Club América

Template:PDFM Football Club Club América, most commonly known as just América, is a professional Mexican football club playing in the Primera División. The team is one of the most popular, hated, and traditional football clubs in Mexico. América is the richest team in Mexico owned by Televisa (also owns Necaxa and San Luis) and the most successful team in CONCACAF tournaments, having won five Champion's Cups and one Giants Cup. América and Chivas share the distinction of being the most successful teams in league play - America with 10 professional championships, and Chivas with 11. The two also have a long-standing rivalry. Their meetings, which have become known as Clásicos are played at least twice a year and signal a national derby. America has won the last four Clásicos played in a row.

The team has also had success in international tournaments including 5 CONCACAF Champions' cups, tying Cruz Azul for the most titles of all time, and two Copa Interamericana victories. América has also had strong showings in the Copa Libertadores, finishing as semi-finalists in Copa Libertadores 2000 and 2002.

In 2006, America qualified to the FIFA Club World Cup, in this tournament, America just won its 1st match against the Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors (Korea). America went on to lose the next match against FC Barcelona (Spain), America ended its participation in the tournament, losing the 3rd place spot to Al-Ahly (Egypt). They finished 4th in the 2006 edition of the FIFA Club World Cup.

Their club colors have been yellow and blue since the team was founded. The team mascot is the eagle, one of which, named ("Celeste"), is flown around the stadium before important matches.

1980s The Golden Age

Eight more years would come to pass before America won another championship, but the team's fans would be rewarded thanks to the conquest of what has been called by many the greatest moment in the Eagles' history, a 5-3 victory over Chivas de Guadalajara. The '84 championship gave the team new vigour it seemed, and America began to dominate the decade, winning four more titles in the 1980s. (1984-85, when they defeated UNAM Pumas 3-1; Prode 85 beating Tampico Madero 5 to 4, 1987-88 once again over Pumas by a score of 4-2 and ending their decade of dominance by defeating Cruz Azul at the end of the 1988-89 season 5-4)

1990s A Decade to Forget

The '90s would be a decade to forget for fans of the yellow clad warriors, with nothing to show for except an Interamericana Cup championship in 1993, and a CONCACAF Cup Championship in 1992. Years came and went with Televisa spending exorbitant amounts of money on both Mexican and South American (and even a few European and African imports) destined to return the club to its former glory which came to pass as nothing more than currency far from well spent. Internationally renowned coaches and executives were also brought to the team, producing no results that added to the team's woes. The only bright spots of the decade were the appearance of new young stars that developed in the club's youth squad, players like Cuauhtémoc Blanco and Germán Villa that would be instrumental to the team's success later on.

2000s Return to the Top

The new millennium brought renewed hope for Club America's fans, who would be rewarded quickly, with a CONCACAF Giants' cup in 2001, the first League championship in 13 years in the summer of 2002, and the team's tenth overall League title in 2005. The team, now being run by Azcarraga's son, Emilio Azcárraga Jean continues the legacy begun by his father and the foundation he laid which eventually rewarded the club with - aside from the aforementioned 10 League titles- , 3 Cup titles, 3 Super Cup titles, 5 CONCACAF Champions Cup titles, and 2 Interamerican Cup titles.

Stadium

América plays their home games at the Estadio Azteca in Mexico City. The stadium briefly used by Atlante, Cruz Azul and Necaxa before they moved to the Estadio Andrés Quintana Roo in 2007, Estadio Azul in 1996 and Estadio Victoria in 2003 respectively. The stadium was designed by Mexican architect Pedro Ramírez Vázquez, and was inaugurated on May 29, 1966, with a match between América and Torino, which was tied 2-2. The Azteca is also the only stadium in history to host two World Cup finals. The First Goal in the stadium was scored for Arlindo Dos Santos.　

The Estadio Azteca is currently the third biggest soccer stadium in the world by capacity, for 115,500, only below Salt Lake Stadium in India and Rungrado May Day Stadium in North Korea.

The Estadio Azteca is known as El Coloso de Santa Ursula.

Supporters

América have substantial Ultras fan support in the form of barras, the most popular of which is called La Monumental, who receive ten thousand tickets for every home game. This barra is unique in that it was not established or even organized by the fans, but rather was created by Javier Pérez Teuffer, the club's president at the time. He wanted a more family-oriented barra, but his creation soon went awry. La Monumental is notorious for being one of the most rabid and violent barras in Mexico, attacking rival barras like UNAM's La Rebel at first glance. The violence came to a head on May 11, 2004, when América were eliminated from the 2004 Copa Libertadores by Brazilian side São Caetano. During the game, Cuauhtémoc Blanco purposely elbowed an opposing player and was sent off. As São Caetano players celebrated the victory after the game ended, Blanco came back from the locker room and started a fight. Soon after, members of La Monumental invaded the pitch and began to attack São Caetano's goalkeeper and several members of security. They also damaged parts of the Azteca. Though the São Caetano players got away safely, both Blanco and La Monumental were condemned for the incident. However, the "Ritual del Kaoz" have taken over and separated from the Ultra section or "El Gallinero" (how it is called in the cheap section). They have taken over in a way that now they have no affiliation with the stadium workers. They are completely independent and are now seen by people as the most feared firm by the PFP (Federal Preventive Police) of Mexico. They are mostly formed up by the people that were banned from "El Gallinero" because of the São Caetano incident where everyone that went on the field was banned for life.

Apart from this, various América barras, including La Monumental, Ritual Del Kaoz and La Disturbio engage in acts of tifo, such as the popular Avalancha (avalanche). For this, supporters rush either up or down the stands whenever América score a goal. This act is designed - like its name implies - to imitate an avalanche. Supporters also perform elaborate porras, or chants, the most famous of which is Vamos América. Though not necessary, the barras will frequently employ the use of drums or various other musical and percussion instruments to add rhythm to a chant.

Rivalries

Over the years América has formed fierce rivalries with many teams, this is due in large part not only because of the size and success of the club, but because of the polarizing perception of the institution.

El Clásico Joven

América has a long standing rivalry with Cruz Azul called El Clásico Joven (The Young Classic). It is considered one of Mexico's classic derbies because of the size of the two clubs and their popularity around Mexico City and the rest of the country. América and Cruz Azul rank second and third all-time in Mexican championships and are tied for the most CONCACAF Champions' Cups.

El Clásico Mexicano

The rivalry between América and Chivas is considered the most important rivalry in Mexico and one of the most hated rivalries in the world. The derby transcends far beyond just the two corresponding cities, Mexico City and Guadalajara but around the country, different parts of the United States, Central America, and South America. América and Chivas have long been the two most successful teams in Mexico and currently stand one and two on the all-time first division table, Chivas has recently taken the lead by winning their eleventh star.

Other Rivalries

América also has strong rivalries with fellow Mexico City side UNAM Toluca and Cruz Azul, and its "brother" team Necaxa, as the latter is owned by the same conglomerate that owns América.

Youth Squad

Socio Águila is Las Águilas youth/reserve squad. A lot of it's players are promoted to the senior squad.

Club records

First Mexican team to get to the second round of the Copa Libertadores de America in 1998.
First Mexican team to get a point in the Copa Libertadores de America outside México against Vasco da Gama, the result was 1-1.
Has participated in most international competitions out of all Mexican teams, with 20, including Copa Sudamericana 2007. This is the participation of America in the 20 competitions that it has participated in, of which they have gained 8, with an effectiveness of approximately 40% .
These are the number of times participated in international competitions:

8 Cups of Champions and Runners-up of CONCACAF (1977, 1985, 1987, 1990, 1992, 2002, 2003, 2006)
1 Giant's Cup of CONCACAF (2001)
2 Inter-American Cups (1978 and 1991)
5 Copa Libertadores (1998, 2000, 2002, 2004, 2007)
2 Copa Sudamericana (2005, 2007)
1 North American Superliga (2007)
1 Fifa Club World Cup (2006)

Along with the Guadalajara, is the only club to have played all the matches in the first Mexican division.
Historical Record of most games without losing in Mexican Football, 28. (Closing 2005 - Opening 2005). The former record was 24 games without losing in 1971-1972.
Mexican team with most points in one short season, 43 (Apertura 2002).
First Mexican team complete 1000 victories in the Opening of the 2002 playing against Pumas of the UNAM Giving an olympic round in stage CU.
First Mexican team to score 4000 goals; in the Opening from the 2004 playing against Veracruz, goal 4000 was scored by Christian Patiño.
Has participated in a total of 35 liguillas in Mexican soccer (the total number of liguillas to date is 47), being the club that have participated most and the team to have won the most, winning 9.Have winning most of their championships in short tournaments.
First team of CONCACAF to win the Inter-American Cup in 1978.
Winner of most international matches in Mexico and CONCACAF.
First and only Mexican club to have played in 3 different continents (Asia, America and Europe).
Only team of CONCACAF that has won the Inter-American Cup 2 times, in 1978 and 1991.
Winner of the most Champions Cup of CONCACAF, along with Cruz Azul Club, both with 5 titles each.
Only team of CONCACAF that has won arguably the most important international competitions in the region:

Champions Cup of the CONCACAF
Inter-American Cup

Has participated in more Copa Libertadores ( 5 ) than any other Mexican team.

First non-European and South American team in being World-wide Club of the month to win the award 2 times: August 2001 and May of 2002.
Currently (October 2007) has the place 19th in the World-wide Ranking of Clubs of the IFFHS. (http://www.iffhs.de/)
In the All-Time Club World Ranking (since 1.1.1991) of the IFFHS, has the place 94th.

Honors

National

File:FMF.gif Mexican Championship: 10
- 1965-1966, 1970-1971, 1975-1976, 1983-1984, 1984-1985, Prode 1985, 1987-1988, 1988-1989, Verano 2002, Clausura 2005
Campeón de Copa (Mexican Cup): 5
- 1953-1954, 1954-1955, 1963-1964, 1964-1965, 1973-1974
Campeón de Campeones (Mexican Super Cup): 5
- 1954-1955, 1975-1976, 1987-1988, 1988-1989, 2004-2005

International

File:Concacafchampionlogo.jpg CONCACAF Champions' Cup: 5 (record, tied with Cruz Azul)
- 1978, 1987, 1991, 1993, 2006

File:Concacaf logo.png CONCACAF Giants Cup:
- 2001

Copa Interamericana: 2
- 1978, 1991

Amateur

Campeón de Liga (League Championship): 4
- 1924-1925, 1925-1926, 1926-1927, 1927-1928

Campeón de Copa (Mexican Cup): 1
- 1937-1938

Friendly

Copa Independencia: 1966-67, 1974-75
Junta Española Covadonga: 1927
Copa Vizcaya: 1920
Copa Baltamar: 1922
Liga Excélsior: 1920
Copa Presidente Gustavo Díaz Ordaz: 1964-65
Copa Revolución Mexicana: 1980-81
Copa Pachuca: 1997
Copa Houston: 2003
Copa San José: 2006

International Competitions

América at the Copa Libertadores

Year	PG	W	D	L	GF	GA	PTS	GD	Stage
1998	8	2	3	3	7	7	9	0	Round of 16
2000	12	8	1	3	28	18	25	10	Semifinals
2002	12	9	2	1	19	8	29	11	Semifinals
2004	8	4	2	2	13	8	14	5	Round of 16
2007	12	6	1	5	23	16	19	7	Quarterfinals
Total	52	29	9	14	90	57	96	33

América at the Copa Sudamericana

Year	PG	W	D	L	GF	GA	PTS	GD	Stage
2005	4	1	1	2	7	8	4	-1	Quarterfinals
2007	6	4	0	2	11	6	12	5	Final (in progress)
Total	10	5	1	4	18	14	16	4

América at the North American SuperLiga

Year	PG	W	D	L	GF	GA	PTS	GD	Stage
2007	3	1	0	2	3	4	3	-1	First Round
Total	3	1	0	2	3	4	3	-1

América at the FIFA Club World Cup

Year	PG	W	D	L	GF	GA	PTS	GD	Stage
2006	3	1	0	2	2	6	3	-4	4th Place
Total	3	1	0	2	2	6	3	-4

Current Roster

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


No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
1	GK	MEX	Guillermo Ochoa
2	DF	MEX	Ismael Rodríguez
3	DF	MEX	José Antonio Castro
4	DF	MEX	Óscar Rojas
5	DF	MEX	Duilio Davino
6	DF	MEX	Diego Alberto Cervantes
9	FW	ARG	Lucas Castromán
8	MF	ARG	Federico Insúa
54	FW	PAR	Salvador Cabañas
11	FW	MEX	Santiago Fernández
12	GK	MEX	Armando Navarrete
13	MF	MEX	Juan Carlos Mosqueda
14	DF	MEX	Carlos Infante
15	DF	MEX	Jesus Armando Sanchez
16	DF	CHI	Ricardo Rojas
17	FW	URU	Hernán Rodrigo López


No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
18	MF	MEX	Germán Villa (captain)
19	DF	MEX	Rodrigo Iñigo
20	MF	MEX	Alejandro Argüello
21	FW	MEX	Enrique Esqueda
22	DF	MEX	Alvin Mendoza
23	DF	MEX	Jose Joaquin Martinez
24	MF	MEX	Guadalupe Zavala
25	MF	MEX	Jose de Jesus Mosqueda
26	MF	MEX	Juan Carlos Silva
36	GK	MEX	Milton Aguilar
39	DF	MEX	Guillermo Cerda
40	MF	MEX	Alfredo Omar Tena
45	MF	MEX	Fernando Julien Freire
46	FW	MEX	Daniel Marquez
7	FW	MEX	Luis Paul Torres