| Full name | America Football Club | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Nickname(s) | Diabo (Devil), Sangue (Blood), Mecão and Rubro Carioca | ||
| Founded | 1904 | ||
| Ground | Giulite Coutinho, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (Capacity: 16,000) |
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| Head Coach | Ulisses Salgado | ||
| President | Arthur Bernardes | ||
| League | Campeonato Brasileiro Série D | ||
| 2010 | Campeonato Brasileiro Série D, eliminated in first stage | ||
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America Football Club, or America as it is usually called, is a Brazilian football team from Rio de Janeiro in Rio de Janeiro state, founded on September 18, 1904. The club competed in the Campeonato Brasileiro Série A several times and won the state championship seven times.
The club's home stadium is the Estádio Giulite Coutinho, with a capacity of 16,000. They play in red shirts, white shorts and red socks.
The football anthem composer Lamartine Babo was a supporter of America.[1] America's mascot is a devil. America also sponsors a beach American football team, the América Red Lions.[2]
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On September 18, 1904, Alberto Koltzbucher, Alfredo Guilherme Koehler, Alfredo Mohrsted, Gustavo Bruno Mohrsted, Henrique Mohrsted, Jayme Faria Machado and Oswaldo Mohrsted founded America Football Club.[3]
In 1905, America, together with Bangu, Botafogo, Petrópolis, Fluminense and Futebol Atlético Clube founded Liga de Football do Rio de Janeiro (Rio de Janeiro Football League), which was the first football federation of Rio de Janeiro.[3] In 1913, the club won the state championship for the first time.[4]
In 1971, the club competed in the national Championship's first edition, finishing in the 11th place.[5]
The yellow star just above their emblem represents their win in the Tournament of the Champions (Torneio dos Campeões) in 1982 which was a tournament organized by CBF to serve as a preview to the Copa Brasil (Campeonato Brasileiro) tournament. Flamengo declined the invitation so America, the team with the best record after the selected teams, was invited to fill the spot. America won the tournament by beating Guarani in overtime at Maracanã stadium.[6]
In 2006, America was the runner-up of Taça Guanabara. America played the final against Botafogo.[7]
In 2008, America suffered a major blow by being relegated to the Second Division of the Campeonato Carioca. However, they won the Second Division in 2009, thus being promoted to the first level in 2010.[8]
According to the CBF register.[1]
Note: Flags indicate national team as has been defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
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One controversial aspect about the club is the official mascot: the Diabo (devil), depicted as a red demon complete with horns, pointy beard, curled moustache, a long fat arrow-pointed tail, hooved feet and a black cape. The club's old stadium was nicknamed Caldeirão do Diabo ("Devil's Cauldron"). In 2006 some of the club's fans, supported by then-manager Jorginho who is an Evangelical Christian, tried to replace the diabo with a bald eagle, claiming that the devil was unlucky. However, as the diabo was a traditional part of the club's life and there was no change in the club's fortunes with the new mascot, the replacement was abandoned.[9]
America is one of the Brazilian teams with more clubs named after it, copying even its symbols. Some of its clones are: América of Natal, América of São José do Rio Preto, América of Três Rios, América of Amazonas, América of Ceará, among others are named after América Football Club.[10]
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