Palmeiras: Italian origin, Brazilian success
[photo=stade.jpg id=72 align=right]Palmeiras Sociedade Esportiva Palmeiras, better known under the name of Palmeiras, is located at the west of São Paulo and remains one of the most popular and successful clubs in Brazilian football.
Verdão (his nickname) was created on August 26th 1914 by four young Italian immigrants. Who arrived in Brazil at the beginning of the 20th century, Cervo, Simone, Marzo and Ragonetti wanted to create a football team made up of Italian immigrants so that they could continue their passions for football in Brazil. They gave the new club the name of Palestra Italia.
The first official match for Palestra Italia was on January the 24th, 1915 against a team from the Italian colony town of Sorocaba, which finished in a 2-0 defeat.
After this match, the club applied for membership of the APEA, Association of Athletic Sports Originating in São Paulo, in order to play in the Paulista Championship.
Palmeiras eventually obtained qualification for the Championship in 1916, after one year of administrative problems. It was the beginning for Palestra Italia’s history in the Brazilian Championship.
Palmeiras arch rivals are Corinthians, this intense rivallary started on May 6, 1917 when the two teams met in the Parque Antártica, Palmeiras stadium. Corinthians that year were regarded as serious challengers for the title, but in this meeting, after a first half with no goals, the players of Palestra inflicted a sobering 3-0 defeat on Corinthians.
Palestra won their first title in 1920. And it is during this same year that the club bought the enclosure of the Parque Antártica from the Antartica company, In 1921, Francesco Matarazzo bought the club and invested in future in the hopes of success.
Palestra Italia won the Paulista Championship and the Championship external Paulista (disputed by five clubs) as well as the following Paulista Championship, but then suffered a barren spell of five years without a title. However, it is during these years of shortages that the striker Heitor joined the club and makes history with his talent in front of the goal. Indeed, with 227 goals to his name, he remains Palmerias best striker. He will remained at Palestra for 14 years.
Then between 1932 and 1940, the club had one of its most successful times winning six Paulista Championship’s, a tournament Rio-São Paulo title and a Championship external Paulista.
Thier title win in 1933 remains as one of most significant, since it is on August 13, 1933 which Palestra inaugurated the new Parque Antártica during a meeting in the Rio-São Paulo tournament against Bangu, the game finished with a 6-0 victory. It was this year that professionalism in Brazil was officially started.
Palmeiras was thus the first professional club to gain the Championship Paulista. From 1940, another big player made his first appearance, Lima was the craftsman of Palestra’s successes in the Forties with the prize list the titles Paulista of 42, 44, 47, 50 and the tournament Rio São Paulo of 51. He would will remain faithful to Palestra for over 16 years.
The turning of the history of Palestra Italia took place in 1942 when the second world war reached its peak, the leaders of the federal government of Brazil required the President Italo Adami, to change the name of the club because of its origin (Italy, then under Musolini) or it would lose its stadium, which would be sold to the highest bidder.
Not wanting to see a competitor occupying Parque Antartica, the President reluctantly agreed. But São Paulo wished to acquire the stadium, and conducted a campaign against the club by implying that the colors of Palestra shirt (which were white, red and green) were the colours of Italy.
In front of mounting pressure, President de Palestra decided to remove the red from the shirt so that only white and green remained and to completely change the name of his club. Palmeiras was born, a name picked in homage to a club named Palmeiras created at the same time as Palestra and with which the relations were always good. And from this time, the meetings vis-a-vis São Paulo have not been regarded as friendly anymore.
In 1951, in addition to the tournament Rio São Paulo, Palmeiras gained its first and only Copa Rio victory. This competition was a kind of world Championship interclubs disputed in Brazil, which gathered the clubs of São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, Palmeiras, Vasco and Fluminense with various international teams including Juventus, Sporting Lisbon, Nice, Nacional (Uruguay) and the Red Star Belgrade. The tournament had been organized by Brazil in order to help forget the countries defeat in the World cup against Uruguay in 1950.
Palmeiras had a difficult period between 51 and 59 with no titles, but between 59 and 69 success returned to the Verdão, winning 3 Paulista Championships, 2 Taça Brasil, 1 tournament Rio São Paulo and 2 tournaments Roberto Gomes Pedrosa.
In 1972, Palmeiras won their first Brazilian Championship title, which they successfully defended, the following year. This was followed by a dark period of 20 years, with only 2 Championships Paulistas in the trophy cabinet.
[photo=piscine.jpg id=72 align=right]1993 was to be the year of the return of Verdão: Champions of Brazil, a tournament Rio São Paulo and a Paulista Championship. Palmeiras marked the Nineties with their title win in 1994 and its incredible team. This title was taken against arch rivals Corinthians, where the midfielder Marcelinho Carioca (angel foot) appeared.
Palmeiras were then coached by Wanderlei Luxemburgo and could count on the impressive manpower of Roberto Carlos, Flávio Conceição, César Sampaio, Rivaldo and the striker, Edmundo “the animal".
The last significant title acquired by the Verdão was possibly their biggest, the Copa Libertadores. The win in 1999 against t Colombian club, Deportivo Cali with a team that included the national goalkeeper Marcos, the defender Junior Baiano and the Fenerbahçe star Alex. And since separately a Paulista Championship in 2000, the club however struggled after relegation in 2002 before pulling through and gaining promotion back to the first division by finishing first.
After finishing 2004 in fourth place a Copa Libertadores adventure beckoned, with star striker Vagner Love, left for CSKA Moscow. But at this beginning of season 2005, after a disappointing Paulista Championship where it finished 9th and an elimination in Quarter finales of the Copa Libertadores by São Paulo, Palmeiras badly began the Championship which led it to coach Paulo Bonamigo leaving at the 12th day, to be replaced by Emerson Leão, returning from Japan.
Since this change of coach, Palmeiras have moved forward (currently 8th) and can dream of an end of season more inline with their high expectations.
Prize list: 1 Copa Libertadores 1 Copa Mercosur 4 Championships national 21 Championships Paulistae 6 tournaments Rio São Paulo 1 Copa C Brasil 2 Taça C Brasil 2 tournaments Championships extra Paulista 2 tournaments Roberto Gomes Pedrosa 1 national Championship of series B Palmeiras was invited a few months by Associão Paulistaa de Esportes Atlético to later dispute its first Championship of the state of São Paulo. Verdão finished in the sixth place in a tournament which counted seven teams. It is into 1917 that Verdão definitively adopted a completely green shirt to replace the shirt which raised a white horizontal band. The logo was definitively adopted in 1942.
All about Palmeiras:
The Palmeiras Card
The Parque Antártica, the Palmeiras stadium
The Palmeiras Official site
