplished in 2003 after winning the Campeonato Mineiro, the ⚽️ 2003 Copa do Brasil and the 2003 Brasileirão.
Cruzeiro hold a long-standing rivalry against Atlético Mineiro.
It has contributed many key and ⚽️ famous players towards Brazil's FIFA World Cup squads such as Piazza, Tostão, Nelinho, Ronaldo, Luisão, Alex, Maicon, Cris, Jairzinho, Rivaldo ⚽️ and Edílson among so many others.
History [ edit ]
Cruzeiro's history is traced back to the Italian community living in Belo ⚽️ Horizonte, a city where already some Italian immigrants lived[3] and their desire to set up a football club.
Similar to the ⚽️ Italians of São Paulo (who founded Palestra Itália, now known as Palmeiras) the people of Belo Horizonte wanted the Italian ⚽️ colonies in Minas Gerais to have its own club as well.
In the sporting goods and footwear Augustine Ranieri's factory, located ⚽️ on the street of Caetés, it was decided the foundation of the club should tackle the three major capital: Atlético ⚽️ Mineiro, America-MG and Yale.
Was born at that moment, the Società Sportiva Palestra Italia, established on 2 January 1921.[4]
The meeting was ⚽️ attended by 95 founders present the shield and uniform that made reference to the Italian colors, and whose SSPI description ⚽️ would be recorded in the center shell.
Another decision was that only members of the Italian colony could wear the shirt.
Aurelio ⚽️ Noce was elected the first President.[4]
The Palestra Italia emerged as the representative of the Italian colony.
And is characterized as a ⚽️ team of Italian descent, Palestra also stood out by having elements of the Belo Horizonte working class, unlike Atlético and ⚽️ América, who had their consisting squad of college students coming from influential and wealthy families of the city.[4]
A Cruzeiro squad ⚽️ before playing a game v.Flamengo in 1923
The idea of the club being created took a big step when Yale, a ⚽️ sports team from the city, went through an administrative crisis.
When some players left Yale over a dispute (Yale, which itself ⚽️ had connections to the Italian community), some went on to found the all Italian, Sociedade Esportiva Palestra Itália of Belo ⚽️ Horizonte.
[5][6] Until 1925 the club would only allow Italian men to participate, despite other teams in the nation accepting people ⚽️ of all skin colors and ethnicities.[7]
Palestra debuted in the Prado Mineiro Stadium with a 2–0 win in a friendly on ⚽️ 3 April 1921, against a combination from Nova Lima.
The Nova Lima team united players from two teams from the city: ⚽️ Villa Nova, and Palmeiras, another team form Nova Lima.
[8] However, the first official match of Palestra was in a 3–0 ⚽️ win over future archrivals Clube Atlético Mineiro.
[9][10] In January 1942, Brazil entered World War II[11] and a decree of the ⚽️ federal government forbade the use of terms from enemy nations in entities, institutions, establishments, etc.
With this, the Italian name was ⚽️ removed and the club could no longer call themselves Palestra Italia.
The name was changed to Sociedade Esportiva Palestra Mineiro.
Around six ⚽️ months later, the president Ennes Cyro Poni called a general assembly for 7 October and suggested the name Ypiranga.
Between 3 ⚽️ and 7 October, the local media published the new name thinking it would be approved.
In assembly, the counselors and associates ⚽️ kept professional system and approved changing club's name and colors.
Yale and Ypiranga were suggested, but Cruzeiro Esporte Clube was chosen ⚽️ to honor the biggest symbol of Brazil, the constellation of Crux.
The idea was from Oswaldo Pinto Coelho.
However, the club kept ⚽️ playing as "Palestra Mineiro" until 1943, when the local Federation approved the new statutes.
[12] The approved colors were blue and ⚽️ white, chosen as a compromise to appease the Italian factions within the club management, as it was both representative of ⚽️ the Brazilian flag and the Italian football national team (blue is the color of House of Savoy, who ruled Italy ⚽️ from 1861 to 1946).[13]
With the inauguration of the Mineirão in 1965, Cruzeiro entered one of the most successful periods in ⚽️ its history, in which the club won five Campeonato Mineiro titles in a row, and went on to win its ⚽️ first national title, the 1966 Taça Brasil (the highest honor in Brazilian football at that time) beating Santos of Pelé ⚽️ in the final.
Cruzeiro won the first leg 6–2 at the Mineirão, and the second leg 3–2 in São Paulo.
[14][15] In ⚽️ the 1974 Campeonato Brasileiro Série A Cruzeiro were runner-up for the first time, after losing to Vasco in the finals.
Later ⚽️ in 1975, Cruzeiro were runner-up in the Campeonato Brasileiro again, this time losing to Internacional.
In 1976, Cruzeiro won its first ⚽️ Copa Libertadores de América, over River Plate of Argentina.
Cruzeiro went on to be runners-up of the same competition in 1977, ⚽️ being defeated in the finals by Boca Juniors, also of Argentina.
After winning the 1976 Copa Libertadores, they participated in the ⚽️ 1976 Intercontinental Cup, now renamed the FIFA Club World Championship, for the first time and tied Bayern Munich 0–0 at ⚽️ the Mineirão, but lost 2–0 to Bayern in the Olympiastadion.[14][15]
After tasting success in the 1960s and 1970s, Cruzeiro entered a ⚽️ dark period in the 1980s.
With the exception of a couple of Campeonato Mineiro wins, the club won no other championships ⚽️ in the 1980s, and had its worst performances in the Campeonato Brasileiro, 33rd in 1984 and 29th in 1985.
[16] The ⚽️ 1980s was the only decade Cruzeiro did not participate once in the Copa Libertadores since the tournament's creation in 1960.
[17] ⚽️ The club were invited to Europe in 1988 by Scottish side Celtic to play a friendly as part of the ⚽️ Glasgow club's centenary celebrations.[18]
In the 1990s a new era began, and a 15-year sequence of at least one title per ⚽️ year was initiated.
This included six of the club's seven international championships and a Campeonato Brasileiro (2003).
In December 2010 the CBF ⚽️ (the governing body of Brazilian football) also recognized Cruzeiro as Brazilian champion of 1966, for having beaten Santos of Pelé: ⚽️ 6–2 in Belo Horizonte and 2–3 in São Paulo.
[14][15][19] The club's biggest exploit in the 21st century happened when it ⚽️ won the Campeonato Brasileiro Série A.
With 100 points earned during the season, and just over 100 goals scored in 46 ⚽️ matches, it was one of the most successful campaigns ever by a club in a Brazilian championship.
In 2003, besides winning ⚽️ the Campeonato Brasileiro Série A, Cruzeiro also won the Copa do Brasil and the Campeonato Mineiro, to become the only ⚽️ Brazilian team to win the triple crown.[14][15][19][20]
From 2003 to 2012 Cruzeiro have only won one major tournament (four times): the ⚽️ Campeonato Mineiro (2004, 2006, 2008, 2009).
However, the club finished in the top five of the Campeonato Brasileiro in 2007, 2008, ⚽️ 2009 and 2010, guaranteeing a spot in the Copa Libertadores for four consecutive years (2008, 2009, 2010 and 2011).
In 2010, ⚽️ after a great campaign in the Campeonato Brasileiro Serie A, Cruzeiro took the second place and qualified for the Copa ⚽️ Libertadores da America for 2011.
Cruzeiro's biggest success in recent years was reaching the finals of the 2009 Copa Libertadores, but ⚽️ they lost to Estudiantes de La Plata 2–1.
[21] After a disastrous 2011 season, escaping relegation only in the last round ⚽️ after a triumphant 6–1[22] against arch-rival Atlético, Gilvan Tavares became president for the 2012-2013-2014 triennium.
2012 was slightly better than 2011, ⚽️ but still Cruzeiro won no titles.
In 2013 Cruzeiro lost Campeonato Mineiro again, despite displaying a good game against smaller clubs.
Copa ⚽️ do Brasil started promising but Cruzeiro was knocked out by future champion Flamengo in the quarterfinals.
After the elimination Cruzeiro went ⚽️ all in to Campeonato Brasileiro and was crowned champion for the third time, this time four rounds before the championship ⚽️ ended, playing an offensive and intense game that led many, including press[23] and runners-up,[24] to attribute the title many rounds ⚽️ before the mathematical confirmation.
Cruzeiro's 2014 season was even more successful.
It started with Cruzeiro winning the Campeonato Mineiro without losing a ⚽️ single match in the whole competition.
In the Copa Libertadores da America, Cruzeiro was knocked out, in the quarter finals, by ⚽️ future champion San Lorenzo de Almagro, being the last remaining Brazilian team in the competition.
This loss did not prevent Cruzeiro ⚽️ to lead the Campeonato Brasileiro for almost the whole competition, being crowned champion for the fourth time and becoming the ⚽️ second team not from Rio de Janeiro nor Sao Paulo to win the Campeonato Brasileiro twice in a row.
Cruzeiro also ⚽️ got to the final of the Copa do Brasil, but lost both matches to rival Atlético Mineiro.
Symbols [ edit ]Colors ⚽️ [ edit ]
Cruzeiro's first crest, 1921
When Cruzeiro was still known as Palestra Italia, the home shirt colour was green.
The first ⚽️ home kit was an improvised dark green shirt, with white shorts and green stockings.
Cruzeiro used this kit in their first ⚽️ professional game on 3 April 1921, in the Prado Mineiro Stadium, with a 2–0 win over the Villa Nova/Palmeiras combined ⚽️ team, of Nova Lima.
[25] In 1928 the shirt became a lighter tone of green, with a white neck design and ⚽️ red cuffs.
The shorts continued to be white, but the green stockings now had red and white details, similar to that ⚽️ of the Italian flag.
This particular uniform was used up until 1940.
The light green color of the shirt would later give ⚽️ the team the nickname "periquito", Portuguese for parakeet.
[25] In 1940 there was a big change to the shirt.
The shirt began ⚽️ to feature horizontal stripes, with the club crest in the center.
This was the shirt used to win the 1940 Campeonato ⚽️ da Cidade – now known as the Campeonto Mineiro – after the club had been unable to win the tournament ⚽️ for ten years.
The club also began to be called "tricolor" instead of "periquito".[25]
In 1942 Cruzeiro played one game under the ⚽️ name Ypiranga, and for this game a blue shirt with a central horizontal stripe was used.
[25] In 1943 Cruzeiro played ⚽️ its first game under its current name.
The shirt used then was an all blue shirt with a large white v-neck ⚽️ (scapular) design.
The shorts and stockings were white.
In 1950, due to bad stadium lighting, Cruzeiro began to use an all-white shirt ⚽️ during night games.
The shirt, which featured blue details and blue shorts and white stockings, was used for nine years.
[25] In ⚽️ 1956, Cruzeiro used, for a short while, a new shirt that was made up of white and blue horizontal stripes.
The ⚽️ uniform was not used in many games.
[25] There was a change to the shirt in 1959; the shirt became all ⚽️ blue, a design that would influence later shirts.
In the 1959 shirt, instead of using its normal crest Cruzeiro simply used ⚽️ the five stars, in the crest, loose on the shirt.
The shirt made its debut in the Estádio dos Tecelões, in ⚽️ a friendly match against Renascença, on 19 September.[25]
In 1984 Cruzeiro had the first ever company logo on its shirt; it ⚽️ was the shirt manufacturer's logo, which was Topper.
[25] In the same year Cruzeiro had its first shirt sponsor, Medradao.
Medradao was ⚽️ only used on the away shirts[25]Crest [ edit ]
The Southern Cross or Crux, is common on a number of other ⚽️ flags and insignia.
The first Palestra Itália crest was a rhombus whose top half was red and bottom half was green ⚽️ (both colors of the Italian flag).
In the center of the crest was a white circle with the letters P and ⚽️ I inside it.
[26] The following year, 1922, the club's crest maintained its rhombus shape, but was now completely white, with ⚽️ the letter P, S and I, inscribed within it in green.
[26] In 1923, the crest lost its rhombus shape and ⚽️ instead just had the green letters S, P and I.
[26] From 1928 to 1939 the crest was identical to the ⚽️ first crest in 1921.
Just one year later the crest became a little different: the top half was green and the ⚽️ bottom half was red, similar to the crests from 1921 and 1929–1939, but instead of green letters in its center, ⚽️ it now had the letters S, P and I in yellow.
[26]Cruzeiro fansSymbol 1956
The crest introduced in 1940 would be the ⚽️ last for Palestra, because the club would soon become Cruzeiro.
[26] Cruzeiro's first crest was introduced in 1950 and was very ⚽️ simple: a blue circle, with a white border, inside of which were five white stars, positioned to look like the ⚽️ Southern Cross.
This first crest was used for over nine years, until 1959.
[26] In 1959 the crest changed, now with a ⚽️ white border around the crest with the words "-CRUZEIRO ESPORTE CLUBE-BELO HORIZONTE" in blue.
This version of the crest was used ⚽️ until 1996, making it the longest-used crest by Cruzeiro.
[26] In the same year, Cruzeiro removed BELO HORIZONTE from the crest; ⚽️ this format was used until 2005.
[26] In 2006 to honor its successful 2003 season, a crown was added on top ⚽️ of the crest, to symbolize the triple crown.[26]
Cruzeiro has not always used its official crest on its shirt.
In 1959, instead ⚽️ of using its crest, the club opted to simply put the five stars from the Southern Cross on its shirt.
[26] ⚽️ This was done until 2000, when the actual crest was again used.
[26] In 2002 and in part of 2003 the ⚽️ loose stars were used.
Part way through 2003 a new shirt that contained the actual crest was introduced, but instead of ⚽️ just using the regular crest the shirt featured two Copa Libertadores trophies on top of the crest.
In 2004 a similar ⚽️ design was used, but now featured a crown, symbolic of the Triple Crown on top of the two trophies.
[26] Since ⚽️ 2007 the club has used the "loose stars" design on home shirts.
[26] None of these designs actually became the official ⚽️ club crest.
Anthem [ edit ]
The club's anthem, Hino ao Campeão, was written by Jadir Ambrósio in 1966, in homage to ⚽️ the team of his heart.
He never meant for it to become the official anthem, but when fans started hearing it ⚽️ they liked it enough to adapt it as the new anthem.
Mascot [ edit ]
Cartoonist Fernando Pieruccetti, more popularly known as ⚽️ "Mangabeira", created the club's mascot, a raposa (Portuguese for fox) in the 1940s, as he did for other football clubs ⚽️ from Minas Gerais state league.
[27] Mangabeira took inspiration from the club's ex-president, Mario Grosso.
"He was a director who let no ⚽️ one trick him.
He was sly, agile, intelligent and skillful like a fox.
"[28][29] In the 2000s, Cruzeiro has made the Raposão ⚽️ (Big Fox) its biggest mascot, appearing at all home games and cheering with the crowd while wearing the club's colors.
In ⚽️ 2010, Raposão won Rede Globo's Competição de Mascotes (Mascot Competition), held in their Sunday sports show Esporte Espetacular.
The program united ⚽️ 20 mascots from the biggest Brazilian teams and had them competing in series of challenges.
Raposão won all of the events ⚽️ and was crowned as Brazil's Best Mascot.
In 2012, Cruzeiro introduced a "junior mascot", named "Raposinho" (Little Fox), a smaller version ⚽️ of "Raposão".
Presidents [ edit ]
Aurélio Noce – 1921–22
Alberto Noce – 1923–24
Américo Gasparini – 1925–26, 1928
Antonio Falci – 1927, 1929–30
Braz Pelegrino ⚽️ – 1927–28
Lidio Lunardi – 1931–32
José Viana de Souza – 1933
Miguel Perrela – 1933–36
Romeo de Paoli – 1936
Osvaldo Pinto Coelho – ⚽️ 1936–40
Ennes Cyro Poni – 1941–42João Fantoni – 1942
Wilson Saliba – 1942
Mario Torneli – 1942
Mário Grosso – 1942–47
Fernando Tamietti – 1947, ⚽️ 1950
Antônio Cunha Lobo – 1947–49
Antônio Alves Simões – 1949Manoel F.
Campos – 1950Divino Ramos – 1951
José Greco – 1952–53, 1955
Wellington Armanelli ⚽️ – 1954
José Francisco Lemos Filho – 1954Eduardo S.Bambirra – 1955–56Manoel A.
de Carvalho – 1957–58
Antonio Braz Lopes Pontes – 1959–60
Felicio Brandi ⚽️ – 1961–82
Carmine Furletti – 1983–84
Benito Masci – 1985–90
Salvador Masci – 1990
César Masci – 1991–94
Zezé Perrella – 1995–2002
Alvimar de Oliveira Costa ⚽️ – 2003–08
Zezé Perrella – 2009–11
Gilvan Tavares – 2012–17
Wagner Pires de Sá – 2018–19
José Dalai Rocha – 2019–20
Sérgio Santos Rodrigues – ⚽️ 2020–
Current squad [ edit ]
As of 17 August 2023 [30]
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules.
Players ⚽️ may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
Youth players [ edit ]
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility ⚽️ rules.
Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
Other players [ edit ]
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA ⚽️ eligibility rules.
Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
Out on loan [ edit ]
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined ⚽️ under FIFA eligibility rules.
Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
First-team staff [ edit ]
Position Name Nationality Head coach Pepa ⚽️ POR Assistant coach Hugo Silva POR Samuel Correia POR Goalkeeping coach Rogério Lima BRA Fitness coaches Leonardo Almeida BRA Pedro ⚽️ Oliveira POR Rodrigo Saar BRA Túlio Flôres BRA Performance analyst André Batista BRA Pedro Azevedo POR Victor Flores BRA
Notable players ⚽️ [ edit ]
Former coaches [ edit ]
Records and statistics [ edit ]
Most appearances [ edit ]
Roberto Perfumo, with 138 matches, ⚽️ was the non-Brazilian with the most appearances for the club, this was recently changed however as Ariel Cabral was awarded ⚽️ this record with 200 appearances for the club.[31]
The player with the most appearances for Cruzeiro is Fábio with a stunning ⚽️ record of 800 appearances, having been with the team since 2005, beating former midfielder Zé Carlos, with 619 appearances, between ⚽️ 1965 and 1977.
[31] In third place on that list is 1971's Bola de Ouro Winner, "The Prince" Dirceu Lopes, while ⚽️ the fourth place belongs to former Brazilian international and 1970 FIFA World Cup champion Wilson Piazza.
The fifth overall player, and ⚽️ second goalkeeper with the most appearances for Cruzeiro is the notorious Raul Plassman, who played a total of 557 games ⚽️ with the team.
The non-Brazilian with the most appearances for the club is the Argentine Roberto Perfumo who made 138 appearances ⚽️ for the club between 1971 and 1974.[31]
Top goalscorers [ edit ]
Brazilian hall-of-famer and 1970 FIFA World Cup winner Tostão has ⚽️ scored the most goals for Cruzeiro, 249 between 1963 and 1972, having appeared on 378 matches for Cruzeiro (12th overall).
He ⚽️ beats Dirceu Lopes by 25 goals on that list, which also has old-timer Niginho (207 goals) closing the top 3, ⚽️ being the only ones with over 200 goals for Cruzeiro.
Ninão holds the record for goals scored in a single match: ⚽️ 10 in Cruzeiro's 14–0 win over Alves Nogueira during Campeonato da Cidade on 17 June 1928.
[32] Nelinho holds the record ⚽️ for most goals scored from penalties: 38; and the record for goals scored from fouls: 42.
Walter Montillo's 39 goals make ⚽️ him the non-Brazilian with the most goals for Cruzeiro, a record that would belong to Bolivia national football team vice-captain ⚽️ and striker Marcelo Moreno with 48 goals or Spanish 1930's striker Fernando Carazo, with 44 goals, had they not become ⚽️ Brazilian nationals.
[32]Honours [ edit ]
Continental [ edit ]National [ edit ]Regional [ edit ]State [ edit ]City [ edit ]
Copa ⚽️ Belo Horizonte (1): 1960[34]
Trebles and doubles [ edit ]
Trebles – Domestic Triple Crown
State, Cup and League: 2003¹[35]
Doubles – Domestic Double
State ⚽️ and League: 1966 State and Cup: 1996 State and League: 2014 State and Cup: 2018
– Continental Double
State and Supercopa Sudamericana: ⚽️ 1992 State and Copa Libertadores: 1997
Other featured campaigns [ edit ]
– Intercontinental Cup
Runners-up (2): 1976, 1997
– Copa Libertadores de América:
Runners-up ⚽️ (2): 1977, 2009 Third place (2): 1967, 1975
– Campeonato Brasileiro Série A:
Runners-up (5): 1969, 1974, 1975, 1998, 2010 Third place ⚽️ (5): 1973, 1989, 1995, 2000, 2008 Fourth place (2): 1968, 2009– Copa do Brasil
Runners-up (2): 1998, 2014 Semi-finalist (1): 2005, ⚽️ 2016
– Supercopa Sudamericana:
Runners-up (2): 1988 and 1996
– Supercopa Masters:
Runners-up (1): 1992
– Campeonato Mineiro:
Grounds and facilities [ edit ]
Cruzeiro's first stadium ⚽️ was the Estádio do Prado Mineiro, which belonged to the Federação Mineira de Futebol (FMF).
[36] The club's first game at ⚽️ the stadium was 2–0 win over a Villa Nova/Palmeiras combine team from Nova Lima on 3 April 1921.
[36][37] Cruzeiro would ⚽️ use the stadium until 1923 when the club built its own stadium, Estádio do Barro Preto.
[37][38] On 23 July 1923, ⚽️ Cruzeiro debuted at the stadium in a 2–2 tie with Flamengo.
[37][38] In 1945, the stadium went through renovations and would ⚽️ become at that time the largest stadium in the state with a capacity of 15,000 and later on would become ⚽️ known as Estádio Juscelino Kubitscheck (or Estádio JK).
[37][38] Cruzeiro would use the stadium until 1965, when the Mineirão was opened.
In ⚽️ 1983, the stadium was torn down and one of the club's social clubs (Sede Campestre) was built there.[37][39]
Since 1965, Cruzeiro ⚽️ play their home games at Estádio Governador Magalhães Pinto, often referred to as just Mineirão in Belo Horizonte, MG.
[40] Cruzeiro ⚽️ shares the stadium with rivals Atlético Mineiro.
[41] The stadium does not belong to Cruzeiro, rather it belongs to the state ⚽️ of Minas Gerais (through a land grant from the Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais) and is administrated by Minas Arena, ⚽️ a private company, on lease from the state since 2013.
The stadium, which was built in 1963, had an original capacity ⚽️ of about 130,000,[40][41] but over the years that capacity has been reduced, and currently it seats 64,800.
Named after former Minas ⚽️ Gerais governor José de Magalhães Pinto, it took over 4,000 workers to build the stadium.
[41] The period after the stadium's ⚽️ inauguration is often called Era Mineirão ("Mineirão Era"), which saw Cruzeiro gain national and international prominence.
[42][43] Cruzeiro also holds the ⚽️ attendance record at the stadium, when 132,834 spectators watched Cruzeiro beat Villa Nova in the 1997 Campeonato Mineiro final.[44]
Cruzeiro have ⚽️ had plans to build a new stadium, especially under president Alvimar de Oliveira Costa's tenure.
[45][46][47][48] However, the state of Minas ⚽️ asked Cruzeiro to stay at the stadium,[49] and after president Zezé Perrella came to the presidency in 2009, plans for ⚽️ a new stadium virtually disappeared.[50]
The Mineirão was selected as a host stadium for the 2014 FIFA World Cup,[51] with renovations ⚽️ beginning on 25 June 2010, and projected to be completed by December 2012.
[52] After the stadiums closing, Cruzeiro began playing ⚽️ home games at the Arena do Jacaré and Ipatingão stadiums, both outside the city of Belo Horizonte.
[53] Independência stadium is ⚽️ also being renovated and Cruzeiro will start playing homes games there in 2011 until the Mineirão is ready in 2012.[54]
The ⚽️ club has private ownership of other facilities though, including two training facilities (Toca da Raposa I, which serves the youth ⚽️ division and Toca da Raposa II for the senior squad),[40][55][56] an administrative headquarters[57] and two social club facilities.
[58][59] Cruzeiro has ⚽️ often been praised for having one of the leading infrastructure systems in Brazil.[40]
Administration and finances [ edit ]
Cruzeiro used to ⚽️ be a nonprofit organization, where the real owner are sócios (literally, "partners") or members (who pay an annual fee), in ⚽️ return, sócios receive benefits from the club, such as access to club's properties and tickets, as well as a right ⚽️ to vote for the next club officials.
[60] This bylaw lasted from the club's foundation in 1921 until late 2021, when ⚽️ Wagner Pires de Sá's run as club president led to the club to declare bankruptcy.
Wagner Pires de Sá's run as ⚽️ club president was filled with corruption.
[61] This led Cruzeiro to stop paying its players, leading to the club's first relegation ⚽️ in 2019.
Over the next two years, Cruzeiro played the second division while still under the sócios program.
This changed in December ⚽️ 2021, when the former footballer Ronaldo, who started his professional career in Cruzeiro, announced he would be the owner of ⚽️ Cruzeiro's football department.
[62]See also [ edit ]Notes [ edit ]
