Club Atlético River Plate

For the Uruguayan club see: CA River Plate (Montevideo)

Club Atlético River Plate, known also as River Plate or simply River, is an Argentine sports club best known for its football team, established in 1901. Its home base is the neighborhood of Nuñez, in Buenos Aires, and it plays at the Estadio Monumental Antonio Vespucio Liberti.

"River Plate" is sometimes used as the English name for the Rio de la Plata, the river on which Buenos Aires sits. It is believed that in the club's early days one of the founders (Martínez) observed sailors playing impromptu football games in the port of Buenos Aires next to crates marked "The River Plate", hence the club name.

History

River Plate was founded May 25, 1901, close to the La Boca neighborhood (home of rival side Boca Juniors). A story argues that River Plate and Boca Juniors played a match to decide who stays in the neighborhood, and having lost that game, River Plate had to relocate. The club moved first to Palermo and then to Núñez on the northern side of the city in 1923. In the early 1930s, River acquired Bernabé Ferreyra from Tigre for a then unheard-of sum, and payed mostly with gold. The club became known as los millonarios (the millionaires).

In the 1940s Alfredo Di Stefano and in the 1950s Eduardo Omar Sívori played for River before moving on to became stars in Europe. Some River players had stints in the Colombian "Eldorado" league when it was the world's wealthiest.

River's attractive, offensive playing style earned it the nickname La Máquina (the machine). The names of its five forwards (Muñoz, Moreno, Pedernera, Labruna, Lusteau) are known by most Argentine fans.

Between 1952 and 1957, River won five out of six league titles, and then an 18-year drought ensued. River returned to form in 1975 and had a string of championship titles under coach Angel Labruna with players like Daniel Passarella and Norberto Alonso.

In 1983, Enzo Francescoli was acquired from Uruguayan side Montevideo Wanderers to occupy Alonso's place. He had two stints in River, achieving international renown, and became known as "the prince". In 1986, just after Francescoli's departure to France, River won its first Libertadores cup. A new generation of home-grown players led by Claudio Caniggia went on to achieve success both at River and abroad.

River Plate has won 32 Argentine professional championships, as well as the Intercontinental Cup in 1986, the Copa Libertadores twice (1986 and 1996 against the same rival - America de Cali), the Copa Interamericana in 1987 and the Supercopa in 1997.

Being the two biggest and more important football clubs in Argentina, and due to the rivalry between them, the Boca-River Superclásico was listed by the BBC in its famous derbies in the world, and as one of the 50 sporting things you must do before you die by The Observer.

In 1999, a special edition of Argentine sportsmagazine "El Gráfico" named River Plate as "campeón del siglo" ("champion of the century"), noting River's achievements, especially its 28 Argentine championships against Boca Juniors's 19 and Independiente's 13 (all figures as of 1999).

Nicknames

River fans and the press are fond of the nickname millonarios. This name carries from the 1930s after some expensive transfers of players from other clubs, including Bernabé Ferreyra from Tigre in 1932. In 1979 - 1981, the River squad was reputed to be amongst the most expensive in the world.

Fans of rival clubs call River gallinas (literally hens, but more akin to chicken). This nickname was supposedly born in a game against Uruguayan team Peñarol, when River was ahead 2-0 and ended up losing the game 4-2. La Prensa's article (in Spanish)

Due to the red band in their jersey, it is also common to refer to River as el equipo de la banda roja (the team with the red band) or simply la banda (which also means "the gang").

Some famous River teams earned nicknames, notably La Máquina (the machine), the team that astonished Argentine football between 1941 and 1945.

In 1996 and 1997, during a streak of titles (three local titles, one Copa Libertadores, one Supercopa), River was sometimes called La Maquinita (the little machine) by the press. That team featured Francescoli and younger players such as Juan Pablo Sorín, Hernán Crespo, Ariel Ortega, and Marcelo Gallardo.

Stadium

See main article Estadio Monumental Antonio Vespucio Liberti

The Monumental is River's home stadium in the Nuñez neighborhood of Buenos Aires. It has a capacity of 65,645.

Titles

Amateur

Second Division: 1

1908

First Division: 1

1920

Professional

Local (32)

First Division: 32

1932, 1936, 1937, 1941, 1942, 1945, 1947, 1952, 1953, 1955, 1956, 1957, Metropolitano 1975, Nacional 1975, Metropolitano 1977, Metropolitano 1979, Nacional 1979, Metropolitano 1980, Nacional 1981, 1985/86, 1989/90, Apertura 1991/92, Apertura 1993/94, Apertura 1994/95, Apertura 1996/97, Clausura 1996/97, Apertura 1997/98, Apertura 1999/00, Clausura 1999/00, Clausura 2001/02, Clausura 2002/03, Clausura 2003/04

International

International Titles (5)

Copa Libertadores: 2

1986, 1996

Intercontinental Cup: 1

1986

Other International Cups: 2

Copa Interamericana 1987, Supercopa 1997

List of famous players

Note: The Players marked '(c)' have also coached the team

Early Days and La Máquina

Other sports

River Plate plays in the Argentine National League of Basketball, in which it obtained the subchampionship in 1988. It has professional male and female volleyball teams playing in the first division.

Current squad

As of 26 January 2006

External links

Official site (in Spanish, English and Chinese)
Unofficial site
Unofficial site

River Plate | 1901 establishments | Argentine basketball clubs | Argentine football clubs | Sport in Buenos Aires

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