From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
This article is about the Colombian football team. For the Argentine team nicknamed "Millonarios", see
Club Atlético River Plate.
Club Deportivo Los Millonarios is a Colombian football club based in Bogotá. As of 2009, Millonarios shares with rival América de Cali being the team with the most Fútbol Profesional Colombiano championships, 13 in total, although they haven't won this tournament since 1988. They are also the third Colombian team to achieve a major international title, the Copa Merconorte in 2001. The team was initially created in 1937 by students from two schools in the city of Bogotá: "Colegio San Bartolomé" and "Instituto La Salle". Millonarios, as the team it is now, was officially founded in June 18th, 1946, thanks to the efforts of Alfonso Senior Quevedo, Millonarios first chairman. From the beginning of the Colombian Soccer Tournament, Millos won many domestic tournaments.
[edit] History
Throughout its history, Millonarios has had famous players, including: Alfredo di Stéfano,Adolfo Pedernera, Juan Gilberto Funes, "El Búfalo", Willington Ortiz, Arnoldo Iguarán, Daniel "Tito" Onega, Fernando Areán, Carlos Valderrama, Carlos Ángel López, Alfredo Castillo, Sergio Goycochea, Delio "Maravilla" Gamboa, Miguel Angel Converti, Jaime Morón, Amadeo Carrizo, Alejandro Brand, Mario Vanemerak, and Pedro Alberto Vivalda. Carlos "El Pibe" Valderrama was actually expelled from Millonarios as the Coach and Board of Directors thought he was not good enough for football.
During the 2000s, Millonarios has endured a financial crisis in the wake of the death of Rodriguez Gacha who was killed by the Colombian National Police. The club had two of their worst crises in 2 seasons: In 2002 the club had their worst financial situation, to the point that many people feared the possibility of Millos coming to an end. After a decent 2003 performance, chaos reappeared in later 2004 (while playing the Copa Mustang II), when Millos had their worst league campaign, finishing second from bottom. Millos also played in the Copa Sudamericana 2004, where they were knocked out by Atlético Junior in the preliminary phase.
From this point, Millonarios began a slow process to recover their former glory, managing to get again into the cup's group stage in 2006, something they didn't do at the previous tournament. Millos had further improvement when former Manchester City F.C. 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 Millos 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 FC in the quarter-finals, thanks to two goals from Ricardo Ciciliano. As of October 25, 2007, Millonarios has qualified for the Copa Sudamericana semi-finals, although they had a less impressive performance in the Colombian Copa Mustang II 2007 so far. The club currently is involved in a bankruptucy process that promises to cancel the team's debts and start a new chapter in Colombian football.
[edit] Honours
[edit] National honours
- Fútbol Profesional Colombiano
- Winners (13): 1949, 1951, 1952, 1953, 1959, 1961, 1962, 1963, 1964, 1972, 1978, 1987, 1988
- Runners up (9): 1950, 1956, 1958, 1967, 1973, 1975, 1984, 1994, 1995/1996
- Copa Colombia
- Winners (2): 1952/1953, 1962/1963
- Runners up (1): 1951/1952
[edit] International honours
[edit] Performance in CONMEBOL competitions
-
- Best: Semi-Final in 1960, 1973, 1974 - Quarterfinal in 1962, 1963, 1964, 1989, 1995
-
- 2004: Preliminary Round
- 2007: Semi-Final
-
- 1998: Semi-Final
- 1999: Group Stage
- 2000: Finalist
- 2001: Champion
[edit] Current Squad 2009
As of June 22, 2009.
[edit] First team players
[edit] Youth team players
[edit] Coaching and Medical Staff
Juan Carlos López
