Sporting Cristal

Sporting Cristal

File:Sporting Cristal.png
Full name	Club Sporting Cristal
Nickname(s)	Los Cerveceros, Los Rimenses, Los Celestes, La Fuerza Vencedora, La Máquina Celeste
Founded	December 13, 1955
Ground	Estadio Alberto Gallardo, Lima
Ground Capacity	15,000
President	Felipe Cantuarias
Manager	Daniel Ahmed
League	Primera División Peruana
2014	1st (Champions)
Website	Club home page
Home colours Away colours Third colours

Club Sporting Cristal is a Peruvian football team. Based in the Rímac District, in the department of Lima, it plays in the professional league known as the Peruvian First Division. Sporting Cristal has won the league title 17 times, and it is the Peruvian team with the third most National titles. All its titles have been won in the professional era.

It is one of the most popular football teams in Peru, along with Universitario de Deportes and Alianza Lima; it is the youngest of the three. In 1997, it became the second Peruvian football club to reach the final of the Copa Libertadores, an international competition.

Sporting Cristal plays home games at the Estadio Alberto Gallardo, but they also play at the Estadio Nacional. They also use the Estadio Nacional when playing international competitions, such as Copa Libertadores.

History

Ricardo Bentín Mujica, with the support of his wife, co-owners of Backus and Johnston brewery, was the man who is credited with achieving the company's goal. A club from Rímac ward, known as Sporting Tabaco founded in 1926 and originally belonging to the tobacco growers' union, was already playing in the professional Peruvian First Division. Never having won a national championship, the club was in dire economic straits. Bentín decided to buy the club and search for a playing ground, so that the club could develop and be able to play better at the professional level. The club found a lot in the neighborhood of La Florida of 137,000 m².

On December 13, 1955 the club was founded as Sporting Cristal , after Backus' best-known beer brand, Cristal. The new club from Rímac ward debuted in 1956 in the professional Primera Division and won their first national title that same year. Journalists thus called them the club born a champion (nació campeon). The team managed to win more titles over the years and was known as one of the best football clubs in Peru after Universitario de Deportes and Alianza Lima. A few years later, the club eliminated the word Backus from their name to demonstrate their economic independence.

Sporting Cristal changed its shirt color from blue to light blue. They are known as "Los Celestes". During a brief period between 1978 and 1981, they again used blue shirts. In 1982 they returned to light blue as the color of the club.

The 1990s was the most succeful decade, 4 national titles (3 in a row) with coaches as Juan Carlos Oblitas, Cristal won 1991, 1994 and 1995 domestic league. And with Sergio Markarián head coach they won 1996 league. By 1997, the team, led by Uruguayan coach Sergio Markarián, reached the finals of the Copa Libertadores, where they faced the Brazilian club Cruzeiro. The first leg was a home game, in which they ended in a scoreless draw; in the second leg, they lost 1–0. This is the closest a Peruvian team has come to the Copa Libertadores Final since 1972, when Universitario had a similar fate playing against Independiente.

The club stayed on the top spots of the national tournament during most of the 2000s and gained qualification to the Copa Libertadores eight years in a row from 2000 to 2007.It would only win one title during the decade which was obtain in 2005 with Jose del Solar as head coach and many notable players as Sergio Leal, Jorge Soto and Luis Alberto Bonnet. During the 2007, Cristal would come four points away from relegation. It would make a comeback during the 2008 season and qualify to the Copa Libertadores once again.

In 2009, the Peruvian First Division would change the tournament structured which caused Sporting Cristal to have mediocre results for the next few years into the new decade. After a seven year dry spell it would become the national champion once more during the 2012 season when it defeated Real Garcilaso in the finals. They qualified to the 2013 Copa Libertadores where they did not pass the tournament's group stage. In the 2013 season, they played on the same liguilla as Real Garcilazo and fought for a place in the final up to the last match of the season in which they finished third and qualified for the 2014 Copa Libertadores once more.

Rivalries

Sporting Cristal has had longstanding rivalries with Universitario, Alianza Lima, Deportivo Municipal, and Sport Boys.

Supporters

Cristal has three ultras or barra bravas known as Extremo Celeste, Fverza Oriente Gvardia Xtrema. Fverza Oriente was the first ultra of Cristal, founded in 1975. They are located on eastern grandstand of the stadiums. Extremo Celeste was formed in 1991 when a group of young fans from Fuerza Oriente decided to form a new group for young energetic supporters. Extremo Celeste has become one of the biggest barras bravas in Peru. And in 2007 a smaller third ultra was created in the western grandstand to support the team. Son Cristal had supporters on every grandstand on Estadio Alberto Gallardo.

Players

Current squad

As of 17 February 2015.

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Position Player 1 GK Diego Penny 2 DF Alexis Cossio 3 DF Luis Rivas 4 MF Adan Balbín 5 MF Pedro Aquino 6 MF Carlo Urquiaga 7 MF Horacio Calcaterra 8 FW Jairsinho Gonzales 9 FW César Pereyra (on loan from Club Atlético Belgrano) 10 MF Renzo Sheput 11 FW Irven Ávila 12 GK Alexander Araujo 13 DF Renzo Revoredo 14 DF Elsar Rodas 16 DF Brian Bernaola

No. Position Player 17 MF Diego Manicero 18 FW Santiago Rebagliati 19 FW Joazinho Arroé 20 FW Sergio Blanco 21 MF Josepmir Ballón 22 DF Matías Martínez (on loan from Club Atlético Lanús) 23 MF Jorge Cazulo 24 DF Josué Estrada 25 MF Paolo de la Haza 26 GK Carlos Grados 27 MF Carlos Lobatón 28 MF Edinson Chávez 29 MF Luis Abram 30 FW Luiz da Silva 31 MF José Gómez

Top Goalscorers in First Division

Year	Player	Goals	Nationality
1961	Alberto Gallardo	18
1962	Alberto Gallardo	22
1980	Oswaldo Ramírez	18
1983	Juan Caballero	29
1991	Raúl Horacio Baldessari	25
1994	Flavio Maestri	25
1995	Julinho	23
1998	Nilson Esidio	25
2003	Luis Alberto Bonnet	20
2008	Miguel Ximénez	32

Presidential history

Name Years Blas Loredo Bascones 1956–59 Alfonso Raul Villegas 1960–63 Augusto Moral Santisteban 1964 Cesar Freundt 1965 Augusto Galvez Velarde 1966–71 Josue Grande Fernandez 1972–79 Jaime Noriega Zegarra 1980–88

Name Years Federico Cuneo De La Pierda 1989–93 Francisco Lombardi Oyarzub 1994–95 Alfonso Grados Carraro 1996–99 Francisco Lombardi Oyarzub 2000–01 Jaime Noriega Bentin 2002–04 François Mujica Serelle 2005–10 Felipe Cantuarias Salaverry 2011–14 Federico Cuneo De La Pierda 2014–

Managerial History

Years Nationality Name 1956–58 Luis Tirado 1958–59 César Viccino 1960 Carlos Peucelle 1960 Víctor Pasache 1961–62 Juan Honores 1962 Víctor Pasache 1962–64 Waldir Pereira "Didí" 1964–66 Alberto "Toto" Terry 1966 Yaldo Barbalho 1967–69 Waldir Pereira "Didí" 1969 Víctor Pasache 1969–70 Vito Andrés "Sabino" Bártoli 1971 Rudi Gutendorf 1972–74 Marcos Calderón 1974 Rafael Asca 1974–75 Eloy Campos 1976 Juan Honores 1976 Víctor Pasache 1976–77 Diego Agurto 1977 Alberto Gallardo 1977–78 Roque Máspoli 1978 Alberto Gallardo 1978–79 José Fernández 1979–81 Marcos Calderón 1981–82 Alberto Gallardo 1982–83 César Cubilla 1984 José Chiarella 1985 Alberto Gallardo 1985 José del Castillo 1985–86 Héctor Chumpitaz 1987–88 Miguel Company 1988 Óscar Montalvo 1988–89 Alberto Gallardo

Years Nationality Name 1989–90 Oscar López Oscar Cavallero 1990 Fernando Mellán 1990 Eugenio Jara 1990–92 Juan Carlos Oblitas 1993 José Carlos Amaral 1993–95 Juan Carlos Oblitas 1996 José Luis Carbone 1996 Roberto Mosquera 1996–97 Sergio Markarián 1997–98 Miguel Ángel Arrué 1998 Luis García 1998–99 Franco Navarro 1999 Rodolfo Motta 1999–01 Juan Carlos Oblitas 2001 Horacio Magalhaes Jan 1, 2002 – Dec 31, 2002 Paulo Autuori 2003 Renê Weber 2003–04 Wilmar Valencia 2004 Eduardo Asca 2004–05 Edgardo Bauza May 22, 2005 – Dec 17, 2006 José del Solar Jan 1, 2007 – May 5, 2007 Jorge Sampaoli 2007 Walter Fiori July 1, 2007 – Dec 31, 2009 Juan Carlos Oblitas Jan 1, 2010 – Dec 9, 2010 Víctor Rivera Dec 21, 2010 – April 19, 2011 Guillermo Rivarola April 20, 2011 – Nov 23, 2011 Juan Reynoso Nov 23, 2011 – Dec 31, 2011 Francisco Melgar Jan 1, 2012 – Aug 7, 2013 Roberto Mosquera Aug 7, 2013 – Aug 18, 2013 Francisco Melgar (int.) Aug 18, 2013 – Dec 19, 2013 Claudio Vivas Jan 1, 2014– Daniel Ahmed

Honours

National

• Peruvian Primera División:

Winners (17): 1956, 1961, 1968, 1970, 1972, 1979, 1980, 1983, 1988, 1991, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2002, 2005, 2012, 2014

Runner-up (14): 1931, 1962, 1963, 1967, 1973, 1977, 1989, 1992, 1997, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2004, 2015

• Torneo Apertura:

Winners (3): 1994, 2003, 2015

Runner-up (4): 1997, 2001, 2006, 2008

• Torneo Clausura:

Winners (5): 1998, 2002, 2004, 2005, 2014

Runner-up (2): 2000, 2008

• Torneo Regional:

Winners (3): 1989-I, 1991-I, 1991-I

• Torneo Interzonal:

Winners (1): 1982

International

• Copa Libertadores:

Runner-up (1): 1997

Friendly International

• Copa El Gráfico-Perú:

Winners (2): 2001, 2006

Runner-up (1): 2002-II

• Copa Marlboro:

Winners (1): 1988

Under-20 team

• Torneo de Promoción y Reserva:

Runner-up (1): 2014-I, 2015-III

Performance in CONMEBOL competitions

• Copa Libertadores: 30 appearances

Runners-up (1): 1997

1962, 1968, 1969, 1971, 1973, 1974, 1978, 1980, 1981, 1984, 1989, 1990, 1992, 1993, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2013, 2014

• Copa CONMEBOL: 1 appearance

1994: Quarter-Finals

• Copa Merconorte: 4 appearances

1998: First Round

1999: First Round

2000: First Round

2001: First Round

• U-20 Copa Libertadores: 1 appearance

2012: Group Stage

References

External links

• Sporting Cristal Official Club Website
• Sporting Cristal's channel on YouTube
• Sporting Cristal on Facebook
• Sporting Cristal on Twitter