Fluminense

Rio's football pioneering

Fluminense Football Club was founded on 21 July 1902, in the neighbourhood of Laranjeiras, in the city of Rio de Janeiro, by a group of young football enthusiasts led by Oscar Cox, an English citizen born in Brazil, who had come into contact with the sport whilst studying in Europe, and Cox was subsequently elected as the first president. Therefore, it was the first football club to be founded in the city, whose most popular sport at the time was rowing.

The first official match was played against now defunct Rio Football Club, and Fluminense won 8–0. The club's first title came in 1906, when Fluminense won the state championship (Campeonato Carioca).

In 1911, disagreement between Fluminense players led to the formation of Flamengo's football team. The so-called Fla-Flu derby is considered one of the biggest in the history of Brazilian football. Three years later, in Fluminense's stadium, the Brazil national football team debuted, against touring English club Exeter City. It was also there that they won their debut title, in 1919.

By 1922, Fluminense had 4,000 members, a stadium for 25,000 people, and facilities that impressed clubs in Europe.

Construction of Maracanã

The 1950 World Cup strengthened football in the country, and as a result, the country's biggest teams, which basically only competed in state tournaments, began to measure their strength in tournaments and matches against teams from other states. To hold the competition, the Maracanã was built, the largest stadium in the world at that time, and which became the main stadium for Fluminense's games.

In the context of the World Cup held in the country in 1950, CBD, accompanied by FIFA and IFAB, decided to hold a competition that pitted the champion clubs from the main FIFA-affiliated countries against each other, thus creating the International Champions Club Tournament, better known as Copa Rio. The competition brought together the Champion clubs from countries in South America (Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay) and Europe (Austria, France, Germany, Italy, Portugal, Switzerland and Yugoslavia), its first edition was in 1951, being won by Palmeiras.

In 1951, Fluminense won the Carioca championship, which meant that the team qualified for the 1952 Copa Rio. The team had great players who represented the Brazilian team, such as Carlos Castilho, Píndaro, Pinheiro, Didi, Orlando Pingo de Ouro and Telê Santana.

In the first phase of the competition, the teams were divided into two groups, the first played their matches at Maracanã, and the second played their matches at Pacaembu, Fluminense was in the first group and faced Grasshopper (Switzerland), Sporting Lisboa (Portugal) and Peñarol (Uruguay), and qualified in first place. In the semi final they beat Austria Wien (Austria), and in the final they defeated Corinthians.

From the 1950s, with the creation of the Rio-São Paulo Tournament, the forerunner of what eventually would become the national championship, Fluminense established itself regionally by winning the tournament title in 1957 and 1960.

National Achievements

From the 1960s onwards, the first national championships were played in Brazil, so that the country could send representatives to the Copa Libertadores. Fluminense's first national title came in 1970; At that time, Brazil had the best players in world football, and they all played for Brazilian clubs. Its squad was among the main candidates of the season in Brazil, Fluminense won the Brazilian Championship overcoming other major opponents of the season in Santos, Palmeiras and Cruzeiro.

In the 1970s, Fluminense signed several famous players such as Carlos Alberto Torres, Dirceu, Gil, Narciso Doval, Pintinho and Roberto Rivellino. This team, called "Tricolor Machine", won the state championship in 1975 and 1976. In the national championship, Fluminense lost in the semifinals to Internacional in 1975 and Corinthians in 1976.

Fluminense became Brazilian champions again in 1984, playing in the final against Rio rivals Vasco da Gama. During the decade, they also won three state championships in a row, in 1983, 1984 and 1985, defeating their main rival Flamengo, in the final of the first two. These titles were won by great players such as Branco, Delei, Edinho, Ricardo Gomes, Romerito and the “Casal Vinte”: Assis and Washington.

At the end of the 1980s, Copa do Brasil was created, inspired by the Cup tournaments played in European countries. Fluminense reached the final of the Copa do Brasil for the first time in 1992, but lost to Internacional in a penalty shootout, in a controversial match in Porto Alegre.

A disastrous campaign led to Fluminense's relegation from Brasileirão Série A in 1996. However, a set of off-field political manoeuvres not performed by the club allowed them to remain in Brazil's top domestic league, only to be relegated the next year. Completely out of control, the club was relegated from Série B to Série C in 1998. In 1999, Fluminense won the Série C championship and were to be promoted to Série B when they were invited to take part in Copa João Havelange, a championship that replaced the traditional Série A in 2000. In 2001, it was decided that all clubs which took part in Copa João Havelange's so-called Blue Group should be kept in Série A.

2000s: Copa do Brasil title, first Libertadores final

Fluminense had good campaigns in the 2000, 2001, and 2002 Serie A, finishing in the top four each of these times. Fluminense's first title of the 21st century was the 2002 Campeonato Carioca. In 2005, Fluminense won the Campeonato Caroica and the Taca Rio, and finished fifth in the Brasileirao. Later that year, they reached the final of the Copa do Brasil again, but lost to Serie B club Paulista 2–0, marking one of the few times that a Serie B club won the Copa do Brasil.

In 2007, Fluminense won the Copa do Brasil beating Figueirense in the final, and was admitted to the Copa Libertadores again after 23 years. In the 2007 Serie A, the club finished fourth, and Thiago Neves won the Golden Ball for the league's best player.

The club's 2008 Copa Libertadores campaign saw them reach the finals and included a remarkable 6–0 victory against Arsenal de Sarandí in the group stage, winning both games against Colombian club Atlético Nacional in R16, a comeback against São Paulo in the QF, and disposing of defending champions Boca Juniors in the SF with a 3–1 victory. Fluminense eventually finished runner-up, losing the finals to LDU Quito on penalties after a 5–5 draw on aggregate, despite a hat-trick from Thiago Neves in the second leg. Fluminense had already faced LDU in the group stage, winning 1-0 and drawing 0-0. The club finished fourteenth in the Serie A that season, and only finished one point away from relegation, but curiously still qualifying for the following years Copa Sudamericana.

After signing 27 players and going through 5 different managers in 2009, Fluminense found themselves struggling to avoid another relegation from Série A. With less than one-third of the championship left, the mathematical probability of the club's relegation was 98%. At this point, manager Cuca decided to dispense with some of the more experienced players and gave Fluminense's youngsters a chance. That, along with Fred's recovery from a serious injury and substantial support from the fans, allowed not only a sensational escape from relegation with five matches remaining, but also placed Fluminense in the Copa Sudamericana finals, having eliminated rivals Flamengo. For the second year in a row, the club contested a continental cup. In a repeat of the previous year's Copa Libertadores, Fluminense lost the finals to LDU Quito.

2010s: Two-time Brazilian championship

For 2010, manager Muricy Ramalho replaced Cuca. His first task was in the 2010 Copa do Brasil quarter-finals against Gremio, where Flumiense were eliminated 5–3 on aggregate. However, this elimination was not considered a "failure", in part because with this elimination the club was not participating in any other competitions and could fully focus on the Brasileirao. Eventually, the elimination helped the club, and that year, with Ramalho's effective defensive block conceding the least amount of goals in the league, Fluminense won the Brazilian championship for the third time in their history after 26 years, securing it with a 1–0 victory at home to already relegated Guarani. It was also the fourth title for coach Ramalho in a decade: Ramalho had won the title three times in a row with São Paulo from 2006 to 2008. Darío Conca was named the Brazilian Championship's Player of the Season, playing all 38 league matches, while Fred, Washington, and Deco were decisive players in Fluminense's title-winning campaign.

For the 2011 season, the new manager was Abel Braga, who led the team to a third-placed finish in the Serie A and qualification for the following year's Copa Libertadores, despite being eliminated in the round of 16 of the aforementioned competition by Club Libertad. The club decided to keep coach Abel Braga for 2012, and made big investments for the squad, bringing back Thiago Neves and signing youngster Wellington Nem. On 13 May 2012, Fluminense won the Campeonato Carioca, beating Rio rivals Botafogo 5–1 on aggregate for their first title of the 2012 season. In the Copa Libertadores, Fluminense was eliminated in the quarter-finals by powerhouse Boca Juniors, losing 2–1 on aggregate. Later that year, on 11 November, they won their fourth Brazilian championship after defeating near-relegated Palmeiras 3–2, with three matchdays left. Striker Fred was also the competition's top scorer, with 20 goals, and received the CBF Best Player award. Goalkeeper Diego Cavalieri had a phenomenal season and won the Bola de Prata as the league's best goalkeeper, and Abel Braga was chosen as best coach.

In 2013, the team was eliminated in the Copa Libertadores quarter finals again, this time to Olimpia. In the Serie A, the team began poorly, losing six of their first nine matches, which caused the sacking of coach Abel Braga. Seven undefeated matches in September steered the club away from relegation, but an eight-match winless run put the club back into the relegation fight, mainly due to the absences of stars Deco, Fred, Thiago Neves, Carlinhos and Wellington Nem, and in December 2013, a 2–1 victory away to Bahia in the last round of the 2013 Campeonato Brasileiro Série A had Fluminense mathematically relegated to Série B. However, rule-breaking lineups by Portuguesa and Fluminense's main rivals Flamengo in their matches against Grêmio and Cruzeiro respectively caused Portuguesa and Flamengo to lose 4 points after a trial in STJD (Brazil's governing football jury). The points lost by Flamengo and Portuguesa allowed Fluminense to stay in Série A, with Portuguesa being relegated and Flamengo ending the championship as the lowest-ranked non-relegated club.

In 2014, Fluminense brought back club idol Conca among other signings such as Walter and Cícero. Coupled with Fred's and Carlinhos’ recoveries from injury, Fluminense spent the majority of the 2014 Série A in the top five and fighting for one of the berths at the 2015 Copa Libertadores, ultimately failing to reach its goal after an unstable final stretch and finishing 6th. In December, Fluminense ended its partnership with its main sponsor, Unimed. For fifteen years, the health insurance company was the main investor in signing players, especially after the team won the 2007 Copa do Brasil, bringing to the club athletes such as Darío Conca, Deco, Diego Cavalieri, Fred, Rafael Sóbis, Thiago Neves and Washington. From 2015 onwards, Fluminense underwent a remodeling, with the departure of some of its main players. The club's youth categories became fundamental for its maintenance in the first division in the following years, and the sale of young players became the club's main source of income.

In 2019, the club hired Fernando Diniz, a young coach with innovative ideas within Brazilian football, but political conflicts within the club and a technically limited team caused the coach to be fired, with the team in the relegation zone, the team managed to escape relegation and reorganize. The following year the team brings back Fred, one of the greatest idols in the club's history, and in the 2020 season the team manages to qualify for the Copa Libertadores, with coach Odair Hellmann, but he leaves the team to coach Al Wasl, from the UAE.

2020s: Copa Libertadores title

The team returns to compete in the Copa Libertadores after eight years out of the competition, and with consistent campaigns in the Brazilian championship it manages to secure places in the competitions in consecutive editions of the Libertadores. However, after Odair's departure, the club has difficulty maintaining a coach, with Marcão, Roger Machado and Abel Braga taking over the position. In 2022, after winning the Campeonato Carioca against rivals Flu, their first trophy in a decade, with Argentine striker Germán Cano being the star of the team, and being eliminated from the Libertadores, Abel Braga retires from his coaching career, and Fluminense decides to give Fernando Diniz another chance.

In 2022, Fluminense achieves its best place in the Brazilian Championship in the last ten years, a third place, with an offensive team that is noted for its fluidity and ball possession, and the team qualifies for the group stage of the 2023 Copa Libertadores. In the beginning of the season, the football played by the team is considered by many to be the best in South America, and the team reaches the Campeonato Carioca finals against Flamengo; in the first match the red-black team wins 2–0, but in the second game Fluminense achieved a 4–1 victory, winning the Campeonato Carioca for a second year in a row against its main rival, and Diniz clinching his first trophy with the club. In the 2023 Libertadores, Fluminense falls into group D, along with River Plate (Argentina), The Strongest (Bolivia) and Sporting Cristal (Peru), despite being considered one of the most difficult groups in the edition, Fluminense ranks first, inflicting the biggest defeat in River Plate's history in the competition, 5–1 at Maracanã. In the final stage of the dispute, the opponents were Argentinos Juniors, Olimpia (Paraguay) and Internacional, the team defeated all opponents without suffering any defeat.

Flu's home stadium, Maracanã, was previously chosen to be the stage for the final; on the other side the opponent would be Boca Juniors, who sought to become champions of the competition for the seventh time, and with this become the greatest champion of the competition, tied to Independiente. In the final, striker Germán Cano opened the scoring for Fluminense, but Peruvian right-back Luis Advíncula tied the match for Boca; the match then went into extra time, when youngster John Kennedy, coming from the youth team, came off the bench and scored the team's second goal. The match ended 2–1 for Fluminense, who lifted the Copa Libertadores trophy for the first time.