Santos Futebol Clube
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Template:Football club infobox
Santos Futebol Clube is a Brazilian football team from Santos, São Paulo state, Brazil.
It was founded as 'Santos Foot-Ball Club' on April 14, 1912, through the initiative of three sports enthusiasts from Santos: Raimundo Marques, Mário Ferraz de Campos and Argemiro de Souza Júnior. The club won its first state tournament in 1935, and again 20 years later, in 1955. Pelé (chosen as "Athlete of the Century" by the IOC in 1999) started his career with the team in 1956, at the age of 15. With Pelé, Santos won the Intercontinental Cup in 1962 and 1963.
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History
The Golden Years
The club enjoyed its peak in the sixties, when Pelé, Coutinho, Pepe and others made it the greatest Brazilian team ever. The club's popularity was enormous nationwide.
In his golden years, it won 9 state championships, two Libertadores Cups, 6 (out of 10) Brazil Cups and played exhibition games worldwide showing the best Brazilian-style football at its moment of glory.
Unfortunately, however, the end of the club's golden age coincides with the creation of the Brazilian Championship, which it would take 30 years to win.
Stopping War
It is really true that the club's popularity was so great that it could halt a war so that people could watch it play. The mythical event (which many dismiss as an urban legend) occured in 1969 in the Congo. The Kinshasa (the former Belgian Congo) and the Brazzaville (the former French Congo) governments were engaged in a war when Santos arrived at the Kinshasa airport heading to Brazzaville, where it would play against the Congo National Team.
Instead of sending them away, the Kinshasa government gently produced a brief truce, escorted them to the border and back in safety. After playing their previously arranged match (19/1/1969), the team returned to Kinshasa (again escorted by the militia) and met Congolese president, who told them that they would only be allowed leave if they played against a local team.
In 21/1/1969 Santos played against a quickly-assembled Congolese juvenile national team and won by 2x0. The Congolese president wanted a revanche and, in 23/1/1969 Santos played against Kinshasa Leopards, "losing" by 3x2. After that, they were allowed to take off.
In the meantime the war had been in a halt in both sides of the border, but it started over as soon as their plane left.
Santos After Pelé
The end of the golden age also coincides with the retirement of Pelé from professional soccer, in 1972, after a low-profile participation in the first Brazilian Championship.
From 1972 onwards Santos only won one important honour, the 1985 São Paulo state championship. It was also the runner-up in the Brazilian championships of 1983 (won by Flamengo) and 1995 (won by Botafogo) but since the late eighties the club was seen as decadent and few believed its glory was past.
The Recent Years
The "ressurrection" of Santos started when Pelé approached the club and used its reputation and contacts to attract sponsors and investors. The club would undergo a long process of reabilitation, including the renewal of its stadium (which had for years been the worst playing field in Brazil), the hiring of important players and, most important of all, a strong investment in infrastructure (training fields, medical and physiotherapical facilities) and formation of players.
This intelligent policy proved effective and the club was soon replenished with numerous young talented players (among them Robinho, Diego, Elano, Léo, William and Renato). In 2002 Santos was national champion for the first time and, in 2004, it won again. The club has also gone well in most tournaments it takes part and is currently seen as major favourite for the current league.
Trivia
Santos' home stadium is the Urbano Caldeira (also known as Vila Belmiro), inaugurated on October 12, 1916. Nowadays it has a capacity of 25,256 people, but its record is almost 33,000 people, in a game against Corinthians (tie, 0-0), 1964. A fan of the team is known as a Santista.
They play in an all-white uniform, with a second choice uniform of black and white vertical stripes and black shorts. However, according to the club's statute, the team's first choice uniform is a striped shirt with white shorts and white socks.
The club has been nicknamed Peixe (literally, "Fish") for decades, but the usual mascot is a whale (which is not a fish, but a marine Mammal). The nickname evokes the circumstance that Santos, Brazil, the city where it is located, is a seaport, when all other big clubs from São Paulo are from inland.
Santos' greatest rival is Corinthians and its glory days coincided with most of the proverbial 27 years Corinthians endured without winning anything.
Honors
- Campeonato Brasileiro: 2002 and 2004.
- "Taça Brasil" (replaced since 1971 by Brazilian National Championship): 1961, 62, 63, 64, 65.
- "Torneio Roberto Gomes Pedrosa": 1968.
- "Taça de Prata": 1968;
- Libertadores Cup: 1962, 63.
- Intercontinental Cup: 1962, 63.
- "Recopa Mundial": 1968.
- Conmebol Cup: 1998.
- "Torneio Rio-São Paulo": 1959, 1963, 1964, 1966 and 1997.
- Paulista Championship: 1935, 1955, 1956, 1958,1960, 1961, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1967, 1968, 1969, 1973, 1978 and 1984.
- Copa FPF: 2004.
Famous Players
- Araken Patuska
- Carlos Alberto
- Clodoaldo
- Coutinho
- Formiga
- Diego
- Edu
- Elano
- Feitiço
- Gilmar
- Giovanni
- Laercio
- Mauro
- Mengalvio
- Paulo Almeida
- Pelé
- Pepe
- Pita
- Robinho
- Serginho Chulapa
- Zito
Famous Coaches
External links
- Official website (http://www.santosfc.com.br/) (Portuguese)