América

Full name	América Football Club
Nickname(s)	Diabo (Devil), Sangue (Blood), Mecão and Rubro Carioca
Founded	1904
Ground	Giulite Coutinho, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (Capacity: 16,000)
Chairman	Ulisses Salgado
Manager	Bebeto
Home colours Away colours

América Football Club, or América as it is usually called, is a Brazilian football team from Rio de Janeiro in Rio de Janeiro state, founded on September 18, 1904. The club competed in the Campeonato Brasileiro Série A several times and won the state championship seven times.

The club's home stadium is the Estádio Giulite Coutinho, with 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 América.^[1] América's mascot is a devil. América also sponsors a beach American football team, the América Red Lions.^[2]

Contents 1 History 2 Achievements 3 Noted players 4 Top goalscores 5 Highest attendances 6 Mascot 7 Clubs named after América 8 References 9 External links

[edit] History

On September 18, 1904, Alberto Koltzbucher, Alfredo Guilherme Koehler, Alfredo Mohrsted, Gustavo Bruno Mohrsted, Henrique Mohrsted, Jayme Faria Machado and Oswaldo Mohrsted founded América Football Club.^[3]

In 1905, América, 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]

In 1971, the club competed in the national Championship's first edition, finishing in the 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 Copa Brasil (Campeonato Brasileiro) tournament. Flamengo declined the invitation so América, the team with the best record after the selected teams, was invited to fill the spot. América won the tournament by beating Guarani in overtime at Maracanã stadium.^[6]

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

In 2008, América suffered a major blow by being relegated to the Second Division of the Campeonato Carioca.^[8] However, they won the Second Division in 2009, thus being promoted to the first level in 2010.^[9]

[edit] Achievements

• Campeonato Carioca:
  • Winners (7): 1913, 1916, 1922, 1928, 1931, 1935, 1960

• Campeonato Carioca Second Division:
  • Winners (1): 2009

• Tournament of the Champions:
  • Winners (1): 1982

• Taça Guanabara:
  • Winners (1): 1974

• Taça Rio:
  • Winners (1): 1982

• Zona Sul of Taça Brasil:
  • Winners (1): 1961

• Taça Ioduran (Rio-São Paulo):
  • Winners (1): 1917

• Torneio Extra:
  • Winners (1): 1938

• Torneio Extra Carlos Martins da Rocha:
  • Winners (1): 1952

• 3rd phase of Campeonato Carioca:
  • Winners (1): 1955

• Torneio Ary Barroso:
  • Winners (1): 1965

• Torneio Jayme de Carvalho:
  • Winners (1): 1976

[edit] Noted players

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

[edit] Top goalscores

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

[edit] Highest attendances

1. América - Fluminense, 0-2, 141,689 (120.178 people seated), June 9, 1968
2. América - Flamengo, 1-4, 139,599, April 4, 1956
3. América - Vasco, 1-2, 121,765, January 28, 1951
4. América - Flamengo, 1-0, 104,532, April 25, 1976
5. América - Flamengo, 5-1, 100,000, April 1, 1956
6. América - Fluminense, 2-1 98,099, December 18, 1960
7. América - Fluminense, 1-0, 97,681, September 22, 1974
8. América - Fluminense, 0-1, 96,035, April 27, 1975
9. América - Flamengo, 1-1, 93,393, May 19, 1969
10. América - Fluminense, 2-0, 92,516, March 17, 1956

[edit] Mascot

One controversial aspect about 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, tried 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.^[10]

[edit] Clubs named after América

América is one of the Brazilian teams with more clubs named after it, copying even its symbols. Some of its clones are: América of Natal, América of São José do Rio Preto, América of Três Rios, América of Amazonas, América of Ceará, among others are named after América Football Club.^[11]

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Official Site
• History, news and fans
• Full information on Matches when America won titles