Deportivo Petare

Deportivo Petare

Full name	Deportivo Petare Fútbol Club
Nickname(s)	Los Petareños
Founded	August 18, 1948
Ground	Estadio Olímpico (Caracas) Caracas, Venezuela (Capacity: 30,000)
Chairman	Mario Hernández
Manager	Daniel De Oliveira
League	Primera División Venezolana
2009–2010	Copa Movilnet, 3rd
Home colours Away colours

Deportivo Petare Fútbol Club (until summer 2010 called Deportivo Italia Fútbol Club) is a Venezuelan football club based in Caracas. Formed in 1948 as "Deportivo Italia F.C.", the club after fifty years merged with "Deportivo Chacao F.C." in 1998, and was called Deportivo Italchacao for eight years. The club has won the Primera División Venezolana five times and the Copa de Venezuela three times.

History

Main article: Deportivo Italia (1948–2010)

Deportivo Petare was founded on August 18, 1948 with the name "Deportivo Italia" by nine Italian immigrants: Carlo Pescifeltri, Lorenzo Tommasi, Bruno Bianchi, Giordano Valentini, Samuel Rovatti, Angelo Bragaglia, Giovanni de Stefano, Giuseppe Pane and Alfredo Sacchi.

The golden years of the team were those of the "D'Ambrosio era", that lasted from 1958 to 1978.

The D'Ambrosio golden era

Coat of Arms of Deportivo Italia

In 1958 Mino D'Ambrosio together with his brother Pompeo D'Ambrosio (who managed the financial side) took control of Deportivo Italia.

For the next twenty years the team was the most successful in Venezuela.

In those golden years Deportivo Italia won the Venezuelan First Division tournament four times (1961, 1963, 1966 and 1972) and the Copa Venezuela three times (1961,1962 and 1970), and was runner up in the first division in 1965, 1968, 1969, 1970 and 1971 and in the Copa Venezuela in 1976.

Deportivo Italia even managed to participate in the Copa Libertadores six times (1964, 1966, 1967, 1969, 1971 and 1972).^[1]

In the 1971 Copa Libertadores, Deportivo Italia was even able to defeat Fluminense (Champion of Brasil) in the Estádio do Maracanã in Rio de Janeiro. It was celebrated as Pequeno Maracanazo (little Maracanazo) in all of the South American media and parts of Europe.^[2]

The famous "Little Maracanazo"

The event has yet to be topped as the most important Venezuelan football achievement. Deportivo Italia was Venezuela's Champion of the 1971 season. They traveled to the mythical Maracana stadium and surprisingly took home a 1:0 victory. The goal was scored by central defender Tenorio. The Fluminense squad included national team star Mario "Lobo" Zagalo, who later went on to coach Brazil to World Cup victory.^[3]

The Caracas daily El Universal wrote that:

... the night of March 3, 1971 will never be forgotten by the fans of Fluminense, who followed the match against Deportivo Italia by radio and television. More than 26,000 people went to the Maracana. The modest Venezuelan team, thrashed in their own field in the previous match, did what no none could do for over a year, not even the powerful Brazilian teams: defeat Fluminense in their Maracana. That fateful night, Deportivo Italia achieved the most enjoyable victory in the Venezuelan national football history, beating the brazilian champion in the largest stadium in the world..

Deportivo Italia - under the direct supervision of Mino D'Ambrosio - that night went to the match with Vito Fasano (whose performance led him to be recruited in Brazil) as goalkeeper. In the defence was; Carlos "Chiquichagua" Marín, Tenorio, Vincente Arrud and Freddie Elie. The midfield consisted of; Delman "Pito" Useche, Negri and Rui. The attack was led by Alcyr (who was replaced by Bahia), Beto and Militello.

Santander Laya-Garrido, who wrote the book "Los Italianos forjadores de la nacionalidad y del desarrollo economico en Venezuela", said that since then no other Venezuela football team has obtained a similar international result. Until now the "Little Maracanazo" is the top international victory in the history of football in Venezuela.

Deportivo Italchacao

In August 1998, Deportivo Italia and Deportivo Chacao F.C., merged and changed their name to Deportivo Italchacao Fútbol Club, S.A., in order to preserve the colors, the logos and the history of more than 50 years of Deportivo Italia. In 1999 Italchacao, nicknamed again the "Azules" from the color of their shirt similar to the one of the Italian national team, won the First Division of Venezuela.

Deportivo Italia FC again

Deportivo Italia's defense David McIntosh Parra against Cruzeiro of Brazil in the "Copa Libertadores 2010"

For the 2006/2007 season the team returned to its original name Deportivo Italia Fútbol Club. In 2008, with manager Eduardo Saragó, Deportivo Italia won the Torneo Apertura, beating Aragua FC (0-2) on November 30. This gave them a berth to the 2010 Copa Libertadores. In this competition, however, the "blues" were only able to produce a tie against Cruzeiro of Brazil in the group stage.^[4]

Name change: Deportivo Petare

Deportivo Italia changed their name to "Deportivo Petare" in the summer of 2010. There is an ongoing dispute because of the strong opposition from the Italian community in Caracas.^[5]

2010/2011 season

Deportivo Petare has started de 2010/2011 season with good results,^[6] ending fourth at the end of the first half of the season in December 2010. The last match ended in a draw with Deportivo Táchira, the eventual "Torneo Apertura" champion.^[7]

"Torneo Apertura 2010" Standings

Team / Match	01	02	03	04	05	06	07	08	09	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17
Deportivo Táchira	4	3	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	3	2	2	2	2	2	1	1
Real Esppor	17	8	4	2	2	2	2	2	2	1	1	1	1	1	1	2	2
Caracas	1	2	2	4	4	5	4	3	3	2	3	3	3	3	5	4	3
Deportivo Petare	7	5	3	7	7	4	6	8	5	4	4	4	4	4	3	3	4
Trujillanos	12	11	16	15	15	12	9	7	9	7	5	5	6	5	4	5	5
Aragua	3	5	7	9	6	9	7	5	4	4	6	6	5	6	7	8	6
Deportivo Anzoátegui	7	13	14	13	12	13	11	12	13	13	11	9	8	7	6	7	7
Yaracuyanos	12	11	12	10	8	7	8	10	10	10	10	8	7	8	8	6	8
Estudiantes de Mérida	4	7	9	5	9	6	5	6	6	8	8	11	12	11	10	9	9
Zulia	4	1	5	3	5	8	12	9	8	9	9	7	9	10	11	11	10
Mineros de Guayana	17	16	11	12	11	11	10	11	12	12	13	12	10	9	9	10	11
Monagas	16	14	10	6	3	3	3	4	7	6	7	10	11	12	12	12	12
Deportivo Lara	12	10	15	14	13	14	14	15	14	14	15	15	17	17	15	16	13
Carabobo	2	4	6	8	10	10	13	14	11	11	14	14	14	13	16	14	14
Atlético Venezuela	9	9	7	11	14	15	15	13	15	15	12	13	13	14	14	13	15
Atlético El Vigía	9	14	13	16	16	16	16	17	17	17	16	16	16	16	17	17	16
Zamora	11	18	18	17	17	17	17	16	16	16	17	17	15	15	13	15	17
Caroní	15	17	17	18	18	18	18	18	18	18	18	18	18	18	18	18	18

Stadium

The Olimpico stadium of Deportivo Petare.

The club played their home matches at Estadio Brígido Iriarte until 2006, which has a maximum capacity of 15,000 people. Now the team plays at the Estadio Olímpico (Caracas), with a capacity of 30,000.

The Olimpico stadium is also used as headquarters for some of the matches of the national team, as well as FC Caracas.

Colors

The colors from 1948 to 2010 were the same as the Italian national football team (blue and white). After the name change, the actual Deportivo Petare uses those colors as second choice. In the 2010–2011 championship the main colors are white and black.

Titles

• Primera División Venezolana: 5

Professional Era (5): 1961, 1963, 1966, 1972, 1999 (as Deportivo Italchacao)

• Copa de Venezuela: 3

1961, 1962, 1970

Performance in CONMEBOL competitions

• Copa Libertadores: 10 appearances

1964: First Round 1966: First Round 1967: First Round 1969: Quarter-Finals

1971: First Round 1972: First Round 1985: First Round 2000: Preliminary Round

2001: Preliminary Round 2010: Group Stage

• Copa Sudamericana: 2 appearances

2003: Second Preliminary Round

2004: Preliminary Round

• Recopa Sudamericana: 0 appearances

 :

• Copa CONMEBOL: 1 appearances

1998: First Round

• Copa Merconorte: 1 appearances

2001: First Round

Current squad

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 Geancarlos Martínez 2 DF David McIntosh 3 DF Armin Márquez 4 DF Javier González 5 MF Bladimir Morales 6 DF Marcelo Maidana 7 MF Gianfranco Di Julio 8 MF Alain Giroletti 9 FW Richard Blanco 10 MF Evelio Hernández 13 DF Juan Pablo Villarroel 14 MF Jhonny Salcedo 15 MF Ricardo Andreutti 16 MF Raigel Márquez

No. Position Player 17 MF Félix Cásseres 18 FW Alex Sinisterra 19 DF Rafael Lobo 20 MF Diomar Díaz 21 DF Nolberto Riascos 23 GK Alan Liebeskind 24 DF Andrés Sánchez 26 DF Alejandro Valldeperas 27 MF Yhonger Guerrero 28 FW Franco Arévalo 29 MF Daniel Vallera 30 GK Ciro Zamora FW Gerardo Hernández FW Víctor Guazá

Former players

• Hugo Maradona
• Pablo Camacho
• Daniel de Oliveira
• Alejandro Valldeperas

References

1. ^ es:Copa de Campeones de América 1964
2. ^ The team that made the Pequeno Maracanazo in 1971 with goal of Tenorio
3. ^ Some players of the team that made the Little Maracanazo in 1971 with goal of Tenorio
4. ^ Video of Deportivo Italia-Cruzeiro 2:2
5. ^ Video about the strong opposition to the name change
6. ^ Victory with Trujillanos FC
7. ^ Table of "Torneo Apertura 2010"

External links

• Deportivo Petare website (in Spanish)
• Original Deportivo Italia (in Spanish)
• FVF (in Spanish)