| Full name | Sport Club Corinthians Paulista | |||
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| Nickname(s) | Timão Time do Povo Todo Poderoso Coringão |
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| Founded | September 1, 1910 | |||
| Stadium | Estádio do Pacaembu (Capacity: 37,952) |
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| President | Roberto de Andrade | |||
| Manager | Tite | |||
| League | Campeonato Brasileiro Série A | |||
| 2011 | 1st | |||
| Website | Club home page | |||
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| Current season | ||||
Sport Club Corinthians Paulista, commonly just known as Corinthians (Portuguese pronunciation: [koˈɾĩtʃɐ̃s]), is a Brazilian football club based in the city of São Paulo. They play in the São Paulo state league, as well as the Brasileirão, Brazil's top national league. Corinthians was a founding member of the Clube dos 13 group of leading Brazilian football clubs.
Corinthians have won their state championship a record 26 times, the Brasileirão on five occasions, including a double in 1999, and the Copa do Brasil three times; in South America, they reached the quarterfinals of the Copa Sudamericana in 2005, were Copa CONMEBOL and Copa Libertadores semifinalists in 1994 and 2000 respectively, and won the FIFA Club World Cup in 2000, where the Timão ended their 90-year wait for international honors, defeating Vasco da Gama 4–3 in the final, which was held at the Maracanã in Rio de Janeiro. The Timão play their home games at the Pacaembu, which currently holds up to 40,199 spectators. In 2013, Corinthians are due to move to their new home of Novo Estádio do Corinthians, which will have a capacity of 65,000. Corinthians' home kit is white shirts, with black shorts, accompanied by white socks, this combination has been used since 1920. Nike are the kit manufacturers and the main shirt sponsor is Neo Química.
Corinthians is Brazil's richest football club in terms of revenue, with an annual revenue of $132.1m (€92.5m), and the most valuable club in the nation, worth over $540.5m (€378.4m) in 2011.[1] During their history, the club has been known by a number of nicknames, including Timão (Big team in English), due to their popularity in Brazil. The Club is the second most popular in Brazil. 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, Corinthians was preferred by 13.2% to 15% of the Brazilian population, which represents approximately 25 to 29 million fans. There are also several Corinthians' organized fan clubs of football factories, among them Gaviões da Fiel, Camisa 12, Coringão Chopp, Pavilhão 9 and Estopim da Fiel.
The History of Sport Club Corinthians Paulista starts on September 1, 1910, when a group of laborers in the neighborhood of Bom Retiro decided to create their own club. Their idea was to found a football team in which anyone could display his abilities in the sport, since back then, in the beginning of the 20th century, football in Brazil was considered to be an elitist sport, played mainly by British descendants and people who worked for British companies.
Under the lights of an oil lamp, in the "Rua dos Imigrantes" (Immigrants Street), the labourers Joaquim Ambrósio, Antônio Pereira, César Nunes, Rafael Perrone, Anselmo Correia, Alexandre Magnani, Salvador Lopomo, João da Silva, Antônio Nunes founded the first popular club in São Paulo.
Among the founders, the first ideas for the name of the club were full of Brazilian national spirit: Carlos Gomes Football Club and Futebol Clube Santos Dumont. However, these prominent Brazilian names were put aside after the English amateur team Corinthian, that used to wear pink and brown shirts, won all six games in São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro during an exhibitional tour of Brazil. The name Sport Club Corinthians Paulista was agreed upon, as an homage to the great British club of the beginning of the past century. The name was suggested by Joaquim Ambrósio, one of those five laborers who founded the club.
The first order of business after deciding who would become the first club president was to declare that "Corinthians will be a team of the people, by the people and for the people," a claim in reference to the previous "elite"-only football culture in Brazil at the time. The claim stuck and is still used to this day with Corinthians being known as the "Time do Povo" or the "Team for the People"
Corinthians played their first match on September 10, 1910, away against União da Lapa, a respected amateur club in São Paulo; and despite being defeated by 1–0, this match would mark the beginning of a successful era as an amateur club.
On September 14, Luis Fabi scored Corinthians' first goal against Estrela Polar, another amateur club in the city, and Corinthians won their first game 2–0.
With good results and an increasing number of supporters, Corinthians joined the Liga Paulista, after winning two qualifying games, and played in the São Paulo State Championship for the first time, in 1913. Just one year after joining the league, Corinthians was crowned champion for the first time (in 1914), and were again two years later.
There were many fly-by-night teams popping up in São Paulo at the time, and during the first practice held by Corinthians a banner was placed by the side of the field stating "This One Will Last".
The year of 1922, the Centennial of Brazilian Independence, marks the start of Corinthians hegemony in the São Paulo State Championship.
As football was almost exclusively played at Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo by that time, the two state champions were considered to be the two top clubs in Brazil. After defeating the Rio de Janeiro State Championship champion of that year, América, Corinthians joined the company of the great teams in Brazil.
The same year also marked the first of three State Championships in a row, something that happened again in 1928–1930 and 1937–1939.
Corinthians seemed destined to win State Championships in threes; after six years without being a champions, they came won three more from 1937 the 1939. The 40's were a more difficult time; and the club would win a championship in 1941 and would only win their next in 1951. It was a time where Corinthians teams was known as “it makes me laugh” or "faz-me rir" in Portuguese.
At the beginning of the 1950s Corinthians made history in the São Paulo Championship. In 1951, the team composed of Carbone, Cláudio, Luisinho, Baltasar and Mário scored 103 goals in thirty matches of the São Paulo Championship, registering an average of 3.43 per game. Carbone was the top goalscorer of the competition with 30 gols. The club would also win the São Paulo Championships of 1952 and 1954.
In this same decade, Corinthians were champions three times of the Rio-São Paulo Championship (1950, 1953 and 1954), the tournament that was becoming most important in the country with the increased participation of the greatest clubs from the two most important footballing states in the country.
In 1953, in a championship in Venezuela, Corinthians won the Small Cup of the World, a championship that many consider as a precursor of the Worldwide Championship of Clubs. On the occasion, Corinthians, substituting for Vasco da Gama, went to Caracas, the Venezuelan capital and recorded six consecutive victories against A.S. Roma (1–0 and 3–1), CF Barcelona (3–2 and 1–0) and Selection of Caracas (2–1 and 2–0). The club would also win the Cup of the Centenary of São Paulo, in the same year (1954).
After the triumphs in the São Paulo Championship and the Rio-São Paulo of 1954, Corinthians had a lengthy title drought. The breakthrough finally came when they won the São Paulo state championship in 1977, breaking a string of 23 years without a major title.
In 1990, Corinthians won its first Campeonato Brasileiro Série A, beating its rivals, São Paulo in the final at the opponent's own stadium, Estádio do Morumbi.[2] In the following year, Corinthians beat Flamengo and won the Supercopa do Brasil.[3] In 1995, the club won the Copa do Brasil for the first time, beating Grêmio in the final at Estádio Olímpico Monumental, in Porto Alegre.[4] In the same decade, the club won the state championship in 1995, 1997, and in 1999,[5] and won the national championship again in 1998 and in 1999.[6]
In 2000, Corinthians won the first edition of the FIFA Club World Cup, beating Vasco in the final, at Estádio do Maracanã. To reach the final, Corinthians finished ahead of Real Madrid of Spain, Al-Nasr of Saudi Arabia and Raja Casablanca of Morocco.[7] In the same decade, the club won the state championship in 2001 and in 2003.,[5] and the Copa do Brasil in 2002, beating Brasiliense in the final.[8]
Between 1990 and 2005, the club also won the Ramón de Carranza Trophy in 1996, the Rio-São Paulo Tournament in 2002, the São Paulo Youth Cup in 1995, 1999, 2004, and 2005, and the Dallas Cup in 1999 and 2000.
The club's situation in early 2004 was among the most difficult in its history. Bad administration, lack of money and terrible campaigns both in the 2003 Brazilian Championship and in the 2004 São Paulo State Championship caused its millions of supporters to worry. Fortunately, some young players and a new manager Tite helped the team to improve from their terrible start. At the end of the championship, Corinthians finished in 5th place and gained entry to the Copa Sudamericana (a minor continental championship).
This situation was one of the factors which enabled Corinthians' president, Alberto Dualib, to convince the club's advisors to sign a controversial deal with an international fund of investors called Media Sports Investment. The deal granted the company a large degree of control over the club for 10 years in exchange for large financial investments in return. This has brought many quality players to the team, such as Carlos Tévez, Roger, Javier Mascherano and Carlos Alberto.
Despite the MSI investiments, Corinthians had a slow start in the 2005 state championship, but managed to improve as it progressed, eventually managing to finish second. Their start to the Brazilian championship during 2005 was difficult, too, but after Daniel Passarella's dismissal (due to an unexpected 5–1 loss to Corinthians' rivals, São Paulo), the club finished the championship well, and were eventually crowned Brazilian Champions for the fourth time, after some controversial annulment of eleven games due to a betting scandal.
The relationship between Corinthians' managers and the MSI president, Kia Joorabchian was not good, and after being eliminated in the Copa Libertadores, the club experienced a crisis which was responsible for the bad performances for the rest of 2006. Eventually, the partnership came to an end.[9]
On December 2, 2007, following a 1–1 draw away to Grêmio, Corinthians were relegated to the second division.
Corinthians, who won promotion to the top division of Brazilian football for 2009 by winning the Serie B tournament, signed with three-time FIFA Player of the Year Ronaldo [10][11]. In 2009, lead by Ronaldo, Corinthians won its 26th Campeonato Paulista and its third Copa do Brasil. Confirming the club's good moment, Corinthians finished the Campeonato Brasileiro 2010 in 3rd place, granting its place on the subsequent Copa Libertadores. After being eliminated from the South American tournament by the relatively less traditional Deportes Tolima, though, Corinthians saw Ronaldo retire from football. To replace him, the club signed with other 2006 national squad veteran Adriano[12]. In 2011, Corinthians won its fifth national title.
World
National
Regional
State
In 1949, Corinthians played Torino. That game was the last game that il Grande Torino played as the Superga air disaster followed when the whole team died in a plane crash. To commemorate Torino, Corinthians uses Torino's colors for their third jersey on which Torino's emblem is superimposed.
The club is the second most popular in Brazil. 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 15% of the Brazilian population, which represents approximately 24 to 29 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.
There are also several Corinthians' organized fan clubs of football factories, among them Gaviões da Fiel, Camisa 12, Pavilhão 9 and Estopim da Fiel.
The Corinthians' shirt had no crest before 1913, when the club joined the Liga Paulista Even though the club has been recognized by the colors 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 color gradually became white. After that, early in the club's history, the official colors 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 a long time and, since 2008, has been used as a successful third uniform: in popular culture, a corintiano roxo (purple corintiano) is a term used to describe a fanatic supporter of Corinthians.
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 lithographer Hermógenes Barbuy, the 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. It featured 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 modernist painter and former member of Corinthians' reserve squad Francisco Rebolo González created the club's current design, with the anchor and two oars (a reference to the aquatic sports practiced in the club), making it unique. This definitive crest has been revised a few times.
| Period | Kit manufacturer | Shirt partner |
|---|---|---|
| 1980–1981 | Topper | None |
| 1982 | Bom Brill | |
| 1983 | Cofap | |
| 1984 | Citizen | |
| 1984 | Bic | |
| 1984 | Corona | |
| 1985–1989 | Kalunga | |
| 1990–1994 | Finta | |
| 1995–1996 | Penalty | Suvinil |
| 1996–1998 | Banco Excel | |
| 1998 | Embratel | |
| 1999–2000 | Topper | Batavo |
| 2000–2002 | Pepsi | |
| 2003–2004 | Nike | |
| 2005–2007 | Samsung | |
| 2008 | Medial Saúde | |
| 2009 | Batavo | |
| 2010– | Neo Química |
Corinthians' official mascot is the Musketeer, a symbol of bravery, audacity and fighting spirit. The adoption of that character recalls the first years of the club.
In 1913 most of the leading football clubs in São Paulo State founded the APEA (Paulista Athletic Sports Association). 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 in 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.
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 , São Paulo.
As soon as it was founded Corinthians needed a venue in which to host its matches. The team initially played on a field owned by a wood seller, which was henceforth 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 invited to play in 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. Mostly 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 has been forced to play sometimes in rival's São Paulo FC ground (Morumbi Stadium) when the expected attendance is greater than Pacaembu's capacity.
Several projects for a new stadium have been presented to the public since the 1960s. The club owns property in Itaquera, reserved 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.[13]
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 had been having problems with greedy and jealous players. 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 in 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.[14][15]
As March 31, 2011.[16]
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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Players with Dual Nationality
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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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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