Club Estudiantes de La Plata
is a sports club in La
Plata
, Buenos Aires province
, Argentina
, with a history of achievement in professional
football.
Estudiantes are the reigning South American champions having won
the
2009 Copa Libertadores.
As a result, the current club badge has ten stars for its six
international and four local titles.
History
The club, initially named "Club Atlético Estudiantes", was founded
on 4 August 1905
[90773] by university students who felt left out by
the management of
Gimnasia y
Esgrima La Plata, which favored indoor games over football.
Since 1906, its jersey had red and white vertical stripes honoring
the
Alumni team that dominated
Argentine football in those years, with black pants and gray or
black socks. In the early days, the team wore a blue blazer on top
of the jersey when entering the pitch.
Estudiantes team photo from 1912
The stadium on 1st Avenue opened on 25 December 1907. Before the
advent of professionalism, Estudiantes won the 1913 league
title.
When professionalism was adopted in Argentina in 1931, Estudiantes
had a famous offensive lineup:
Lauri-Scopelli-Zozaya-Ferreira-Guaita, known as
Los
Profesores (The Professors), and still regarded as one of
Argentina's all-time finest.
Guaita and Scopelli played for the Italy
national
team that conquered the 1934
World Cup. The Sbarra brothers (Raúl and Roberto) and
Armando Nery were feared defensive players. Alberto Zozaya scored
the first goal of professional football in Argentina and was the
top goalscorer of the first professional tournament.
In 1937, a pioneering lighting system was installed in the stadium,
allowing night games.
The 1950s saw the rise of goalkeeper Ogando, and fielders such as
Garcerón, Bouché, Urriolabeitia, Infante, Antonio, as well as the
final seasons of striker Manuel Pelegrina, who remains Estudiantes'
all-time top scorer with 221 goals. Following a confrontation with
the
Peronist government of Buenos Aires
province, the club's management was removed by authorities (the
excuse was refusing to distribute copies of
Eva Perón's book to club members
[90774]). The external management disbanded the team:
top scorers Infante and Pelegrina signed with
Huracán. The decimated team
was relegated in 1953, but following the normalization of the club
and the return of Pelegrina, Estudiantes was promoted the following
year.
In the 1960s,
Miguel
Ignomiriello coached the Estudiantes under-19 team known as
La Tercera que Mata (The Killer Juveniles), which would
evolve, together with a few acquisitions, into the team coached by
Osvaldo Zubeldía that won the
1967
Metropolitano championship.
With this
title, Estudiantes became the first club outside of the "five
greats" (Boca Juniors, River Plate, Racing
Club
, Independiente, and
San
Lorenzo) to obtain a professional title. This opened the
gates for other "small" clubs to do likewise (
Vélez Sarsfield won a championship in
1968 and
Chacarita Juniors one
year later).
Celebrations of the 1969 Libertadores
Cup,
El Gráfico magazine
Estudiantes went on to win the
Copa Libertadores de
América three years in a row (1968 to 1970), and the 1968
Intercontinental Cup
against the powerful
Manchester
United. It lost the series against
A.C. Milan (1969) and
Feyenoord (1970).
Estudiantes won the
maiden edition of the Interamerican
Cup in a three-legged final against the reigning CONCACAF title-holders, Mexican
club
Toluca. (The games were
played in 1969 but is officially known as the 1968 edition
[90775]).
The last part of the Zubeldía era was marred by the antics of some
players. Following a violent Intercontinental match against Milan,
the entire team was arrested on orders from Argentine President
Juan Carlos Onganía. In an
unprecedented step, goalkeeper Poletti was suspended for life (he
was later pardoned) and did time in jail, together with teammates
Aguirre Suárez and Madero. Because of several such events, it
became a cliché to refer to Zubeldía's football as
el
antifútbol.
Zubeldía hired former referees to lecture the team on regulations,
to allow the team to exploit every loophole in the book. Also, he
incorporated tactics that were unheard of in the era, such as
playbook drills for free-kicks and corner kicks, the
offside trap, and double-marking
opponents.
The
Zubeldía team counted two physicians among its stars: Carlos Salvador Bilardo and Raúl Madero graduated from the University of
Buenos Aires
Faculty of Medicine during
their playing days. Juan Ramón Verón was a gifted
player who could play left wing but also join the midfielders or
attack from the right. He profited from the no-nonsense playing of
Conigliaro, Echecopar, and Madero, and the tactical guidance
provided by Bilardo. Right-back Manera was a very talented player,
but suffered from repeated injuries and did not realize his full
potential. Fullback Aguirre Suárez was noted for his often violent
play.
Championship team of the 1983
Nacional
After the 1970 season, Carlos Bilardo retired from play and got
involved in his family's furniture business. As the team's fortunes
were declining and relegation seemed a possibility, he was called
by management in mid-1971 to coach the team. Under his guidance,
Estudiantes lost the 1975 Nacional title in the last day of play
and made it to the Copa Libertadores in 1976.
In the
ensuing years, Bilardo alternated between coaching Estudiantes and
Colombian
teams. He was briefly the coach of the
Colombia national
team but was called again by Estudiantes in 1982. Soon after,
the team won the 1982
Metropolitano championship. Under
his successor
Eduardo Luján
Manera, also a member of the Zubeldía team, Estudiantes won the
1983
Nacional tournament as well. Both wins were at the
expense of a star-studded Independiente.
Those championship teams were anchored by a solid defense (Camino
on the right and Herrera on the left were also fearsome attackers,
and
Brown provided security as
a sweeper), and also had three creative mid-fielders (
Ponce,
Sabella,
Trobbiani, with
Russo to guard their backs) and two
top-notch strikers (
Gottardi
and
Trama).
Bilardo went on to coach the
Argentine national team
that won the
1986 FIFA World
Cup. The captain of Estudiantes' 1982 champions, José Luis
Brown, scored the opening goal in the final against
West Germany. Four years
later, Argentina reached the final of the
1990 FIFA World Cup. Madero was team
physician on both events, and
Ricardo Echevarría, also from
Estudiantes, was fitness coach.
Estudiantes was relegated for the second time in 1994, and once
again returned to the first division the very next season, which
was the breakout year for
Juan Sebastián Verón. In the
ensuing years, the club had irregular results, and became known
mostly as the breeding ground for strikers such as
Martín Palermo,
Luciano Galletti,
Bernardo Romeo,
Ernesto Farias and
Mariano Pavone, and quality players such as
José Ernesto Sosa and
Pablo Piatti.
Bilardo returned as coach in 2003, with new management bent on
rebuilding the club in his winning ways. Some young players were
promoted, such as
Marcos Angeleri
and
José Ernesto Sosa. When
Bilardo departed, the team became a contender under coaches
Reinaldo Merlo and
Jorge Burruchaga.
The team made history
when it came from behind (0-3 in midtime) to win 4-3 against
Peru
's Sporting Cristal
in a Libertadores match played on 21 February 2006.
On May 18, 2006, Burruchaga was replaced with another former
Argentine great,
Diego Simeone, who
built the team around Juan Sebastián Verón, who returned to
Estudiantes after 11 years. The Simeone team was eliminated by
São Paulo in a penalty
shoot-out in the quarter-finals of the 2006
Copa
Libertadores, but went on to an impressive campaign in the
local league. It amassed ten straight wins (tying the club record),
including an unprecedented 7-0 win against Gimnasia in the derby
played 15 October 2006, and finished the regular season tied for
first place with Boca Juniors (per Argentine league rules, goal
difference is not used).
The final was played on December 13, 2006; Estudiantes came from
behind to defeat Boca Juniors 2-1 and thus securing its first
premiership title in 23 years. During this campaign, Estudiantes
defeated all the "five greats", allowed the least goals, and three
of its players (Pavone, Verón and Braña) were ranked as the
league's top three by sports diary Olé .
Simeone left the team after the 2007 Apertura, and was replaced by
former
S.S. Lazio teammate
Roberto
Sensini. After a weak finish in the 2008
Clausura,
Sensini was replaced with
Leonardo
Astrada. Under his guidance, Estudiantes reached the final of
the
Copa Sudamericana 2008
which it lost to Brazilian side
Sport Club Internacional, but a
string of bad results caused Astrada's departure.
On March 2009, former player
Alejandro
Sabella became head coach, his first such engagement (his
coaching career heretofore was mostly as assistant to
Daniel Passarella).
The team improved his
league standings and advanced to the final of the Copa Libertadores 2009, winning 2-1
on aggregate over Cruzeiro
after an away win on 15 July 2009. Verón was
chosen as the competition's most valuable player, and
Mauro Boselli was top goal scorer, with a
decisive header in the final match.
The solid play of Estudiantes led several journalists to mark the
team as the best in Argentina
[90776]. Following a string of bad performances
by the national team, it was suggested to call more players from
Estudiantes' roster to help improve Argentina's chances to qualify
for the
2010 FIFA World Cup in
South Africa [90777] [90778].
Titles
Osvaldo Zubeldía and Mariano Mangano
with the Intercontinental Cup in 1968
Amateur era
- Campeonato de la Federación Argentina de Football (1):
1913
- Segunda División Argentina (1): 1911
- Copa Río de La Plata (1): 1913
Professional era
National titles
International titles
Stadium and Training Grounds
Project of the new Estudiantes'
Stadium
Jorge Luis Hirschi
Stadium is located on 1st Avenue, between 55th and 57th
Streets, in La Plata. In its previous incarnation, it had room for
23,000. The wooden stands behind the goal-lines were standing-room
only. The stands next to the avenue were sitting-room, and were
separated from the avenue by a row of tile trees. The opposite side
was roofed and had the best seating arrangements. The noisiest fans
used to occupy the 55th Street
popular, while visiting
fans were often directed to the 57th St.
popular, opposite
a technical high school (whose inconvenient location is to blame
for the relatively small size of the pitch, at 105 x 68 m).
For its international games in the Zubledía era, Estudiantes has
traditionally used
Boca Juniors'
La Bombonera, noted for its
intimidating acoustics.
With the
erection of Estadio Ciudad de La Plata
, a modern stadium built in the 1990s, both
Estudiantes and Gimnasia decided initially against relocating their
home games. However, Estudiantes's field was closed down in
September 2005 because of new safety regulations that forbid
standing-only wooden stands. This began a series of political
infighting between the club and city hall.
During the 2005
Apertura tournament, Estudiantes played
its home games in the nearby Gimnasia stadium, and after that in
the
Quilmes field. There,
Estudiantes made history with a come-from-behind 4-3 Libertadores
win against Sporting Cristal.
On April 2006 a court decree allowed the re-opening of
1 y
57, but mayor
Julio Alak intervened
again to avoid this from happening..
Estudiantes
contemplated building a new stadium in the port town of Ensenada
, a few kilometers east of La Plata. In
August 2006, an agreement was reached to build sitting room for
20,000 and using the city stadium for games exceeding that
capacity.
Renovation work on the stadium started in 2007. In 2008, the
projected capacity of the stadium was set at 23,000. Negotiations
are afoot to secure financing for the reconstruction works from
several sponsors in exchange for naming rights.
Meanwhile, Estudiantes settled in the new stadium, where it earned
five consecutive derby wins, and had a streak of 37 games
undefeated in the local league (2007-2009). When work began in
August 2009 to install a new roof in the city stadium, Estudiantes
moved once again to Quilmes.
Estudiantes' training grounds in the
Country Club premises (in City Bell
, north of La Plata) are among the most advanced in
Argentina. Many facilities were financed by Juan Sebastián
Verón while he played in Europe. Verón was also instrumental in the
negotiations over the stadium, meeting then president
Néstor Kirchner to unlock the process
that was being stalled by mayor Alak .
Fan Base
Following its international successes in the 1960s, Estudiantes
gained a significant following outside of the La Plata area.
Within the La Plata area, Estudiantes was traditionally regarded as
the club of the
middle class, while
rival side Gimnasia y Esgrima was identified with the
working class. This characterization seems to
be outdated. There used to be much discussion about which club has
the larger following, but Estudiantes seems to have pulled
forward.
For several periods in the club's history, a cadre of fans from
Buenos Aires (
los porteños) were a powerful element within
the base. A noted fan since the 1970s is
el pelapapas
("the potato peeler", after his job as a kitchen hand), famous for
lighting bonfires during games, juggling and performing other
stunts.
In the 1983 presidential election, Estudiantes fans were, together
with their peers from
Vélez
Sarsfield, the first to voice their support for eventual winner
Raúl Alfonsín in his bid
against the
Peronistas. The friendship with
Vélez supporters has since vanished, especially after an
Estudiantes win denied Vélez the 2003 championship.
Estudiantes fans are on friendly terms with most clubs from the
South side of
Greater Buenos
Aires who make it to the top divisions. This was especially
true of Quilmes and Temperley.
Platense, from the North side of
Greater Buenos Aires, held a special place in the hearts of
Estudiantes fans, as it cemented Gimnasia's relegation in 1979
(Platense currently plays in the lower divisions).
On an
international note, Estudiantes is friendly with the Uruguayan
fan base of Peñarol. This relationship was strained
by an incident involving
barra
bravas, where fan Sergio Chans, an Uruguayan, was injured
during a Copa Libertadores match against Uruguayan squad Nacional
[90779] when a rival "barra" shot him with a
.22 pistol.
Author
Ernesto Sabato is an
Estudiantes sympathizer. Even though his interest in football is
limited, the club has honored Sabato with a ceremony in which he
was given a No. 10 jersey.
Nicknames
The nickname
pincharratas (the rat stabbers), often
shortened to
pinchas, is generally attributed to the
laboratory work done by the many
Medicine
students among the club's early members. This nickname extends to
the fans.
Another version maintains that the name comes from the nickname of
one Felipe Montedónica, a bodyguard of the team in the 1910s, who
was known as "el pincharratas".
A third version claims that the early training fields were infested
with rats, and the players spent much time and effort chasing after
them.
Fans also call the team
el león (the lion),
el orgullo
de la ciudad (the pride of the city), and
los capos de La
Plata (the bosses of La Plata).
For several years it was customary to use the word
Tricampeón (three-time champion) because of its
Libertadores
three-peat. This name was
replaced with
Tetracampeón (four-time champion) after the
2009 Libertadores final.
List of Famous Players
- To appear in this section a player must have played at
least 50 games for the club
Los Profesores ("The Teachers"):
Miguel Angel Lauri, Alejandro Scopelli, Alberto Zozaya, Manuel
Ferreira and Enrique Guaita
1930s-1960s
Zubeldía's team
1970s-1980s
|
Bilardo's champions
1980s-present
|
see also
Current Squad
Top Goalscorers
References
External links
Copa Sudamericana
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