San Lorenzo de Almagro

"CASLA" redirects here. For the village in Ireland, see Casla.
San Lorenzo
Full name Club Atlético San Lorenzo de Almagro
Nickname(s) Santo (Saint),
Cuervo (Crow),
Ciclón (Cyclone),
Azulgrana (Blue and Red),
Matadores (Killers)
Founded 1 April 1908 (1908-04-01)
Ground Estadio Pedro Bidegain,
Flores, Buenos Aires
Ground Capacity 43,494
Chairman Matías Lammens
Manager Diego Aguirre
League Primera División
2015 2nd
Website Club home page

Club Atlético San Lorenzo de Almagro, known as San Lorenzo de Almagro or San Lorenzo (in english: Saint Lawrence), is an Argentine sports club based in the Boedo, neighbourhood of Buenos Aires. It is best known for its football team, which plays in the Primera División, the top division of the Argentine football league system. San Lorenzo is also considered one of the "big five" ("Los 5 Grandes") of Argentine football by Argentine press, with Independiente, River Plate, Boca Juniors, and Racing Club.

San Lorenzo plays its home games at Estadio Pedro Bidegain, popularly known as Nuevo Gasómetro. The stadium and sports facilities are located in Bajo Flores, neighborhood of the city of Buenos Aires, characterized by being one of the most dangerous neighborhoods of Buenos Aires.

Club's previous stadium was the Viejo Gasómetro, located in Boedo neighborhood. After the match was played there in 1979, the Gasómetro was expropriated by the de facto Government of Argentina and then sold to chain of supermarkets Carrefour.

The club currently has five headquarters: three in Boedo, one in Monserrat, and one at Bajo Flores, all of them in the city of Buenos Aires. San Lorenzo also plans to expand its main seat on La Plata Avenue, while a 15-hectare campus in Ezeiza is projected to develop an olympic football program.

San Lorenzo's historical rival is Huracán, located in Parque Patricios. The two clubs play one of the older derbies in Argentina. Some supporters consider this derby as the third most important after Superclásico and Clásico de Avellaneda, in addition to being one of the most uneven derbies of Argentine Soccer.

Other sports practised at the club are artistic roller skating, basketball, field hockey, futsal, handball, martial arts, roller hockey, swimming, tennis and volleyball.[1] Some years ago, San Lorenzo had also opened a rugby union section,[2] but it is no longer active.

San Lorenzo gained international recognition in March 2013 with the election of Pope Francis, a supporter of the club.[3][4] The players played with the Pope's photo on their shirts during a league match against Colón de Santa Fe on 16 March 2013.[5] The institution is also known because of the actor Viggo Mortensen, supporter of the team, who spent part of his childhood in Argentina.

History

Origins of the club

Father Lorenzo Massa, honored by the founders giving his first name to the institution.

The roots of the institution can be found in a team formed by a group of kids that used to play football in the corner of México and Treinta y Tres Orientales streets of Buenos Aires. Due to the increasing traffic in the city, playing football at the streets became a risky activity for the boys. Lorenzo Massa, the catholic priest of the neighborhood's church, saw how a tram almost knocked down one of the boys while they were playing in the streets. As a way to prevent more accidents, he offered the boys to play in the church's backyard, under the condition they had to go to mass on Sundays.

On 1 April 1908, an assemble was held in the Almagro district of Buenos Aires with the purpose of establishing a club. During the meeting, several names were proposed. The first option was "Los Forzosos de Almagro" ("The Strongmen of Almagro", the name used by the boys for their street football squad), which did not sound good to Father Massa (who was present at the assemble). The other proposal was to name the club "San Lorenzo" as an homage to Massa, but he refused to be honored that way.

An earlier San Lorenzo posing with father Lorenzo Massa.

Nevertheless, the name was finally accepted by the priest, explaining that the name would not honor himself but both, Lawrence of Rome ("San Lorenzo" in Spanish) and the Battle of San Lorenzo, one of the most significative combats for the Independence of Argentina. Other founder member, Federico Monti, suggested to add the name of the neighbourhood, Almagro where most of the members lived in, which was accepted by the assemble.

Due to the team not having its own a stadium, San Lorenzo began to play its home games in a field property of the Club Martínez, placed in the nearby town of the same name. The squad played its first match on 26 April 1914, and at the end of the season San Lorenzo had to play a final match facing Excursionistas to proclaim a champion. San Lorenzo won the series (the results were 0–0 and 5–0). This title allowed San Lorenzo to dispute the playoffs in order to promote to the Argentine Primera División, which finally obtained after beating Club Honor y Patria by a score of 3–0.

First years in Primera

In 1923 San Lorenzo won its first Primera División title.

San Lorenzo began to play at the Argentine Football Association tournaments on 26 April 1914 in the second division, where the team ended sharing the first place with Excursionistas. As a result, both teams had to play a two-match series in order to determine which team would pass to the playoffs. San Lorenzo won the series after thrashing Excursionistas 5–0 in the second game.

In playoffs, San Lorenzo eliminated other teams before playing the final against Honor y Patria, which defeated by 3–0 promoting to Primera División.[6]´

San Lorenzo made its debut in Primera on 4 April 1915, being beat by Platense by 5–1. The first match won at the top division was in the 7th fixture, when the team defeated Floresta by 3–1. San Lorenzo finished 12th at the end of the season, sharing position with Gimnasia y Esgrima de Buenos Aires.[7]

On 7 May 1916 the club inaugurated its first stadium (popularly known as "Viejo Gasómetro" during a match against Estudiantes de La Plata, which San Lorenzo won by 2–1. That same year, the team finished 7th in the Primera División championship. In subsequent tournaments the team did not make good campaigns, finishing 12th[8] and 13th. In 1919 the Argentine league split into two leagues, the official Asociación Argentina and dissident Asociación Amateur (AAm),[9] which San Lorenzo took part of along with Racing Club, River Plate and Independiente, among other teams. San Lorenzo finished 9th.

The success begins

The team that won a new championship for the club in 1924.
The team that won its 3rd league championship in 1933.

In 1920 and 1922 San Lorenzo achieved a 3rd position, finally winning its first title in 1923. The squad won 17 of 20 games, only losing 2. San Lorenzo scored 34 goals in 20 fixtures, receiving 13.[10] That same year the squad also won its first international title, The Copa Campeonato del Río de la Plata after beating Montevideo Wanderers 1–0 at the final.

San Lorenzo won its second consecutive Primera División title one year later. The team played 23 matches winning 18 with 2 losses, with a total of 48 goals scored and 15 received.[11] In the following two seasons (1925 and 1926) San Lorenzo would make great performances finishing 2nd to Racing Club and Independiente respectively finally achieving its 3rd. title in 1927 when both leagues AAF and AAm had joined again. The squad totalized 57 points in 33 matches played with an outstanding mark of 86 goals scored (2,60 per game) and receiving only 26.[12]

The 1927 team won both, Primera División and Copa Aldao championships.

Apart of winning the domestic league, in 1927 San Lorenzo won its first and only Copa Aldao, after defeating Uruguayan team (Rampla Juniors) by 1–0. The club soon became one of the most popular institutions in Argentina, increasing its number of followers and being counted in the top five (cinco grandes) together with Boca Juniors, Independiente, River Plate and Racing Club.

In the 1930s, Isidro Lángara and other players of Basque descent endeared San Lorenzo to the Basque community. The team also relied on players from the provinces, known as los gauchos. San Lorenzo returned to success in 1933, when the team won its 4th league championship. The squad totalised 50 points with 22 wins, 6 losses and 6 draws. San Lorenzo scored 81 goals and conceded 48. Boca Juniors was the runner-up while Racing Club finished 3rd.

In 1936, there were two championships within the year, in a format of single-robin tournaments. San Lorenzo won the first round (named "Copa de Honor" for the occasion) while River Plate won the second round ("Copa Campeonato"). Although titles were recognised as official by the Association,[13][14][15][16] both champions, San Lorenzo and River Plate, had to play a match (named "Copa de Oro") in order to define which team would play the Copa Aldao match v. the Uruguayan Primera División champion. Finally, River Plate won the game by 4–2 and qualified to play Peñarol.

The 1940s: "The best team in the world"

San Lorenzo crowned Argentine league champion in 1946.

In 1943, San Lorenzo won this national cup, the Copa General Pedro Ramírez, named in honor of Pedro Pablo Ramírez, the de facto president of Argentina by then. San Lorenzo won the trophy after defeating General Paz Juniors by 8–3.

After the 1936 success, San Lorenzo would not win a league title until ten years after, when in 1946 proclaimed champion with a total of 46 points (the runner-up, Boca Juniors, finished 2nd. with 42). San Lorenzo also scored a record of 90 goals in 30 games played, only receiving 37.

That same year (1946), the team went on to a tour of Spain and Portugal that was one of the highlights of the club's history. The team debuted playing Atlético Aviación winning by 4–1. San Lorenzo played a total of 10 matches in Europe, with some extraordinary victories over Spain national team (7–5 and 6–1). The Spanish crowd at the stadium acclaimed San Lorenzo as "Son els millor del mon" ("You are the best in the world" in Catalan). San Lorenzo then moved to Portugal where the squad showed its skilled playgame thrashing Porto (9–4) and the Portugal national team by 10–4. The only team that defeated San Lorenzo was Real Madrid by 4–1.

As a result of the successful tour, player René Pontoni was offered a contract with Barcelona but declined to leave Argentina (Barcelona then drafted River Plate's Alfredo Di Stéfano). Fellow player Rinaldo Martino did stay in European football and would later become a star with Juventus.[17]

European tour details

San Lorenzo players taking the pitch before playing a friendly match v. Spain national team on January 16, 1947.
1946–47 tour on Spain and Portugal[18]
Date Rival Result
1946-12-23 Atlético Aviación 4–1
1946-12-25 Real Madrid 1–4
1947-01-01 Spain national team 7–5
1947-01-05 Athletic de Bilbao 3–3
1947-01-16 Spain national team 6–1
1947-01-22 Valencia 1–1
1947-01-26 Dep. La Coruña 0–0
1947-01-31 Porto 9–4
1947-02-02 Portugal national team 10–4
1947-01-26 Sevilla 5–5

The 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s

In the 1960s, a generation of players known as carasucias (literally: dirty faces) were the darling of Argentine fans because of their offensive, careless playing and their bad-boy antics off the pitch. The 1968 team was nicknamed los matadores as it won the championship without losing a single game, this team was recognized as the best team in the world by many journalists. In the years 1968–1974 San Lorenzo won a total of four league titles, its best harvest ever. In 1972, the club became the first Argentine team to win two league titles in one year.

Poor administrations, however, led San Lorenzo to a huge economic crisis. Argentina's military government coerced the club into selling the historic stadium located in Boedo. The team was relegated in 1981, only to return to the top division with great fanfare in the 1982 season, which set all-time attendance records for the club.

The 1990s

By that time, the club had no stadium and was plagued by debt and irregularities. Controversial president Fernando Miele (1986–2001) delivered both the new stadium and two league titles: the Clausura '95 (after 21 years without winning a first division title) and the Clausura 2001 (in which the team achieved 11 consecutive victories). San Lorenzo finished the Clausura 2001 with 47 points in a tournament of 19 matches, setting the record for the highest points haul since the inception of the Apertura and Clausura system in 1990.

The New Millennium

San Lorenzo team in 2015.

In late 2001, San Lorenzo won their first international title: the Copa Mercosur 2001, becoming the only Argentine team to win that international cup, because the others champions were all from Brazil.

San Lorenzo also won the first edition of the Copa Sudamericana in December 2002, claiming their second international title, and getting the opportunity to play the Recopa against the Copa Libertadores champion Olimpia

San Lorenzo is identified with the middle class atmosphere of the Boedo neighborhood. Its derby rival from the southern part of Buenos Aires are Huracán, who were promoted back to the first division for the 2007–08 season, only to be relegated again in 2011.

In 2007, San Lorenzo won the First Division League, Clausura 2007 beating Boca Juniors in the race for the title. Led by manager Ramón Díaz, San Lorenzo secured the title after the 17th round of fixtures, with two games still to play. They finished the tournament with 45 points.

Six years later, and only one year after being relegation-threatened, the club managed to win the Torneo Inicial 2013.

In 2014, San Lorenzo won their first Copa Libertadores.[19] In the final, they defeated Nacional of Paraguay 2–1 on aggregate, concluding their championship run with a 1–0 victory in the second leg at Estadio Pedro Bidegain. This earned the club a berth in the 2014 FIFA Club World Cup in Morocco, their first trip to FIFA's premier club tournament.[20] They would ultimately lose in the finals to Real Madrid, and finish as runners-up.

Stadium

View of the Estadio Pedro Bidegain.

The Viejo Gasómetro stadium in what nowadays is known as Boedo was a venue of great renown, where many international games were held. During the military government in 1979 San Lorenzo was forced to sell the stadium for a small amount of money, and a few years later the supermarket chain Carrefour bought it. The price had mysteriously surged eightfold, but the Club did not get any extra money.

After 14 years of renting the stadium San Lorenzo with the help of fans inaugurated the new stadium, Estadio Pedro Bidegain (nicknamed Nuevo Gasómetro), which opened in December 1993 at the intersection of the Perito Moreno and Varela avenues in the Flores neighborhood. However, the fans never forgot the old stadium, and its former lot is claimed by San Lorenzo and their fans to this day. On 8 March 2012 there was a demonstration attended by over 100,000 people in favour of reclaiming the place for the club, and on 15 November the Buenos Aires City Legislature passed a bill stating that, in the course of six months, Carrefour should negotiate a deal with San Lorenzo in order to share the land lot, and if no accommodation was reached then the city would expropriate it with San Lorenzo's funds. First an extension was agreed to and one and a half years later they signed an agreement, which establishes that the multinational retailer will build a smaller new store on a corner of their current property, financed by funds provided by San Lorenzo. The rest of the lot will be handed over to the club, and there are plans to build another new stadium there.

The current stadium has a capacity of 45,000 and the pitch size is 110 x 70 m -among the biggest in Argentina-.

Nicknames

Players

Current squad

Current squad of San Lorenzo de Almagro as of November 12, 2016 (edit)
Sources: Official website and Argentine Soccer

No. Position Player
2  ARG DF Marcos Angeleri
5  ARG MF Juan Mercier
6  ARG DF Matías Caruzzo
7  URU FW Martín Cauteruccio
8  ARG MF Tino Costa
9  ARG FW Nicolás Blandi
10  ARG MF Leandro Romagnoli
11  ARG FW Ezequiel Cerutti
12  ARG GK Sebastián Torrico
13  ARG DF Lautaro Montoya
14  ARG MF Ezequiel Ávila
15  ARG FW Gonzalo Bergessio
16  ARG MF Fernando Belluschi
17  CHI DF Paulo Díaz
18  URU MF Mathías Corujo
19  ARG DF Germán Berterame
No. Position Player
20  PAR MF Néstor Ortigoza
21  ARG DF Emmanuel Más
22  ARG GK Nicolás Navarro
23  ARG MF Sebastián Blanco
24  ARG MF Rodrigo De Ciancio
25  ARG GK José Devecchi
27  ARG MF Gabriel Rojas
28  ARG MF Franco Mussis
29  ARG FW Gabriel Esparza
30  ARG DF Emiliano Purita
31  ARG DF Brian Mieres
32  ARG DF Fabricio Coloccini
33  ARG DF Nicolás Zalazar
34  ARG DF Marcos Senesi
35  ARG FW Tomás Conechny
36  ARG MF Bautista Merlini

Manager: Diego Aguirre

Out on loan

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

No. Position Player
– Argentina DF Ramiro Arias (at Aldosivi)
– Argentina DF Tomás Cardona (at Defensa y Justicia)
– Argentina DF Matías Catalán (at San Martín de Tucumán)
– Argentina DF Brian Luciatti (at Almagro)
– Argentina DF Valentín Perales (at Deportivo Morón)
– Argentina DF Gonzalo Prósperi (at Banfield)
– Argentina DF Rodrigo Tapia (at Defensa y Justicia)
– Argentina MF Nicolás Bertocchi (at Patronato)
– Argentina MF Juan Cavallaro (at Estudiantes de La Plata)
– Argentina MF Fernando Elizari (at Defensa y Justicia)
No. Position Player
– Argentina MF Daniel Ibáñez (at Chacarita Juniors)
– Argentina MF Alejandro Melo (at Nueva Chicago)
– Argentina MF Leandro Navarro (at Venados F.C.)
– Argentina MF Facundo Quignon (at Newell's Old Boys)
– Argentina FW Rodrigo Contreras (at S.C. Braga)
– Argentina FW Alexis Dominguez (at San Martín de Porres)
– Argentina FW Mauro Matos (at Newell's Old Boys)
– Argentina FW Ezequiel Montagna (at San Martín de San Juan)
– Argentina FW Fabricio Pedrozo (at The Strongest)

Former players

Name players with step by San Lorenzo.

Managers

Records

Honours

National

League

National cups

Unofficial cups

Not recognized as official titles by the Argentine Football Association.[27][28]

International

FIFA / Conmebol

AFA / AUF

Women

The women's team has won the national championship Campeonato de Fútbol Femenino in 2008/09 and 2015.[33] They finished fourth of five in the group stage of the 2009 Copa Libertadores Femenina.

Basketball

San Lorenzo has played basketball since 1930 when the club affiliated to the association. On April 26, 1985, San Lorenzo played the opening game of the recently created Liga Nacional de Básquetbol (LNB), facing Argentino de Firmat at Obras Sanitarias venue.[34]

The team returned to LNB in 2015.

Notes

  1. 1 2 The Asociación Amateurs de Football (AAmF) was a rival association which organized its own championships from 1919 to 1926.
  2. ↑ The Liga Argentina de Football was a dissident professional league that organised its own championships from 1931 to 1934, then merging with the official Association.
  3. ↑ In July 2013, The Argentine Football Association recognized the 1936 Copa de Honor won by San Lorenzo as a Primera División honour. The information was also added to AFA's website.[21][22]
  4. ↑ In 1914, the Primera B (named "Segunda División" by then) was actually the third level of Argentine football league system after División Intermedia, established in 1911.[24]
  5. ↑ The matches of this Cup belonged to the league or National championship. From 1986 to 1996 it was played in the most important match between two Buenos Aireans teams.
  6. ↑ The Copa Campeonato del Río de la Plata was an official football competition organized by the Amateur Football Association and the Uruguayan Football Federation. It was played with a similar format to the Copa Aldao, but in this case, involving the champions of the dissident associations.

References

  1. ↑ Deportes on San Lorenzo official website
  2. ↑ "San Lorenzo rugby, cierre de un gran año", Argentine Webb Ellis website, 2009-12-07
  3. ↑ Pope Francis divides opinion in Argentina by Vladimir Hernandez
  4. ↑ Pope Francis: the quiet man of Buenos Aires known for his humble tastes The Guardian, 13 March 2013
  5. ↑ Murphy Dohn, Patti (9 July 2014). "Argentina's good luck charm: What you should know about Pope Francis' love of soccer and the World Cup". The Catholic Review. Retrieved 30 August 2014.
  6. ↑ Museo de San Lorenzo – Ascenso 1914
  7. ↑ Argentina 1915 at RSSSF
  8. ↑ Argentina 1917 at RSSSF
  9. ↑ Historia del Fútbol Amateur en la Argentina, by Jorge Iwanczuk. Published by Autores Editores (1992) – ISBN 9504343848
  10. ↑ Argentina 1923 at RSSSF
  11. ↑ Argentina 1924 at RSSSF
  12. ↑ Argentina 1927 at RSSSF
  13. ↑ Memoria y Balance General 1936, p. 24 – Argentine Football Association Library
  14. ↑ "Campeones de Primera Divisón" on AFA website
  15. ↑ "¿River y San Lorenzo campeones... de 1936?" on Goal.com, 5 Jul 2013
  16. ↑ "La AFA le dio un campeonato a River y a San Lorenzo y se desató la polémica" on CanchaLlena.com, 5 July 2013
  17. ↑ "Cuando San Lorenzo fue el mejor del mundo", Clarín, 26 Sep 2012
  18. ↑ "La historia oficial" on Museo de San Lorenzo website
  19. ↑ "San Lorenzo seize the holy grail". FIFA.com. 15 August 2014. Retrieved 16 October 2014.
  20. ↑ "Crucial penalty gives San Lorenzo first Libertadores Cup". Reuters. 13 August 2014. Retrieved 20 August 2014.
  21. ↑ "La AFA les reconoció otro título a San Lorenzo y a River", Clarín, 6 July 2013
  22. ↑ "77 años después: San Lorenzo y River, campeones!", Crónica, 5 July 2013
  23. ↑ "Memoria y Balance 1936", p.41 – AFA Library
  24. ↑ Campeones Argentinos – CIHF
  25. ↑ Segunda División – Campeones on AFA website
  26. ↑ Campeonato de la República at RSSSF
  27. ↑ Campeones de la Primera División (era amateur 1891–1934) at AFA website
  28. ↑ Campeones de la Primera División (era profesional: desde 1931) at AFA website
  29. ↑ Copa San Martín de Tours: historic results at RSSSF
  30. ↑ Copa Jorge Newbery 1964, Museo de San Lorenzo website
  31. ↑ "San Lorenzo win Copa Libertadores". ESPN FC. 14 August 2014. Retrieved 14 August 2014.
  32. ↑ RSSSF: Campeonato Rioplatense
  33. ↑ "Con perfume de mujer: San Lorenzo es campeón de AFA" (in Spanish). diariouno.com.ar. 26 September 2015. Retrieved 27 September 2015.
  34. ↑ "Hace 30 años nacía la Liga Nacional de Básquetbol en Argentina", Telam, 26 Apr 2015
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