This article will be permanently flagged as inappropriate and made unaccessible to everyone. Are you certain this article is inappropriate? Excessive Violence Sexual Content Political / Social
Email Address:
Article Id: WHEBN0000187305 Reproduction Date:
Clube Atlético Mineiro (Brazilian Portuguese: ), commonly known as Atlético Mineiro or Atlético, and colloquially as Galo (pronounced: , "Rooster") is a professional football club based in Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil. The club plays in the Brasileirão, the top tier of the Brazilian football league system, as well as in the Campeonato Mineiro, the premier state league of Minas Gerais.
Atlético Mineiro is the oldest active football club in Minas Gerais.[3] The club was founded on 25 March 1908 by twenty-two students from Belo Horizonte, led by Margival Mendes Leal and Mário Toledo.[4] Despite having liberal, upper-class founders, the club opened its doors to players of every social class, establishing itself as a "people's club",[5][6][7] and becoming one of the best supported in Brazil.[8]
Atlético Mineiro has won the Brasileirão once and has finished second on four occasions. Domestically, Atlético has also won one Copa do Brasil, one Copa dos Campeões Estaduais[9] and the Copa dos Campeões Brasileiros.[10] The club has also won the Campeonato Mineiro a record 43 times. In international club football, Atlético has won the Copa Libertadores once, the Recopa Sudamericana once and the Copa CONMEBOL twice, more than any other club. The team has also reached three other continental finals.
The club plays the majority of its home matches at Estádio Independência, which holds up to 23,018 spectators. Mineirão, the club's ground for most of its history, is used as the team's home in important and high attendance matches, holding 62,160 people.[11] Atlético has a long-standing rivalry with Cruzeiro, with matches between the two teams being known as the Clássico Mineiro. The club also holds an interstate rivalry with Flamengo, and a local one with América Mineiro.
The team's regular home kit comprises black-and-white striped shirts, with black shorts and white socks.[12] The club's mascot, a rooster, has been strongly associated with the club since its introduction in the 1940s. Over the years, the word galo (Portuguese for "rooster") became a common nickname for the club itself.[13] The club has the ninth most valuable brand in Brazil, worth R$394.8 million (€122.7 million),[14] and ranks eighth in the country in terms of turnover, generating R$178.9 million in 2014 (€55.6 million).[15]
Atlético Mineiro was formed on 25 March 1908 by a group of twenty-two students from Federação Mineira de Futebol.[17]
América won the next ten editions of the Mineiro, and Atlético only won the league again in 1926, led by Mário de Castro.[18] In 1927, forwards Said and Jairo joined Castro to form an attacking partnership nicknamed the Trio Maldito ("Unholy Trio"),[19][20] and Atlético won the state league again. In 1929 the club played its first international encounter, against Vitória de Setúbal. The team won 3–1 in a match played at the Presidente Antônio Carlos Stadium, which had opened earlier in the same year and which would be the club's home ground for the following two decades.[12]
Atlético won the state league in 1931, 1932 and became a professional club in 1933.[21] After another Campeonato Mineiro triumph in 1936, Atlético won its first title at national level in 1937. This was the Brazilian Sports Confederation (CBD). The competition was contested by the 1936 state league champions from Minas Gerais, Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo and Espírito Santo: Atlético, Fluminense, Portuguesa and Rio Branco. Atlético defeated Rio Branco 5–1 in the final match, which was played at the Antônio Carlos stadium.[22] The title was followed by two more Campeonato Mineiro victories, in 1938 and 1939.
Success followed in the 1940s, with a squad that included Carlyle, Lucas Miranda, Nívio Gabrich and goalkeeper Kafunga.[23] The club was dominant in the state as it won the league in 1941, 1942, 1946, 1947 and 1949.[24] Although Atlético's rival since its early days was América, in the 1940s the rivalry with Cruzeiro started to develop, as the latter was Galo's main challenger in the decade.[1]
In 1950 the club's home moved from the Antônio Carlos to the newer and larger Estádio Independência. The season saw another Campeonato Mineiro triumph and the club's European tour, in which the team played ten games in five European countries. The tour happened at a time when there were neither regular national competitions in Brazil nor continental ones in South America, and followed soon after the traumatic Maracanazo. The tour and Atlético's results, many of which achieved under adverse weather conditions and snow, were seen by national sports media as a historic achievement for Brazilian football itself.[25][26] The team was dubbed the Campeões do Gelo ("Ice Champions"), a title that is remembered in the club's official anthem.[27][28] The club's success in the state competition continued in the 1950s with five consecutive Campeonato Mineiro victories from 1952 to 1956, and another in 1958. In 1959, Atlético took part in the first edition of Taça Brasil, a cup competition between state league champions created by the CBD to select Brazil's entrants in the newly formed Copa Libertadores.[29]
In the 1960s, Atlético won the Campeonato Mineiro twice, in 1962 and 1963, but failed to advance to the later stages of Taça Brasil. Mineirão, Belo Horizonte's new stadium, opened in 1965 and immediately became the club's home. It was in the mid-1960s that the rivalry with Cruzeiro became the biggest in the state, after the rival club won the first five state leagues of the Mineirão era in a row. In 1967 another national-level competition was created by the CBD, the Torneio Roberto Gomes Pedrosa. It included more clubs than the Taça Brasil, but Atlético did not finish in the top-four in any of its editions in the decade. Highlights came in the form of friendlies against national sides. In 1968 Atlético, representing the Brazilian national team, defeated Yugoslavia – the Euro runners-up – 3–2 at the Mineirão.[30] The following year, the Seleção itself, which would become champions of the 1970 FIFA World Cup, was defeated by Atlético 2–1.[31]
In 1970, with the arrival of Telê Santana as the club's manager, Atlético broke Cruzeiro's sequence and won its first state league title in the Mineirão,[32] and also finished third in the Roberto Gomes Pedrosa. In 1971, again managed by Telê and led by left-back Oldair and World Cup-winning forward Dadá Maravilha, the club won the new national championship, the Campeonato Brasileiro. It was the first edition of the competition, which replaced both the Taça Brasil and the Roberto Gomes Pedrosa. Atlético played a final group stage against São Paulo and Botafogo in a final group stage, defeating the former 1–0 at the Mineirão and the latter 1–0 at the Maracanã.[33] The victory also secured the club's first participation in a continental championship, the 1972 Copa Libertadores, in which it failed to reach the second round.[34]
After four trophyless years, Atlético won the state league again in 1976 and finished third in the
Throughout its history, Atlético Mineiro had departments for other olympic sports, with the athletics and volleyball ones achieving notability. In 1983 runner João da Mata won the São Silvestre road race as an Atlético athlete.[166] In 2007 Robert Kipkoech Cheruiyot and Alice Timbilil won the race and celebrated their victory with Atlético flags, and the club's board stated the athletes had been sponsored as a marketing strategy.[167] The club's men's volleyball department won the Minas Gerais Volleyball Championship a total of twelve times, ranking second in the state for most titles won. The team had a especially successful period in the early 1980s, under administrative management of Alexandre Kalil, who would become club President in 2009.[168]
Atlético Mineiro opened its futsal department in the 1960s, achieving victories at state level in the following decades, and winning the Taça Brasil in 1985.[162] In the late 1990s the team, named Atlético Pax de Minas for sponsorship reasons, was dominant at national and international level. With players such as Manoel Tobias, Falcão and Lenísio in the squad, Atlético won the Brazilian Liga Futsal twice, in 1997 and 1999, and the Intercontinental Futsal Cup in 1998, being runner-up in 2000.[163] In the second leg of the 1999 Liga Futsal finals against Rio de Janeiro, the attendance at Mineirinho was 25,713, a world record in the sport.[164] In 2000 the sponsorship deal with Pax de Minas ended and the club's professional senior futsal team folded, with the youth sectors remaining. In 2009 the futsal department ceased operations.[165]
The club's board took office on 3 December 2014, with its term ending on 31 December 2017.[161]
The following are the title-winning managers with most matches in charge of the club.[159][160]
Atlético has a permanent technical staff, managerial positions excepted.
12 – A Massa (the 12th man)
Atlético Mineiro's first trophy was the Taça Bueno Brandão, won in 1914. The club's first Campeonato Mineiro title came in 1915, in the inaugural edition of the competition, which Atlético has won a record 43 times. The club's first and only Brasileirão title was won in 1971, and the first Copa do Brasil came in 2014. At international level, Atlético was the most of successful club of the Copa CONMEBOL with two wins, and has won the Copa Libertadores and the Recopa Sudamericana once each. The club's most recent trophy is the 2015 Campeonato Mineiro.[154]
The club's gross debt is R$486.6 million (€151.3 million), the fourth largest in Brazil, with a R$48.6 million (€15.1 million) deficit in 2014.[150] The club's balance sheet states it experiences operational losses, and according to a study by Itaú BBA, Atlético operates in a dangerous "financial all-in".[151][152] The majority of the club's debt is owed to the Federal government of Brazil, totalling R$286.6 million (€89.1 million), and in 2015, after a law sanctioned by Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff, Atlético and other clubs stated their intention to join a government program for debt financing.[153]
A research conducted by BDO in 2015 indicated the club has a brand value of R$394.8 million (€122.7 million), making it the 9th most valuable in Brazil.[14] In terms of annual turnover, Atlético ranks 8th in the country, with R$178.9 million (€55.6 million) in 2014, which represented a 21% decrease compared to the previous year.[15] The club's main sponsorship deal with MRV Engenharia, worth R$23 million (€7.1 million) per year, is the third biggest in the country.[148] Atlético is Brazil's fourth highest earner in terms of television rights, earning R$80.4 million (€25 million) in 2014.[149] The club's kit sponsorship deal with Puma is worth R$15 million (€4.6 million) per year.[85]
As is the case for most Brazilian football clubs, Atlético Mineiro's not-for-profit public utility association, formed by associates (sócios). The club's administrative powers are the General Assembly, the Deliberative Council, the Board, the Fiscal Council and the Ethics and Discipline Council. The General Assembly, composed of all associates, elects the Deliberative Council among its members every three years, which in turn elects and removes the club's Board, responsible for the executive management of the club.[146] Season ticket-holders and participants of the Galo na Veia affiliation program, which are called sócios-torcedores, are not full club associates and cannot vote or be elected.[147]
The signing of André from Dynamo Kyiv in 2012 is the club's most expensive purchase, costing around €8 million.[144] Atlético's record sale is the transfer of Bernard to Shakhtar Donetsk in 2013, which cost the Ukrainian club €25 million.[145]
The first official game participated in by Atlético was in the 1915 Campeonato Mineiro against Yale, which the team won 5–0.[139] The biggest ever victory recorded by Galo was 13–0 against Calafate, in the 1927 Campeonato Mineiro. In the national league, the biggest win came against Ferroviária, 7–1 in the 1982 season.[140] The club's home attendance record, derbies excepted, is 115,142 in a friendly match against Flamengo at the Mineirão, which was played in 1980.[141] Atlético holds the Brazilian record for longest unbeaten run at home, with 54 matches from 2011 to 2013.[142][143]
Telê Santana, who managed the Brazilian national football team in two FIFA World Cups, is Galo's longest-serving head coach, sitting on the bench in 434 matches during three periods in the 1970s and 1980s.[138] Nelson Campos is Atlético's longest serving president, with nine years in three terms.[91]
João Leite holds Atlético's official appearance record, with 684 matches for the club.[133] Reinaldo is Galo's all-time leading goalscorer with 255 goals since joining the club's first squad in 1973.[134] In the 1977 season, Reinaldo scored 28 goals in 18 appearances, setting the club record for the most Brasileirão goals in a single season, which is the best average goal-per-game record in the Série A.[135] Dadá Maravilha is second with 211, the only other player to score over 200 goals for the team.[136] Argentine striker Lucas Pratto is Atlético's all-time foreign goalscorer with 20 goals.[137]
Atlético has a rivalry with Flamengo of Rio de Janeiro, developed in the 1980s from numerous controversial encounters between the two clubs in that decade's Brasileirão and Copa Libertadores editions. It remained through the following years, and is considered the biggest interstate rivalry in Brazilian football.[131] The head-to-head record between Atlético Mineiro and Flamengo is 41 victories for Flamengo, 34 victories for Atlético, and 30 draws.[132]
Atlético versus América was known as the Clássico das Multidões ("Derby of the Masses") before the construction of the Mineirão, as they were the most popular clubs in the state.[129] In the early days of the rivalry, América was known as an elitist club while Atlético had popular appeal.[5] América dominated the first years of the rivalry, winning ten consecutive Campeonato Mineiro titles from 1916 to 1925, but over the years Atlético became the major force. The derby has been played 394 times, with 194 wins for Atlético, 103 wins for América and 97 draws.[130]
The local rivalry between Atlético and Cruzeiro, known as the Clássico Mineiro ("Mineiro Derby"), exists since Cruzeiro's foundation in 1921. It strengthened in the 1950s, and in 1960s it replaced Atlético versus América as the biggest derby in Minas Gerais.[6][125] Atlético dominated the rivalry from its early days until the 1950s, but Cruzeiro rose in the 1960s and 1970s to be a strong challenger. The 1980s were dominated by Atlético, while the 1990s and 2000s were favourable to Cruzeiro. In the 2010s, Atlético achieved an eleven-game undefeated run against its rival, running from 2013 to 2015. The only national final between the two clubs happened in the 2014 Copa do Brasil, when Atlético triumphed in a final match played at the Mineirão.[69] The Clássico Mineiro has been played 491 times, with 199 wins for Atlético, 162 wins for Cruzeiro and 130 draws, according to Atlético's statistics.[126] Atlético's biggest win against Cruzeiro was 9–2 on 27 November 1927.[127][128]
In 1999 the club introduced Galo de Prata ("Silver Rooster"), a trophy officially awarded by Atlético to sportspeople, illustrious supporters, artists, politicians, and organisations that somehow promote the club's name.[120] Since the implementation of municipal and state laws in 2007 and 2008, Dia do Atleticano ("Atleticano Day") is officially celebrated in Belo Horizonte and Minas Gerais every year on 25 March, the day of the club's foundation.[121][122] Atlético launched TV Galo in 2007, a TV Channel which provides content for fans such as interviews with players and staff, in addition to coverage of training sessions and matches, footballing news, and other themed programming.[123] Since 2012, the club has an affiliation program called Galo na Veia, in which supporters can become season ticket holders or pay monthly fees to buy match tickets at reduced price.[124]
Atlético has had the best average attendance in nine editions of the Série A since 1972, and has the second highest average all-time attendance in Brazilian football.[114] The club also ranks second in all-time total attendance in the national league, with more than 13 million tickets sold in 581 home matches as of the 2014 season.[115][116][117] The second leg of the 2013 Copa Libertadores finals between Atlético and Olimpia, played at the Mineirão and attended by 56,557 people, had the highest gate receipt revenue of all time in South American football, yielding R$14.17 million (€4.8 million at the time).[118][119]
Atlético has many brass band which plays during the club's home matches.[110] Galoucura has historically developed alliances with other torcidas in Brazil, most notably Palmeiras's Mancha Verde and Vasco da Gama's Força Jovem.[111] After difficult but successful comebacks in 2013 and 2014, the fans have adopted the motto "Eu acredito" ("I believe") to support the club in against-the-odds situations.[112][113] Squad number 12 is retired from the club's kits and dedicated to the fans.[84]
Atlético Mineiro was founded by liberal, upper-class students, but from an early age it opened its doors to players from every social class, nationality or ethnicity, which earned it a "people's club" status in Belo Horizonte and in the state. América, meanwhile, had a reputation as an elitist club and Cruzeiro was strongly associated with the local Italian colony.[5][6][107] As a result of the popular support, the fans came to be collectively known as "A Massa" (Portuguese for "the mass").[108] According to a 2014 survey conducted by IBOPE and Lance!, the club is the best-supported in Belo Horizonte and in Minas Gerais, and has the 6th largest fanbase in Brazil, with seven million supporters.[8] A 2014 survey by Datafolha, however, shows Atlético as the second best-supported club in Minas Gerais and 10th in Brazil.[109]
Cidade do Galo ("Rooster City"), the club's main training facility since 2001, has been lauded as the best in Brazil and is considered one of the best in the world.[100][101] It hosted the Argentina national football team at the 2014 FIFA World Cup.[102] Other facilities owned by the club include Vila Olímpica, the old training grounds opened in 1973 that hosted the Seleção in its preparation for the 1982 FIFA World Cup,[103] and Labareda, a leisure and health club in Belo Horizonte.[104] In 2015, Daniel Nepomuceno, the club president, announced that Atlético had a four-year project to build a new stadium in Belo Horizonte, with a 45,000 capacity.[105][106]
Mineirão (officially Estádio Governador Magalhães Pinto) opened in 1965, and quickly became the home of both Atlético and Cruzeiro,[95] due to being much larger than any other stadium in Belo Horizonte or in the state, holding over 100,000 spectators at its peak. The property of the state of Minas Gerais, Mineirão was Atlético's home from its opening until it closed in 2010 for renovations prior to the 2014 FIFA World Cup, when the club temporarily moved to Arena do Jacaré in Sete Lagoas and subsequently to Independência in 2012.[96] Historically the club's home ground, Atlético's most important matches have all been played at the Mineirão, a fact that has continued even after Independência became the first choice home stadium.[97][98] After the renovation, the Mineirão has an overall capacity of 62,160.[99]
Construction for Estádio Raimundo Sampaio, more commonly known as Independência, started in 1947 in preparation for the 1950 FIFA World Cup, during which its first match was played.[93] Originally the property of the Government of Minas Gerais, ownership was transferred to Sete de Setembro FC in 1965 when the Mineirão was built, and in 1997 property passed to América, when it absorbed Sete de Setembro.[94] Before the Mineirão, the stadium was the largest in Belo Horizonte and held up to 30,000 people; it was preferred by Atlético over the older and smaller Antônio Carlos stadium. After the Mineirão's construction, however, Atlético did not use the Independência for decades, except for a brief spell in the late 1990s. The stadium was renovated in 2012, while Mineirão was closed in preparation for the 2014 FIFA World Cup, and in that year Atlético announced a deal with BWA, the stadium manager. The club signed a contract to use the stadium as its home ground for 10 years, which has happened since then, except in important and high attendance matches.[12]
Atlético had its first own home ground at Paraopeba Avenue, in downtown Belo Horizonte, built in 1912 across the street from América's first stadium.[90] The club's main ground for most of its early years, however, was the Presidente Antônio Carlos stadium, which held 5,000 people; it was nicknamed Estádio de Lourdes for the bairro in which it was located. The Antônio Carlos was one of the first stadiums in Brazil to feature floodlights, and opened on 30 May 1929 with a friendly against Corinthians, won by Atlético 4–2. The following year, the stadium was visited by Jules Rimet, the president of FIFA, who watched a night game for the first time.[91] The stadium fell out of favour when the larger Independência was built in 1950, and remained largely unused by the first team; eventually it was sold by the club to the Belo Horizonte municipality in the 1960s. After decades of legal disputes with the municipal government, the property returned to the club in 1991 and was leased to a shopping mall, which was built in 1996 where the ground once was, across the street from Atlético's administrative headquarters.[92]
In 1982 bank Credireal was Atlético's first shirt sponsor.[86] After one sponsorless season in 1983, Precon, a construction company, appeared on the shirts in 1984 and 1985; it was replaced by Agrimisa bank in 1986. In 1987 Coca-Cola sponsored all participating clubs of Copa União,[87] and the brand remained on Atlético's kits until 1994. The club was subsequently sponsored by TAM Airlines (1995–96), Tenda (1997–98) and Telemar (1999). Two sponsorless years followed, before deals were signed with Fiat (2002–03), MRV Engenharia (2004–07) and Fiat again in 2008. After one more season without a brand in the club's shirts, BMG, a bank that was owned by the former club president Ricardo Annes Guimarães,[88] was the main sponsor from 2010 to 2014. MRV Engenharia returned as the club's main shirt sponsor in 2015.[89]
Since the 1981 season the club has had its kits manufactured by sportswear corporations, the first one being the Brazilian company Rainha. Atlético's kit has been manufactured since 2014 by Puma, which is contracted to supply the team until 2015.[85] Previously, the kits were manufactured by Adidas (1983–85), Penalty (1986–90, 1992–93 and 1997–2001), Dell'erba (1991), Umbro (1994–96 and 2002–04), Diadora (2005–07), Lotto (2008–09), Topper (2010–12) and Lupo (2013).
The club's home kit has always consisted of a black-and-white vertically striped shirt, with black shorts and white or black socks. The width of the black and white stripes has varied from season to season, as has the colour of the shirt numbers, which have usually been red, black, white or yellow. Atlético's traditional away kit is all-white shirts, shorts and socks, but has had slight variations.[81] An all-black third kit was introduced in the 2000 season, being used again in 2015.[82] In 2008 a black-and-gold vertically striped third kit was launched to commemorate the club's centenary, featuring its first crest.[83] Squad number 12 is retired from the club's kits, dedicated to the fans.[84]
Over the years the word galo (Portuguese for "rooster") became a cheering chant for the supporters and a nickname by which they referred to the club, an appellation which eventually spread to other football fans in the country.[77] According to Kafunga, who played as goalkeeper for the club since before the introduction of Mangabeira's mascot in the 1940s, the "rooster" nickname was already associated with Atlético because of its kit colours.[78] The nickname is mentioned in the club's anthem, the chorus of which hails Atlético as a "strong and avenging rooster".[27][79] In the club's home matches, a human-sized mascot in the form of a rooster, the Galo Doido ("Crazy Rooster"), encourages the crowd.[80]
The team's mascot, a rooster, is one of the best-known in the country.[74] It was created in the 1940s by Fernando Pierucetti, a cartoonist for the A Folha de Minas newspaper. Pierucetti, known as Mangabeira, was designated to design a mascot for each of the three greatest clubs in Belo Horizonte. According to Mangabeira, Atlético's would be the rooster because the team used to play with passion and would never give up until the end of each match, like roosters in cockfights.[75][76]
The club first used an emblem in 1922, which consisted of a simple design of the three initials of the club's name ("CAM" for Clube Atlético Mineiro) in an oval shape in black. The first change occurred in 1923, when a black and white striped Swiss escutcheon was adopted, with the letters in its upper part and black and white stripes in the lower.[71] The crests's general format has been kept ever since, with only the exact format and the placement of the black and white stripes within the escutcheon changing over the decades. The only significant change came in the 1970s when a golden star above the badge was adopted, alluding to the 1971 Série A title.[72] Red stars above the badge were featured on two occasions, alluding to the 1978 Copa dos Campeões and the 1992 Copa CONMEBOL victories, but these were removed in 1999.[73]
The following season, Atlético won its first Recopa Sudamericana after once again meeting Lanús in a continental final, which finished 4–3 on aggregate after extra-time.[66] In that season's Copa do Brasil quarter-finals against Corinthians and semi-finals against Flamengo, Atlético lost the first leg 2–0 and conceded first in the second one. The team managed to make 4–1 comebacks in both stages to advance.[67][68] Atlético won its first Copa do Brasil after defeating rivals Cruzeiro twice in the finals, which were the first at national level to feature both Belo Horizonte clubs.[69] The team's successful run in the decade continued with its 43rd state league triumph in 2015.[70]
2013 saw the return of Tardelli and Gilberto Silva to the club, who joined Ronaldinho, Jô and Bernard, and Atlético won another Campeonato Mineiro. An iconic moment for the club happened in the second leg of Copa Libertadores's quarter-finals, when a penalty kick was awarded to Club Tijuana in injury time. It would have meant elimination if it had been scored, but was saved by Atlético's goalkeeper Victor with his foot. The save, according to sports commentators and fans, represented the kicking out of the club's historic "bad luck" .[61][62] After defeating Newell's Old Boys in the semi-finals in a penalty shootout, following a 2–0 first-leg defeat and a 2–0 home win,[63] the club won its first Copa Libertadores by defeating Olimpia in a penalty shootout with a score of 4–3, after once again losing the first leg by 2–0 and winning the second by 2–0 at the Mineirão.[64] Atlético's participation in the FIFA Club World Cup was unsuccessful, as the team failed to reach the finals after losing to Raja Casablanca; Atlético eventually finished in third place after defeating Guangzhou Evergrande.[65]
In 2010, the team won its 40th Campeonato Mineiro, but finished 13th in the Série A. After a bad year in 2011, barely escaping relegation, the arrival of Cuca as manager at the end of that season marked the beginning of another successful era for the club.[58] In 2012 the club moved back to Independência as the Mineirão was closed for renovation and won the Campeonato Mineiro undefeated. The arrival of Ronaldinho in the middle of the season was an important event for the club,[59][60] which eventually finished as runner-up in the Série A and earned a spot in the following year's Copa Libertadores.
The club was promoted straight back up as Série B champion in 2006, returning to the Série A for the 2007 season.[54] That year, Atlético won the Campeonato Mineiro, defeating Cruzeiro in the final, and finished eighth in the national league, earning a spot at the following year's Copa Sudamericana. Alexandre Kalil was chosen as the club's new president in 2008, and tried to improve its finances and status.[55] In 2009, with Diego Tardelli in good form, Atlético led the Brasileirão for eight of the thirty-eight rounds, before eventually finishing in seventh place.[56] Despite some highlights at the beginning and end of the decade, the 2000s were not a successful period in the club's history, marked once again by bad administration and frequent managerial changes.[57]
In 2000, Atlético won the Campeonato Mineiro, reached the Copa Libertadores quarter-finals and the semi-finals of Copa Mercosur, but had a bad season in the national league, the Copa João Havelange. The following year, despite a good performance in the Brasileirão with a squad that included Marques, Guilherme and Gilberto Silva, the team once again was eliminated in the Série A semi-finals, eventually finishing in fourth place. After finishing seventh in 2003 and a 2004 season in which it barely escaped relegation, in 2005 the club was demoted to Série B.[54]
In the following decade, Atlético won the state league in 1991 and saw success at international level in 1992, when it won the Copa CONMEBOL, its first official international title, defeating Olimpia in the finals.[48] The club then took part in the 1993 Copa de Oro, in which it eliminated rivals Cruzeiro in the semi-finals but eventually lost to Boca Juniors.[49] After finishing fourth in the 1994 Brasileirão, in 1995 the club won the state league and reached the Copa CONMEBOL finals again, this time losing to Rosario Central.[50] In 1996 Atlético participated in the Copa Masters CONMEBOL, a competition between past winners of the Copa CONMEBOL that was played in Cuiabá; Atlético eliminated Rosario Central in the semi-finals but lost to São Paulo in the final match, while also finishing third in the Brasileirão.[51] Another triumph came in the 1997 edition of the CONMEBOL, when an Atlético team that included Marques and Cláudio Taffarel defeated Lanús in the finals and won the trophy for a second time.[52] That year the club finished the national league in fourth place. In 1999, after another Campeonato Mineiro title, Atlético, led by Marques and Guilherme, the top scorer in the league, reached the Série A finals for the fourth time, but lost to Corinthians. Despite international success and good performances in the Série A, the decade was marked by bad club management by Atlético's presidents and deteriorating finances, which made the club one of the most indebted in Brazilian football.[53]
In 1980, Atlético lost to Flamengo in another controversial Brasileirão final. Three Atlético players were sent off, among them Reinaldo, who received a straight red card after scoring twice.[39][40][41] The following year, Atlético was eliminated from the Copa Libertadores without losing a match, after having five players sent off in a play-off match against Flamengo at the Serra Dourada stadium.[41][42] During the 1980s, Atlético participated in and won international friendly competitions, such as the Amsterdam Tournament and the Tournoi de Paris.[43][44] The club had the best performances of the 1980, 1983 and 1985 Brasileirão seasons, and won the Campeonato Mineiro in 1985, 1986, 1988 and 1989.[24] Atlético was dominant at state-level and one of the country's top sides, providing many players to the Brazilian national team and having good performances in the Brasileirão.[45][35] The team failed to win the national league due to a tendency to lose in the final knockout stages of the competition.[46][47]
[38]
Argentina, Mexico, India, Venezuela, Russia
Uruguay, Brazil, Buenos Aires, Venezuela, Mexico
Argentina, Venezuela, Brazil, Montevideo, Suriname
Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay, São Paulo FC, Boca Juniors
São Paulo FC, Santos FC, Clube de Regatas do Flamengo, Brazil, Clube Atlético Mineiro
Brazil, Clube Atlético Mineiro, West Germany, Luxembourg, Austria
Clube Atlético Mineiro, São Paulo FC, Santos FC, Rio de Janeiro, Botafogo de Futebol e Regatas
Clube Atlético Mineiro, Clube de Regatas do Flamengo, Cruzeiro Esporte Clube, Sport Club Corinthians Paulista, Clube Atlético Paranaense
Brazil, CR Vasco da Gama, Rio de Janeiro, Argentina, Colombia