Deportivo Italia

Football club infobox
clubname = Deportivo Italia


fullname = Deportivo Italia
nickname = Los Azules
founded = August 18, 1948
ground = Estadio Olímpico (Caracas)
Caracas, Venezuela
capacity = 30,000
chairman = flagicon|Venezuela Eligio Restifo
manager = flagicon|Venezuela Raul Cavalieri
league = Primera División Venezolana
season = Apertura 2007
position = 13th
pattern_la1=|pattern_b1=|pattern_ra1=
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pattern_la2= |pattern_b2=|pattern_ra2=
leftarm2=FFFFFF|body2=FFFFFF|rightarm2=FFFFFF|shorts2=205190|socks2=FFFFFF

Deportivo Italia is a Venezuelan football club.

History

Deportivo Italia was founded on August 18, 1948 by a group of 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

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

For the next twenty years the team was the best 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. Participated even in the Copa Libertadores six times (1964, 1966, 1967, 1969, 1971 and 1972). [http://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copa_de_Campeones_de_Am%C3%A9rica_1964]

In the Copa Libertadores of 1971, Deportivo Italia was even able to defeat Fluminense (Champion of Brasil) in the Stadium Maracana of Rio de Janeiro.

Deportivo Italchacao

In August 1998, by a resolution of the Parmalat, the association of Deportivo Italia and Deportivo Chacao F.C., merged and changed the name of the club to “Deportivo Italchacao Fútbol Club, S.A.”, for the preservation of the colors, the logos and the history of more than 50 years of Deportivo Italia.

For the 2006/2007 season the team returns to its original name: Deportivo Italia.

tadium

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

Colors

The colors are the same of the Italian national team of the founders, blue and white.

Titles

*Primera División Venezolana
**Amateur Era (0): .
**Professional Era (5): 1961, 1963, 1966, 1972, (1999 as Deportivo Italchacao).
*Segunda División Venezolana:
*Segunda División B Venezolana:
*Tercera División Venezolana:
*Copa de Venezuela (3): 1961, 1962, 1970

Performance in CONMEBOL competitions

*Copa Libertadores: 9 appearances::Best: Quarter-Final in 1969::1964: First Round::1966: First Round::1967: First Round::1969: Quarter-Final::1971: First Round::1972: First Round::1985: First Round::2000: Preliminary Round::2001: Preliminary Round
*Copa Sudamericana: 2 appearances::Best: Second Preliminary Round in 2003::2003: Second Preliminary Round::2004: Preliminary Round
*Recopa Sudamericana: 0 appearances:: :
*Copa CONMEBOL: 1 appearances::Best: First Round in 1998::1998: First Round
*Copa Merconorte: 1 appearances::Best: First Round in 2001::2001: First Round

Current First Team Squad

The main players [http://www.liderendeportes.com/futbol/equipo.asp?equipo=83&sid=46&return=equipos] in the 2007-2008 season are:

* Luciano Roque ("forward")
* Jansse Pérez ("forward")
* Cristian Cásseres ("forward")
* Leonel Martínez ("forward")
* Vicente Suanno ("midfielder")
* Kristopher Piñero ("midfielder")
* Luis Martínez ("midfielder")
* Alain Giroletti ("midfielder")
* Ricardo Andreutti ("midfielder")
* Gabriel Cichero ("defender")
* Antonio Boada ("defender")
* Daniel Diaz ("defender")
* Miguelangel Aponte ("goalkeeper")
* Geancarlos Martínez ("goalkeeper")

References

* Much of the content of this article comes from the equivalent Spanish-language wikipedia article (retrieved May 31, 2007).

External links

* [http://www.deportivoitalia.com.ve/ Official page]