Vasco da Gama

Vasco da Gama is named after the famous Portuguese explorer of the same name. It was founded in 1898 by Portuguese immigrants, and it’s still the team traditionally supported by the Portuguese community of Rio de Janeiro. Their home stadium is the São Januario, capacity 31,000, but some games are played at the Maracanã (capacity 103,000). They play in white shirts with a black diagonal sash that contains an Order of Christ cross, white shorts and white socks.

Vasco’s distinctive role in the extinction of the odious racial discrimination that scourged Brazilian football in its beginnings is a reason for the fans to be proud of, and deserves special mention. Although best known as a football club, Vasco da Gama is actually a comprehensive sports club. Its basketball section (twice Brazilian champion and twice South-American champion) produced current NBA player Nenê. Its rowing team is one of the best of Brazil. Its swimmers constantly represent Brasil in international competitions. And Vasco da Gama is present in many other sports.

History

In the late 19th century rowing was the most important sport in Rio de Janeiro. At this time, four young men - Henrique Ferreira Monteiro, Luís Antônio Rodrigues, José Alexandre d’Avelar Rodrigues and Manuel Teixeira de Souza Júnior - who did not want to travel to Niterói to row with the boats of Gragoata Club decided to found a rowing club. On August 21, 1898 in a room of the Sons of Talma Dramatic Society, with 62 members (mostly Portuguese immigrants), the Club de Regatas Vasco da Gama (Vasco da Gama Rowing Club) was born. Inspired by the celebrations of the 4th centenary of the first sail from Europe to India, the founders chose the name of the Portuguese explorer Vasco Da Gama to baptise the new club.

Back to Top

Titles

International

  • South American Club Championship: 1948
  • Libertadores Cup: 1998
  • Mercosur Cup: 2000

National

  • Brazilian National Championship: 1974, 1989, 1997, 2000
  • Rio-São Paulo Tournament: 1958, 1966, 1999

State

  • State Championships (22): 1923, 1924, 1929, 1934, 1936, 1945, 1947, 1949, 1950, 1952, 1956, 1958, 1970, 1977, 1982, 1987, 1988, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1998, 2003
  • Guanabara Trophy: 1965, 1976, 1977, 1986, 1987, 1990, 1992, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003
  • Rio Trophy: 1984, 1988, 1992, 1993, 1998, 1999, 2001, 2003, 2004
  • Rio Cup: 1992, 1993

Back to Top

Some Statistics

Top Five Scorers

  1. Roberto Dinamite - 698 goals (1971 to 1993) in 1110 games
  2. Ademir - 301 goals (1942 to 1945 and 1948 to 1956) in 429 games
  3. Romario - 290 goals (1985 to 1988, 2000 to 2001 and 2005) in 376 games
  4. Pinga - 250 goals (1953 to 1962) in 466 games
  5. Ipojucan - 225 goals (1944 to 1954) in 413 games

Most Goals in a Season

  1. Romario
  2. Roberto Dinamite - 61 goals in 1981

Back to Top

Famous players


Sonny Anderson Alex Dias Amaral Ademir
Carlos Germano Brito Bebeto Dirceu
Edmundo Fausto Felipe Gilberto
Juninho Paulista Juninho Pernambucano Mazinho Oscarino
Mauro Galvão Roberto Dinamite Romario Vava

Back to Top

Trivia

  • Vasco’s biggest rivals are from the same city: Fluminense, Botafogo and Flamengo, with the latter being its biggest rival.
  • Due to Vasco’s tradition, several clubs are named after it, including Associação Desportiva Vasco da Gama, of Acre state, founded in 1952, Vasco Esporte Clube, of Sergipe state, founded in 1931, Esporte Clube Vasco da Gama, of Americana, São Paulo state, founded in 1958, Vasco Sports Club, which is an Indian football club founded in 1951 and CR Vasco da Gama Football Club, which is a South African football culb founded in 1980. Tomazinho Futebol Clube, from São João de Meriti, Rio de Janeiro state, founded in 1930, has a logo strongly inspired by Vasco’s logo, and share the same colors.
  • The eight stars in the flag and shirt means: 1- South American Club Championship: 1948; 2- Libertadores Cup: 1998; 3- Mercosur Cup: 2000; 4- Brazilian National Championship: 1974; 5- 1989; 6- 1997; 7- 2000; 8- The Unbeaten Championship of Earth-and-sea of 1945

Back to Top

Anthems

Vasco’s official anthem was composed in 1918, by Joaquim Barros Ferreira da Silva. There is another official anthem, created in the 1930s, called Meu Pavilhão (meaning My Pavilion), of which lyrics was composed by João de Freitas and the music by Hernani Correia. This anthem replaced the previous anthem. The club’s most popular anthem, however, is an unofficial anthem composed by Lamartine Babo in 1942.

External links

Back to Top

Click here to see other Argentinean and Brazilian Football Clubs

Source: Wikipedia On-line Encyclopedia