America Football Club

America

Full name	America Football Club
Nickname(s)	Diabo (Devil), Sangue (Blood), Mecão and Rubro Carioca
Founded	September 18, 1904
Stadium	Giulite Coutinho, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (Capacity: 16,000)
Head coach	Lucho Nizzo
President	Arthur Bernardes
Home colors Away colors

America Football Club, or America as it is usually called, is a Brazilian football team from Rio de Janeiro in Rio de Janeiro state, which was founded on September 18, 1904. The club competed in the Campeonato Brasileiro Série A several times, winning the state championship seven times. The club's home stadium is the Estádio Giulite Coutinho, which has a capacity of 16,000. They play in red shirts, white shorts and red socks.

The football anthem composer Lamartine Babo was a supporter of America.^[1] America's mascot is a devil. America also sponsors a beach American football team, the America Red Lions.^[2]

History

On September 18, 1904, Alberto Koltzbucher, Alfredo Guilherme Koehler, Alfredo Mohrsted, Gustavo Bruno Mohrsted, Henrique Mohrsted, Jayme Faria Machado and Oswaldo Mohrsted founded America Football Club.^[3] In 1905, America, together with Bangu, Botafogo, Petrópolis, Fluminense and Futebol Atlético Clube founded Liga de Football do Rio de Janeiro (Rio de Janeiro Football League), which was the first football federation of Rio de Janeiro.^[3] In 1913, the club won the state championship for the first time.^[4]

For the 1971 season, the club competed in the national Championship's first edition, finishing in 11th place.^[5]

The yellow star just above their emblem represents their win in the Tournament of the Champions (Torneio dos Campeões) in 1982, which was a tournament organized by CBF to serve as a preview to the Campeonato Brasileiro Série A tournament. Flamengo declined the invitation so America, the team with the best record after the selected teams, was invited to fill the spot. America won the tournament by beating Guarani in overtime at Maracanã stadium.^[6]

In 2006, America was the runner-up of Taça Guanabara. America played the final against Botafogo.^[7]

In 2008, America suffered a major blow by being relegated to the Second Division of the Campeonato Carioca. However, they won the Second Division in 2009, thus being promoted to the first level in 2010.^[8]

Achievements

• Campeonato Carioca: 7

1913, 1916, 1922, 1928, 1931, 1935, 1960

• Campeonato Carioca Second Division: 1

2009

• Tournament of the Champions: 1

1982

• Taça Guanabara: 1

1974

• Taça Rio: 1

1982

• Zona Sul of Taça Brasil: 1

1961

• Taça Ioduran (Rio-São Paulo): 1

1917

• Torneio Extra: 1

1938

• Torneio Extra Carlos Martins da Rocha: 1

1952

• Third phase of Campeonato Carioca: 1

1955

• Torneio Ary Barroso: 1

1965

• Torneio Jayme de Carvalho: 1

1976

Current squad

According to the CBF register.[1]

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 Marcos Leandro 5 MF Ives 10 FW Leandrinho 11 FW Hugo (contract) 13 DF Nílton 14 DF Marquinho 16 FW Gustavo Correia GK Marcelo Leite GK Germano DF Bruno Santos (contract) DF Edson DF Jonathan Maciel DF Luis Antônio (contract) DF Roger DF Tambinha DF Ronan DF Victor

No. Position Player DF Maciel DF Michel Lima DF Alan Kardek MF Arcelino MF Márcio Gomes MF Emerson MF Thiago Coimbra MF Léo Oliveira MF Ruy Netto MF Leandro Teófilo MF Mário César MF Tiago Guedes MF Felipe Silva FW Bruno Suzano FW Bruno Rato FW Edivaldo FW Jean

Noted players

• Aymoré Moreira
• Belfort Duarte
• Bráulio
• Danilo Alvim
• Djalma Dias
• Edu
• Ivo Wortmann
• Jorginho
• Luisinho
• Robert da Silva Almeida
• Romário
• Ronan
• Alex Kamianecky

Top goalscores

1. Luisinho Lemos : 311
2. Edu : 212
3. Maneco : 187
4. Plácido: 167
5. Carola : 158
6. Chiquinho : 102

Highest attendances

1. America 1-4 Flamengo, 147.661(139,599 people seated), April 4, 1956
2. America 0-2 Fluminense, 141,689 (120,178 people seated), June 9, 1968
3. America 1-2 Vasco, 121,765 (104,775 people seated), January 28, 1951
4. America 1-0 Flamengo, 104,532, April 25, 1976
5. America 5-1 Flamengo, 102,002 (94,516 people seated), April 1, 1956
6. America 2-1 Bonsucesso, 101.363, July 25, 1973
7. America 2-0 Fluminense, 100,635 (92,516 people seated), March 17, 1956
8. America 2-1 Fluminense, 98,099, December 18, 1960
9. America 1-0 Fluminense, 97,681, September 22, 1974
10. America 0-1 Fluminense, 96,035, April 27, 1975
11. America 4-2 Benfica (POR), 94,642 (87,686 people seated), July 3, 1955
12. America 1-1 Flamengo, 93,393, May 19, 1969

Mascot

One controversial aspect of the club is the official mascot: the Diabo (devil), depicted as a red demon complete with horns, pointy beard, curled moustache, a long fat arrow-pointed tail, hooved feet and a black cape. The club's old stadium was nicknamed Caldeirão do Diabo ("Devil's Cauldron"). In 2006 some of the club's fans, supported by then-manager Jorginho who is an Evangelical Christian, attempted to replace the diabo with a bald eagle, claiming that the devil was unlucky. However, as the diabo was a traditional part of the club's life and there was no change in the club's fortunes with the new mascot, the replacement was abandoned.^[9]

Clubs named after America

America is one of the Brazilian teams with other clubs named after it, who copy even its symbols. Some of its clones include: América of Natal, América of São José do Rio Preto, América of Três Rios, América of Amazonas, América of Ceará.^[10]

References

External links

• Official Site
• History, news and fans
• Full information on Matches when America won titles
• Best attendances in matches of America (RJ)

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