Millonarios Fútbol Club

Millonarios

Full name	Millonarios Fútbol Club
Nickname(s)	Los Embajadores (The Ambassadors), El Ballet Azul (The Blue Ballet), Los Albiazules (The White Blues), Millos
Founded	June 18, 1946
Ground	Estadio El Campín Bogotá, Colombia (Capacity: 36,343[1])
Chairman	José Roberto Arango
Manager	Richard Páez
League	Fútbol Profesional Colombiano
2011-I	6th
Home colours Away colours

Millonarios Fútbol Club is a Colombian football club based in Bogotá. As of 2011, Millonarios shares with rival América de Cali being the team with the most Fútbol Profesional Colombiano championships, 13 in total, although Millonarios haven't won this tournament since 1988. They are also the third Colombian team to achieve a major international title, the Copa Merconorte in 2001. The team was initially created in 1937 by students from two schools in the city of Bogotá: "Colegio San Bartolomé" and "Instituto La Salle". Millonarios, as the team it is now, was officially founded on June 18, 1946, thanks to the efforts of Alfonso Senior Quevedo, Millonarios first chairman. From the beginning of the Colombian Soccer Tournament, Millos won many domestic tournaments, the last one in 1988.

History

Alfredo di Stéfano's uniforms exhibited in Real Madrid Museum

Throughout its history, Millonarios has had famous players, including: Alfredo di Stéfano, Adolfo Pedernera, Juan Gilberto Funes, "El Búfalo", Willington Ortiz, Arnoldo Iguarán, Daniel "Tito" Onega, Fernando Areán, Carlos Valderrama, Carlos Ángel López, Alfredo Castillo, Sergio Goycochea, Delio "Maravilla" Gamboa, Miguel Angel Converti, Jaime Morón, Amadeo Carrizo, Alejandro Brand, René Higuita, Mario Vanemerak, John Mario Ramírez and Pedro Alberto Vivalda. Carlos "El Pibe" Valderrama was actually expelled from Millonarios as the Coach and Board of Directors thought he was not good enough for football.

The Ballet Azul

The most successful period for the club had place during the early 1950s due the notable Argentinean players incoming. Alfredo di Stéfano, Adolfo Pedernera and Nestor Rossi made the legendary team that built the renamed 'Ballet Azul'. These notable player abandoned Millonarios in 1954, some of them returned to their original teams while others that remained continued their careers in Europe, this was the case for Alfredo di Stéfano who transferred to Real Madrid; He is still considered one of the best player of all time [1]

2000s crisis and recovering

During the 2000s, Millonarios has endured a financial crisis. The club had two of their worst crises in 2 seasons: In 2002 the club had their worst financial situation, to the point that many people feared the possibility of Millos coming to an end. After a decent 2003 performance, chaos reappeared in later 2004 (while playing the Copa Mustang II), when Millos had their worst league campaign, finishing second from bottom. Millos also played in the Copa Sudamericana 2004, where they were knocked out by Atlético Junior in the preliminary phase.

From this point, Millonarios began a slow process to recover their former glory, managing to get again into the cup's group stage in 2006, something they didn't do at the previous tournament. Millos had further improvement when former Manchester City F.C. assistant manager Juan Carlos Osorio was appointed as the new Millonarios' Manager, which led the club to 3rd position in the League Stage of the Mustang Cup, and 5th in the addition of all the year's performance, taking Millos again into the Copa Sudamericana, while the financial situation of the team also had a notable recovery. In July 2007, Osorio left Millonarios to manage Major League Soccer side Chicago Fire, and he was replaced with Martín Lasarte; after a brief, but very unsuccessful period with Lasarte, Millonarios then hired Argentinian Mario Vanemerak as their new manager. Under Vanemerak, Millonarios began to shine again, most notably in the Copa Sudamericana 2007, where they eliminated several powerful teams, most notably Brazilian champions São Paulo FC in the quarter-finals, thanks to two goals from Ricardo Ciciliano. As of October 25, 2007, Millonarios has qualified for the Copa Sudamericana semi-finals, although they had a less impressive performance in the Colombian Copa Mustang II 2007 so far. The club currently is involved in a bankruptucy process that promises to cancel the team's debts.

Uniform

• Home: Blue shirt, white shorts and blue socks.
• Away: White shirt, blue shorts and white socks.

Kit manufacturer

Period	Kit manufacturer
1984–1986	Adidas
1988	Torino
1996	Adidas/Saeta
1997	Wala/Saeta/Torino
1998–1999	Patrick
2000–2002	Saeta
2003–2004	Runic
2005–2008	Saeta
2009-Today	Adidas

Honours

The Club Trophies

Torneo Bodas de Oro Real Madrid Trophy, won in 1952 in the Santiago Bernabéu Stadium.

National honours

• Fútbol Profesional Colombiano: (13)

1949, 1951, 1952, 1953, 1959, 1961, 1962, 1963, 1964, 1972, 1978, 1987, 1988

Runners-up (9): 1950, 1956, 1958, 1967, 1973, 1975, 1984, 1994, 1995-96

• Copa Colombia: (3)

1952-1953, 1962-1963, 2011

Runners-up (1): 1951-52

International honours

• Pequeña Copa del Mundo de Clubes: (1)

1953

Runners-up (1): 1952

• Copa Merconorte: (1)

2001

Runners-up (1): 2000

• Copa Simón Bolívar: (1)

1972

• Copa Omnilife

Performance in CONMEBOL competitions

• Copa Libertadores: 14 appearances

Best: Semi-Finals in 1960, 1973, 1974 - Quarter-Finals in 1962, 1963, 1964, 1989, 1995

1960: Semi-Finals 1962: Quarter-Finals 1963: Quarter-Finals 1964: Quarter-Finals 1968: First Round

1973: Semi-Finals 1974: Semi-Finals 1976: First Round 1979: First Round 1985: First Round

1989: Quarter-Finals 1995: Quarter-Finals 1997: Round of 16

• Copa Sudamericana: 2 appearances

2004: Preliminary Round

2007: Semi-Finals

• Copa Merconorte: 4 appearances

1998: Semi-Finals

1999: Group Stage

2000: Finalist

2001: Champion

Stadium

El Campin, opened in 1938, has been Millonarios' main field since the club former creation. The stadium has an actual capacity of 48,600^{[citation needed]} seated spectators.

Honours

• Copa America 2001
• 2011 FIFA U-20 World Cup

Current Squad 2011

As of April 13, 2011.

First team players

Note: Flags indicate national team as has been defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Position Player 1 GK Nelson Ramos 2 DF Carlos Saa 3 DF Oswaldo Henríquez 4 DF José Mera 5 DF Alejandro Cichero 6 MF Luis Hernán Mosquera 7 FW Wilson Carpintero 8 MF Rafael Robayo 9 FW Jaison Ibarrola 10 MF Mayer Candelo 11 MF Omar Andrés Rodriguez 12 MF Jefferson Herrera 13 FW Norman Cabrera 14 FW Edison Toloza 15 DF Leonard Vásquez 16 DF Alex Díaz 17 MF Omar Vásquez 18 FW Carlos Preciado

No. Position Player 19 DF Pedro Franco 21 MF Juan Esteban Ortiz 22 MF José Luis Tancredi 23 DF Lewis Ochoa 24 FW Erik Moreno 25 MF Elkin Blanco 29 MF Ervin González 30 FW Jorge Iván Bocanegra 33 MF Cristhian Subero 70 DF Jefferson Angulo 89 GK Luis Enrique Delgado -- DF Flavio Córdoba -- MF Frey Ramos -- MF Jefferson Herrera -- MF Yohanny Fary Mancilla -- FW Víctor Salazar -- FW Yuber Asprilla

Youth team players

Note: Flags indicate national team as has been defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Position Player -- GK Juan Sebastián Villate -- GK Jaime Enrique Lemos -- DF Luis Malagón -- DF Daniel Torres -- DF Nicolás Ortega -- DF Alejandro Díaz -- DF Carlos Padilla

No. Position Player -- DF Johan Sáenz -- MF Alejandro Gaitán -- MF Santiago Paz -- MF Sergio Guerrero -- FW Cristhian Alarcón -- FW José Leonardo Rapalino -- FW Carlos Alberto Valencia

Coaching and medical staff

Name Role Richard Páez Manager Neys Nieto Assistant Manager Jorge Durán Fitness Coach Yohanni Velásquez Goalkeeping Coach Haroldo Yepes Club Doctor James Barrero Kinesiologist Alirio Ramírez Utilitarian Wilson Barrero Utilitarian Colombian Ligue historical goal scorers As of November 14, 2010 Number Player Country Seasons Matches Goals 1 Alfredo Castillo Argentina 1948–1957 180 134 2 Arnoldo Iguarán Colombia 1983-1991 y 1993-1995 341 121 3 Marino Klinger Colombia 1957–1966 245 94 4 Alejandro Brand Colombia 1969–1982 381 91 5 Alfredo Di Stéfano Argentina 1949–1952 101 90 6 Willington Ortiz Colombia 1972–1979 306 88 7 José María Ferrero Argentina 1967–1969 117 85 8 Miguel Ángel Converti Argentina 1975–1977 154 85 9 Jaime Morón Colombia 1971-1974 y 1977-1982 253 82 10 Juan José Irigoyen Argentina 1977–1979 129 80 11 Oscar Eduardo Juárez Argentina 1986–1991 211 75 12 Delio Gamboa Colombia 1961-1965 y 1973 178 67 13 Carlos Rendón Colombia 1988–1995 187 64 14 Ruben Antonio Pizarro Argentina 1960–1965 137 57 15 Pedro Cabillón Argentina 1948–1950 63 55 16 Freddy León Colombia 1990–1995 201 55 17 Carlos Castro Colombia 2000–2001 80 53 18 Carlos Enrique Estrada Colombia 1987–1989 113 49 19 Ricardo Pérez Colombia 1992–1993,1996,2003,2004,2005–2006 142 47 20 Juan Gilberto Funes Argentina 1984–1986 85 45 Rivalries Millonarios has forged many rivalries with several teams from the Mustang Cup, most notably with local rivals Santa Fe, in fact, the match between both teams is called El Clásico Capitalino; there are also strong rivalries with other teams like América de Cali, El Clásico con más estrellas, Atlético Nacional, El Clásico de la rivalidad regional, and Deportivo Cali, El Clásico con historia. References ^ FIFA Web External links Millonarios official website Millonarios non-official website Dimayor profile of the team