Flamengo

Clube de Regatas do Flamengo is the most popular football team in Brazil. It is estimated that the fan base in all of Brazil is about 33 Million supporters. It was placed 9th in FIFA Clubs of the 20th Century.

Stadium

Flamengo’s home stadium is nominally the José Bastos Padilha Stadium (also known as Gavea Stadium), which was inaugurated on September 4, 1938 and has a capacity of 8,000 fans. All games, however, are played in the Maracanã (capacity 103,022 - 77,720 seated).

Nicknames

Over time, the club has come to be known by a number of nicknames, usually used solely by fans to refer to it. Flamengo, although not the official name of the club, is not regarded as a nickname and is widely used to refer not only to the football team, but also to the club in general. “Affective” nicknames used by fans include: “Fla” and “Mengo”, the two being breakdowns of the club’s name; in addition, other nicknames were created by applying the augmentative to the two previously mentioned nicknames, such as “Flazão” and “Mengão”, the latter being by far the most used. Finally, the club can also be referred to by its official colors, as the club is also known as “The Rubro-negro”, which could be translated as “The Scarlet-black”, in reference to red and black, the official colors. The club’s mascot is the vulture (Urubu, in Portuguese). Consequently, fans also consider Urubu as one of the team’s nicknames, whereas rival supporters have on occasion used the name in pejorative chants.

Rivalry

Their biggest rivals are from the same city: Fluminense, Botafogo and Vasco da Gama.

History

Flamengo was originally a rowing club. The Flamengo football team started when a group of dissatisfied players from the Fluminense Football Club broke away following a fight with the board. The group of players went to Flamengo’s because the team’s captain Alberto Borgeth, who also left, was also a rower for Flamengo. Admittance of the new members was approved on 8 November 1911, and the members assembly officially created the football team on December 24, 1911.

The new team trained at the Russel beach, and gained the sympathy of the locals, who watched closely their practice games. The first official match was played on 3 May 1912 and is, to this day, the most spectacular win of the club, as the team defeated the Mangueira team by a score of 15x2. The first Fla-Flu (one of the most famous derbies in Brazilian football, in which Flamengo plays Fluminense) was also played in that year, on 7 July, and was won by Fluminense, by 3x2.

The Golden Age

In 1978 a scarlet-black Golden Age was beginning as Flamengo won Rio State Championship. The five following years would be years of glory. Stars as Júnior, Carpegiani, Adílio, Claudio Adão and Tita were led by Zico to become State Champions for three times in a row. The excitement and pride of the achievement pushed Flamengo towards its first Brazilian Championship in 1980. Then, as national champions, the club was qualified to play the South American continental tournament - the Libertadores Cup.

1981 is a landmark year in Flamengo’s history. After beating Chilean Cobreloa in three matches, the club became South American Champions. The next goal was clear: the World Championship, a single match to be played in Tokyo’s Olympic Stadium, Japan, against European Champions’ Cup winner Liverpool FC.

Raul, Leandro, Marinho, Mozer, Júnior, Andrade, Adílio, Zico, Tita, Nunes and Lico were the line-up in charge of playing Flamengo’s most important match ever on December 13, 1981. Two goals by Nunes, one goal by Adílio, and a brilliant performance by Zico were more than enough to make Flamengo the first Brazilian World Champions club since Pelé’s Santos FC.

The next two years would also be great. Another Rio’s State Championship in 1981 and two Brazilian Championships - 1982 and 1983 - closed the Golden Age in a fantastic way.

Noted players

Adílio	Aldair	Andrade
Bebeto	Carlinhos	Carpegiani
Claudio Adão	Dequinha	Dida
Djalminha	Domingos da Guia	Horacio Doval (Argentina)
Edilson	Evaristo	Felipe
Ubaldo Fillol (Argentina)	Fio Maravilha	Friedenreich
Carlos Gamarra (Paraguay)	Garrincha	Gaúcho
Gérson	Gilmar	Henrique
Jair	Jorginho	Juan
Júlio César	Juninho	Júnior
Júnior Baiano	Leandro	Leonardo
Leônidas	Marcelinho	Mozer
Nunes	Paulo César	Dejan Petkovic (Serbia)
Pirilo	Renato	Romario
Savio	Sócrates	Tita
Zagallo	Zico	Zinho
Zizinho

Pelé played a single match on 6 April 1979.

Click here for Flamengo's current squad.

Football Titles

International

Intercontinental Cup: 1981
Copa Libertadores de América: 1981
Mercosur Cup: 1999
South American Golden Cup: 1997 (undefeated)
Conmebol Gold Cup: 1996
Ramón de Carranza Cup (Spain): 1979, 1980
Palma de Mallorca Tournament (Spain): 1978
Kirim Cup (Japan): 1988
Hamburg Tournament (Germany): 1989
Marlboro Cup (Japan): 1990
Sharp Cup (Japan): 1990
Kuala Lumpur Tournament (Malaysia): 1994

National

Brazilian National Championship: 1980, 1982, 1983, 1987, 1992
Brazilian Cup: 1990, 2006
Brazilian Champions’ Cup: 2001
Rio-São Paulo Tournament: 1961
Brazilian World Champions Clubs’ Cup: 1997 (undefeated)
Torneio do Povo: 1972

State

Rio State Championship: 28: 1914, 1915 (undefeated), 1920 (undefeated), 1921, 1925, 1927, 1939, 1942-1944, 1953-1955, 1963, 1965, 1972, 1974, 1978, 1979 (undefeated), 1979 (special), 1981, 1986, 1991, 1996 (undefeated), 1999-2001, 2004
Taça Guanabara: 16 (1st round of State Championship): 1970, 1972, 1973 (undefeated), 1978, 1979, 1980 (undefeated), 1981, 1982, 1984, 1988, 1989 (undefeated), 1995, 1996 (undefeated), 1999 (undefeated), 2001, 2004
Taça Rio: 6 (2nd round of State Championship): 1983, 1985, 1986, 1991, 1996 (undefeated), 2000
Torneio Início of the Carioca Championship:: 1920, 1922, 1946, 1951, 1952, 1959

Most Goals scored

Zico 508
Dida 244
Henrique 214
Romario 204
Pirilo 201

*As of December 31, 2005 Source: Flamengo Official Website

External links

Clube de Regatas do Flamengo (Official website)

Click here to see other Argentinean and Brazilian Football Clubs

Source: Wikipedia On-line Encyclopedia