Millonarios Fútbol Club

Millonarios Fútbol Club is a professional Colombian football team based in Bogotá, that currently plays in the Categoría Primera A. They play their home games at the El Campín stadium.

Millonarios was initially created in 1937 by students from the Colegio Mayor de San Bartolomé. After the team initially was unsure about which name it would want to use: Unión and Juventud were originally favoured, it got under the influence of the city administration of Bogotá and operated as ''Club Municipal de Deportes''. Millonarios was formally founded on June 18, 1946, thanks to the efforts of Alfonso Senior Quevedo, who became the first chairman.

Considered to be one of the strongest clubs from Colombia, it is one of the most consistent clubs in the country. Millonarios has won 15 league titles, 3 Copa Colombia and a Superliga Colombiana, making it the second most successful team in Colombia. They have also been crowned continental champions by winning the Copa Simón Bolívar in 1972 and the Copa Merconorte in 2001. In addition, Millonarios managed to obtain the Small Club World Cup in 1953¹, a title of great importance and relevance for the time.

Millonarios is also one of only three teams that have played every first division tournament in the country, along with their traditional rivals Santa Fe and Atlético Nacional.

In the early 1950s, Millonarios formed a team called the Ballet Azul, which was considered by several South American and European specialists as the best team in the world. It has been included in lists about the best football clubs of the world of all time elaborated by important international sports media, being the only Colombian team present in them. It is also ranked as the fourth best Colombian club of the 20th century and as the ninth best Colombian club so far in the 21st century. Millonarios is also credited as the third best Colombian team in the CONMEBOL club tournaments and ranks 51st in the official club ranking of the Copa Libertadores.

History

The ''Ballet Azul''

Millonarios greatly benefited from a major players' strike in the Argentinian league in 1948, which caused a great diaspora of players towards Colombia. The most successful period for the club was during the early 1950s due to the notable Argentinean presence. During this period with the squad that was known as ''The Blue Ballet'', that featured great players such as Alfredo di Stefano, Adolfo Pedernera, Néstor Rossi, Julio Cozzi, Antonio "Maestrico" Báez, Hugo Reyes, Reinaldo Mourin and other figures in Argentina, mainly from River Plate. Thanks to the great football that showed these players on the field, Millonarios was named by several media outlets in South America and Europe, as the best team in the world in the early 1950s.

In 1951, Colombia was suspended by FIFA due to the recruitment of international players without a pass; the teams were forced to return all expatriate players that had participated in the tournament through irregular means. This edict marked the departure of di Stefano in February 1953, receiving bids from Barcelona and Real Madrid, who came to win the bid for the player. The Colombia national team was also banned from the 1954 FIFA World Cup for the same reason.

Small Club World Cup

In 1952, a group of Venezuelan sports entrepreneurs created the Small Club World Cup, a friendly competition that brought together leading European and South American teams. Millonarios was invited to participate in the 1952 and 1953 editions. In its first appearance, the team finished with seven points, behind Real Madrid (double tie 1–1) and Brazilian Botafogo (4–4 tie and defeat 0–2); the tournament was played in a two-round scheme, and involved host La Salle of Venezuela (double win 4–1 and 5–1).

In its participation in 1953, the team was crowned undefeated champion with 11 points, above River Plate of Argentina (5–1 win and 1–1 tie), Rapid Wien of Austria (double win 2–1 and 4–0) and Spanish Espanyol of Barcelona (double win 6–0 and 4–0). This friendly tournament is considered by some to be a predecessor of the Intercontinental Cup, now known as FIFA Club World Cup, though not its equivalent.

2000s

Millonarios had further improvement when former Manchester City assistant manager Juan Carlos Osorio was appointed as the new Millonarios' Manager, which led the club to 3rd position in the League Stage of the Mustang Cup, and 5th in the addition of all the year's performance, taking the club once again into the Copa Sudamericana, while the financial situation of the team also had a notable recovery. In July 2007, Osorio left Millonarios to manage Major League Soccer side Chicago Fire, and he was replaced with Martín Lasarte; after a brief, but very unsuccessful period with Lasarte, Millonarios then hired Argentinian Mario Vanemerak as their new manager. Under Vanemerak, Millonarios began to shine again, most notably in the Copa Sudamericana 2007, where they eliminated several powerful teams, most notably Brazilian champions São Paulo in the quarter-finals, thanks to two goals from Ricardo Ciciliano; although they had a less impressive performance in the local tournament.

2010s

Plagued by financial problems, and with no major titles in the last decade, the club finally initiated a bankruptcy process that led to its being bought by a society composed of about 4,000 fans, Azul & Blanco, SA This movement also meant a change in playing style which started with the hiring of Venezuelan coach Richard Páez. The change has proved successful, both financially and as related to championships. With Páez as coach, the team was able to win the Copa Colombia 2011 tournament, after winning both games against Boyacá Chicó, thus classifying to 2012 Copa Sudamericana. On June 24, 2012, it was confirmed that Hernán Torres would be the new coach.

In Copa Sudamericana, the team was highly successful, reaching semi-finals after eliminating Inti Gas, Guaraní, and the Brazilians Palmeiras, and Gremio, being eliminated by runner-up, Tigre. This came as a relief after an embarrassing defeat to Real Madrid in a friendly match to honor Alfredo Di Stéfano.

Despite the defeat, the team played a great first phase in the Colombian tournament, classifying to the play-offs as the best team of the semester. After a very difficult series of matches, the team reached the Finals which were to be played against Independiente Medellín. The first match was played in Medellín, and ended in a 0–0 tie. The final game was played December 16, 2012 in Bogotá, and ended up 1–1, thus the result had to be determined by a penalty shootout. Goalkeeper Delgado managed to stop a final shoot, and Millonarios won its 14th championship, the first Fútbol Profesional Colombiano title in about 24 years.

As the 2012 Finalización champion, Millonarios qualified to 2013 Copa Libertadores, where it played the second stage against Bolivian San José, Mexican Tijuana, and Brazilian Corinthians.

Under coach Ricardo Lunari, Millonarios started 2015 with three home victories against Patriotas, Cúcuta Deportivo and Cortuluá. Meanwhile, their debut in the Copa Colombia came with defeat against La Equidad.

In the 2017 Finalización League, Millonarios achieved their 15th division title after defeating Santa Fe in a final that saw 2 goals at the ending of the second half. Said final ended with a tie, that concluded an aggregate 3–2 win over their home rival.

Rivalries

Millonarios has forged many rivalries with several teams from the league, most notably with local rivals Santa Fe. This derby is popularly called ''El Clásico Capitalino'' (The Capital Classic). It is the only local derby that has been played every season since the beginning of Colombian professional football in 1948. On September 16, 2007, Millonarios completed 100 victories in their clashes in the Bogotá derby against Santa Fe in the 248th derby match with a 1-0 score. The goal was scored by Gerardo Bedoya. Currently, the number of wins for Millonarios is 120 against 88 for Independiente Santa Fe, so the difference in victories of the blue ones, it is still more than 30. A trend that has been maintained in recent years.

As of 2015, Millonarios maintained a streak without losing to their crosstown rival Santa Fe with three draws and six victories. The most outstanding in the Torneo Apertura, when Millonarios eliminated Santa Fe from the top eight qualifiers in the last day of the regular phase with a score of 1-3. The goals were converted by Román Torres, Fernando Uribe and Rafael Robayo.

On March 19, 2017 Millonarios cut an undefeated of 22 matches from the ''Cardenal'' team. Millonarios won with a 3–0 score with goals by Andrés Cadavid, Ayron del Valle and Deiver Machado. On December 13 of the same year, the ''Embajador'' team and the ''Cardenal'' met in the final of the 2017 Finalización. In the first leg, where Millonarios were the home team, they won after a header from Matías de los Santos. In the second leg, played on December 17, Millonarios came back from an adverse result twice, first with a goal by Andrés Cadavid, and finally with one by Henry Rojas, for a 3-2 aggregate score, with which they won their 15th league championship. There are also strong rivalries with other teams such as Atlético Nacional, América de Cali, and Deportivo Cali.

Honours

*
* shared record

Performance in CONMEBOL competitions

*Copa Libertadores: 17 appearances
::Best: Semi-finals in 1960, 1973, 1974 - Quarter-finals in 1962, 1963, 1964, 1989, 1995

::1960: Semi-finals
::1962: Quarter-finals
::1963: Quarter-finals
::1964: Quarter-finals
::1968: First Round
::1973: Semi-finals

::1974: Semi-finals
::1976: First Round
::1979: First Round
::1985: First Round
::1988: First Round
::1989: Quarter-finals

::1995: Quarter-finals
::1997: Round of 16
::2013: First Round
::2017: Second stage
::2018: Group stage

*Copa Sudamericana: 4 appearances
::2004: Preliminary Round
::2007: Semi-finals
::2012: Semi-finals
::2014: First Round
::2018: Round of 16

*Copa Merconorte: 4 appearances
::1998: Semi-finals
::1999: Group Stage
::2000: ''Finalist''
::2001: Champion

Players

First-team squad

On loan

Former players

* Tommy Mosquera

Records

Most capped players

Source
BDFA

Last updated on: 3 October 2018

Top scorers

Source


Last updated on: 3 October 2018

Managers

* Fernando Constancio (1946–47)
* Héctor Scarone (1947–48)
* Manuel Olivera (1948)
* Carlos Aldabe (1949–50)
* Adolfo Pedernera (1950–52)
* Néstor Rossi (1952)
* Adolfo Pedernera (1953)
* (1954–55)
* Simón Herrería (1956)
* Delfín Benítez Cáceres (1956–57)
* Gabriel Ochoa Uribe (1957–60)
* Julio Cozzi (1960–61)
* Gabriel Ochoa Uribe (1961–64)
* (1964)
* Efraín Sánchez (1964)
* (1965)
* José Carlos Bauer (1965)
* Roberto Saba (1966)
* (1966)
* Néstor Rossi (1967)
* Francisco Zuluaga (1968)
* Otto Vieira (1969–70)
* (1970)
* (1970)
* Gabriel Ochoa Uribe (1970–75)
* (1976)
* Rubén Sole (1976)
* Juan Eulogio Urriolaveitia (1976)
* Gabriel Ochoa Uribe (1977)
* Jorge Solari (1977)
* Rubén Sole (1977)
* (1978)
* Osvaldo Panzutto (1978)
* (1978)
* Pedro Dellacha (1978)
* Juan Hohberg (1979)
* (1979)
* José Varacka (1979)
* José Texeira (1980–81)
* (1981)
* Todor Veselinović (1982)
* José Pastoriza (1982)
* Juan Mujica (1983)
* Jorge Luis Pinto (1984–85)
* Eduardo Luján Manera (1985)
* Eduardo Retat (1986)
* (1987–90)
* Eduardo Retat (1991)
* (1992)
* Miguel "El Nano" Prince (Oct 10, 1992–Dec 31, 1993)
* Vladimir Popović (1994–95)
* Miguel "El Nano" Prince (1995–96)
* Eduardo Oliveros (1996–97)
* Otoniel Quintana (1997)
* Diego Umaña (1997)
* Francisco Maturana (1998–June 30, 1998)
* Jorge Luis Pinto (1998–99)
* (1999)
* Jaime Rodríguez (2000)
* Diego Umaña (2000–01)
* (2001–02)
* Petar Kosanović (2002)
* (2002)
* Cheche Hernández (2002)
* (2002)
* Norberto Peluffo (2003–04)
* Óscar Fernando Cortes (2004)
* Dragan Miranović (2004–05)
* Fernando Castro (2005)
* Miguel "El Nano" Prince (Nov 30, 2005–June 30, 2006)
* Juan Carlos Osorio (Jan 1, 2006–June 30, 2007)
* Martín Lasarte (July 1, 2007–Sept 1, 2007)
* Mario Vanemerak (Sept 4, 2007–April 11, 2008)
* Bonner Mosquera (2008)
* Óscar Héctor Quintabani (2008–09)
* (May 7, 2009 – March 25, 2010)
* Richard Páez (June 1, 2010 – June 30, 2012)
* Hernán Torres (July 1, 2012–Dec 3, 2013)
* Juan Manuel Lillo (Dec 4, 2013–Aug 31, 2014)
* Ricardo Lunari (Sept 8, 2014–Aug 25, 2015)
* Rubén Israel (Aug 27, 2015–Aug 11, 2016)
* Diego Cocca (Aug 17, 2016–Dec 21, 2016)
* Miguel Angel Russo (Dec 22, 2016–Nov 11, 2018)
* Jorge Luis Pinto (Nov 13, 2018 - Oct 30, 2019)
* Alberto Gamero (Dec 10, 2019 - )

Affiliated teams

Co-ownership

Notes:
* The clubs are owned by Joseph Marie Oughourlian, through its investment groups, as are '' 'Millionarios' ''.

Influence in other clubs

* Millonario del Rímac: The club was founded in December 1957 after a tour of Millionarios in Inca lands. Currently competes in the third district division of Rímac, (fourth division of Peru) at the hierarchical level. The last official rapprochement between the two institutions occurred in 1976.

Brotherhoods

* River Plate: In the amateur age of Colombian soccer, the then known as Club Deportivo Municipal, began to bring Argentine players, so they were nicknamed ("Los Millonarios") as a mockery. Soon after, the directives decided to take that romoquete as part of their official name, which agreed with the beginning of the professional league and the now-called Millonarios continued to contract to a large extent players from River Plate, so the relationship between the clubs became recurrent. Some of the notable player transfers are: Néstor Rossi (from River to Millonarios) and Juan Gilberto Funes (from Millonarios to River).
* Real Madrid: The history between the two clubs is reflected in the 7 friendly matches in which they have faced each other since Millonarios has won 3, 3 draws have been presented and only one merengue victory has been seen. Millonarios became recognized as the only foreign club to beat the first golden generation of Real Madrid. In addition, between these two institutions, the transfer of Alfredo Di Stéfano, one of the best players in the history of world football, was presented.

References

Notes

External links

official website

{{DEFAULTSORT:Millonarios Futbol Club

Football clubs in Colombia
Football clubs in Bogotá
Association football clubs established in 1946
1946 establishments in Colombia
Categoría Primera A clubs
Unrelegated association football clubs
Copa Merconorte winning clubs