Brazil Campeonato Mineiro 03/16 19:30 2 [1] Cruzeiro v Tombense [2] W 3-1
Brazil Campeonato Mineiro 03/10 22:30 2 [2] Tombense v Cruzeiro [1] D 0-0
Brazil Campeonato Mineiro 03/02 19:30 8 [1] Cruzeiro v Uberlandia [2] W 2-0
Brazil Campeonato Mineiro 02/25 14:00 7 [4] Pouso Alegre v Cruzeiro [2] W 0-2
Copa do Brasil 02/21 22:15 7 Sousa EC v Cruzeiro L 2-0
Brazil Campeonato Mineiro 02/18 21:30 6 [4] Democrata GV v Cruzeiro [1] W 1-3
Brazil Campeonato Mineiro 02/17 19:30 6 Democrata SL v Cruzeiro - Cancelled
Brazil Campeonato Mineiro 02/15 23:00 5 Cruzeiro v America MG L 0-2
Brazil Campeonato Mineiro 02/09 19:30 4 [2] Cruzeiro v Patrocinense [2] W 3-0
Brazil Campeonato Mineiro 02/03 22:30 3 [1] Atletico Mineiro v Cruzeiro [2] W 0-2
Brazil Campeonato Mineiro 01/27 19:30 2 [2] Cruzeiro v Athletic Club MG [2] D 1-1
Brazil Campeonato Mineiro 01/24 22:00 1 Vila Nova MG v Cruzeiro W 1-2
Brazil Serie A 12/07 00:30 38 [14] Cruzeiro v Palmeiras [1] D 1-1
Brazil Serie A 12/03 21:30 37 [3] Botafogo v Cruzeiro [14] D 0-0
Brazil Serie A 11/30 23:00 36 [14] Cruzeiro v Athletico Paranaense [8] D 1-1
Brazil Serie A 11/28 00:00 35 [18] Goias v Cruzeiro [17] W 0-1
Brazil Serie A 11/22 22:00 33 [16] Cruzeiro v Vasco da Gama [15] D 2-2
Brazil Serie A 11/18 21:30 30 [12] Fortaleza v Cruzeiro [17] W 0-1
Brazil Serie A 11/11 19:00 34 [19] Coritiba v Cruzeiro [17] L 1-0
Brazil Serie A 11/08 23:00 33 Cruzeiro v Vasco da Gama - Postponed
Brazil Serie A 11/05 19:00 32 [16] Cruzeiro v Internacional [13] L 1-2
Brazil Serie A 11/02 23:00 31 [12] Sao Paulo v Cruzeiro [16] L 1-0
Brazil Serie A 10/29 19:00 30 Fortaleza EC v Cruzeiro - Postponed
Brazil Serie A 10/25 23:00 29 [14] Cruzeiro v Bahia [13] W 3-0
Brazil Serie A 10/22 19:00 28 [7] Atletico Mineiro v Cruzeiro [15] W 0-1
Brazil Serie A 10/19 22:00 27 [14] Cruzeiro v Flamengo [6] L 0-2
Brazil Serie A 10/15 00:00 26 [11] Cuiaba v Cruzeiro [15] D 0-0
Brazil Serie A 10/01 19:00 25 [13] Cruzeiro v America MG [19] D 1-1
Brazil Serie A 09/21 00:30 24 [6] Fluminense v Cruzeiro [11] L 1-0
Brazil Serie A 09/14 22:00 23 [17] Santos v Cruzeiro [13] W 0-3

Cruzeiro Esporte Clube (Brazilian Portuguese: [kɾuˈzejɾu esˈpoʁtʃi ˈklubi]), known simply as Cruzeiro, is a sports club based in Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais. Although competing in a number of different sports, Cruzeiro is mostly known for its association football team. It plays in the Campeonato Brasileiro Série A, the top tier of the Brazilian football league system, as well as in the Campeonato Mineiro, the state of Minas Gerais's premier state league.

The club was founded on 2 January 1921, by sportsmen from the Italian colony of Belo Horizonte as Società Sportiva Palestra Itália. As a result of the Second World War, the Brazilian federal government banned the use of any symbols referring to the Axis powers in 1942. On October 7, 1942, club board members rebaptized the club with the name of a leading national symbol: the Cruzeiro do Sul's constellation. Cruzeiro play their home games at the Mineirão stadium, which currently holds up to 62,547 spectators. Cruzeiro's regular kit colors are blue shirts and white shorts with white socks.

Cruzeiro is one of Brazil's most successful clubs. It won the Campeonato Brasileiro Série A for the first time in 1966, after defeating Santos' Os Santásticos in the final series. Cruzeiro has won the Brasileirão again in 2003, 2013 and 2014, obtaining the best campaign in the present format of the competition. Cruzeiro has also won record six Copa do Brasil titles and the Campeonato Mineiro 39 times. Cruzeiro won the defunct state competitions Taça Minas Gerais five times, the Copa dos Campeões Mineiros twice, Copa Sul Minas twice, the Torneio Início 10 times and the Supercampeonato Mineiro once. A Raposa also obtained many international laurels such as two Copa Libertadores, two Supercopa Libertadores, one Recopa Sudamericana, one Copa de Oro and one Copa Master de Supercopa. Cruzeiro is one of the two Brazilian clubs to complete the Domestic Treble, a feat accomplished in 2003 after winning the Campeonato Mineiro, the 2003 Copa do Brasil and the 2003 Brasileirão.

Cruzeiro hold a long-standing rivalry against Atlético Mineiro. It has contributed many key and famous players towards Brazil's FIFA World Cup squads such as Piazza, Tostão, Nelinho, Ronaldo, Luisão, Alex, Maicon, Cris, Dida, Jairzinho, Rivaldo, and Edílson among so many others, as well as towards other countries' FIFA World Cup squads, including Roberto Perfumo and Juan Pablo Sorin from Argentina, and Giorgian de Arrascaeta from Uruguay.

History

Cruzeiro's history is traced back to the Italian community living in Belo Horizonte, a city where already some Italian immigrants lived and their desire to set up a football club. Similar to the Italians of São Paulo (who founded Palestra Itália, now known as Palmeiras) the people of Belo Horizonte wanted the Italian colonies in Minas Gerais to have its own club as well.

In the sporting goods and footwear Augustine Ranieri's factory, located on the street of Caetés, it was decided the foundation of the club should tackle the three major capital: Atlético Mineiro, America-MG and Yale. Was born at that moment, the Società Sportiva Palestra Italia, established on 2 January 1921.

The meeting was attended by 95 founders present the shield and uniform that made reference to the Italian colors, and whose SSPI description would be recorded in the center shell. Another decision was that only members of the Italian colony could wear the shirt. Aurelio Noce was elected the first President.

The Palestra Italia emerged as the representative of the Italian colony. And is characterized as a team of Italian descent, Palestra also stood out by having elements of the Belo Horizonte working class, unlike Atlético and América, who had their consisting squad of college students coming from influential and wealthy families of the city.

A Cruzeiro squad before playing a game v. Flamengo in 1923

The idea of the club being created took a big step when Yale, a sports team from the city, went through an administrative crisis. When some players left Yale over a dispute (Yale, which itself had connections to the Italian community), some went on to found the all Italian, Sociedade Esportiva Palestra Itália of Belo Horizonte. Until 1925 the club would only allow Italian men to participate, despite other teams in the nation accepting people of all skin colors and ethnicities.

Palestra debuted in the Prado Mineiro Stadium with a 2–0 win in a friendly on 3 April 1921, against a combination from Nova Lima. The Nova Lima team united players from two teams from the city: Villa Nova, and Palmeiras, another team form Nova Lima. However, the first official match of Palestra was in a 3–0 win over future archrivals Clube Atlético Mineiro. In January 1942, Brazil entered World War II and a decree of the federal government forbade the use of terms from enemy nations in entities, institutions, establishments, etc. With this, the Italian name was removed and the club could no longer call themselves Palestra Italia. The name was changed to Sociedade Esportiva Palestra Mineiro.

Around six months later, the president Ennes Cyro Poni called a general assembly for 7 October and suggested the name Ypiranga. Between 3 and 7 October, the local media published the new name thinking it would be approved. In assembly, the counselors and associates kept professional system and approved changing club's name and colors. Yale and Ypiranga were suggested, but Cruzeiro Esporte Clube was chosen to honor the biggest symbol of Brazil, the constellation of Crux. The idea was from Oswaldo Pinto Coelho. However, the club kept playing as "Palestra Mineiro" until 1943, when the local Federation approved the new statutes. The approved colors were blue and white, chosen as a compromise to appease the Italian factions within the club management, as it was both representative of the Brazilian flag and the Italian football national team (blue is the color of House of Savoy, who ruled Italy from 1861 to 1946).

With the inauguration of the Mineirão in 1965, Cruzeiro entered one of the most successful periods in its history, in which the club won five Campeonato Mineiro titles in a row, and went on to win its first national title, the 1966 Taça Brasil (the highest honor in Brazilian football at that time) beating Santos of Pelé in the final. Cruzeiro won the first leg 6–2 at the Mineirão, and the second leg 3–2 in São Paulo. In the 1974 Campeonato Brasileiro Série A Cruzeiro were runner-up for the first time, after losing to Vasco in the finals. Later in 1975, Cruzeiro were runner-up in the Campeonato Brasileiro again, this time losing to Internacional. In 1976, Cruzeiro won its first Copa Libertadores de América, over River Plate of Argentina. Cruzeiro went on to be runners-up of the same competition in 1977, being defeated in the finals by Boca Juniors, also of Argentina. After winning the 1976 Copa Libertadores, they participated in the 1976 Intercontinental Cup, now renamed the FIFA Club World Championship, for the first time and tied Bayern Munich 0–0 at the Mineirão, but lost 2–0 to Bayern in the Olympiastadion.

Cruzeiro's team, 1971.National Archives of Brazil

After tasting success in the 1960s and 1970s, Cruzeiro entered a dark period in the 1980s. With the exception of a couple of Campeonato Mineiro wins, the club won no other championships in the 1980s, and had its worst performances in the Campeonato Brasileiro, 33rd in 1984 and 29th in 1985. The 1980s was the only decade Cruzeiro did not participate once in the Copa Libertadores since the tournament's creation in 1960. The club were invited to Europe in 1988 by Scottish side Celtic to play a friendly as part of the Glasgow club's centenary celebrations.

In the 1990s a new era began, and a 15-year sequence of at least one title per year was initiated. This included six of the club's seven international championships and a Campeonato Brasileiro (2003). In December 2010 the CBF (the governing body of Brazilian football) also recognized Cruzeiro as Brazilian champion of 1966, for having beaten Santos of Pelé: 6–2 in Belo Horizonte and 2–3 in São Paulo. The club's biggest exploit in the 21st century happened when it won the Campeonato Brasileiro Série A. With 100 points earned during the season, and just over 100 goals scored in 46 matches, it was one of the most successful campaigns ever by a club in a Brazilian championship. In 2003, besides winning the Campeonato Brasileiro Série A, Cruzeiro also won the Copa do Brasil and the Campeonato Mineiro, to become the only Brazilian team to win the triple crown.

From 2003 to 2012 Cruzeiro have only won one major tournament (four times): the Campeonato Mineiro (2004, 2006, 2008, 2009). However, the club finished in the top five of the Campeonato Brasileiro in 2007, 2008, 2009 and 2010, guaranteeing a spot in the Copa Libertadores for four consecutive years (2008, 2009, 2010 and 2011). In 2010, after a great campaign in the Campeonato Brasileiro Serie A, Cruzeiro took the second place and qualified for the Copa Libertadores da America for 2011. Cruzeiro's biggest success in recent years was reaching the finals of the 2009 Copa Libertadores, but they lost to Estudiantes de La Plata 2–1. After a disastrous 2011 season, escaping relegation only in the last round after a triumphant 6–1 against arch-rival Atlético, Gilvan Tavares became president for the 2012-2013-2014 triennium. 2012 was slightly better than 2011, but still Cruzeiro won no titles. In 2013 Cruzeiro lost Campeonato Mineiro again, despite displaying a good game against smaller clubs. Copa do Brasil started promising but Cruzeiro was knocked out by future champion Flamengo in the quarterfinals. After the elimination Cruzeiro went all in to Campeonato Brasileiro and was crowned champion for the third time, this time four rounds before the championship ended, playing an offensive and intense game that led many, including press and runners-up, to attribute the title many rounds before the mathematical confirmation. Cruzeiro's 2014 season was even more successful. It started with Cruzeiro winning the Campeonato Mineiro without losing a single match in the whole competition. In the Copa Libertadores da America, Cruzeiro was knocked out, in the quarter finals, by future champion San Lorenzo de Almagro, being the last remaining Brazilian team in the competition. This loss did not prevent Cruzeiro to lead the Campeonato Brasileiro for almost the whole competition, being crowned champion for the fourth time and becoming the second team not from Rio de Janeiro nor Sao Paulo to win the Campeonato Brasileiro twice in a row. Cruzeiro also got to the final of the Copa do Brasil, but lost both matches to rival Atlético Mineiro.

Cruzeiro Esporte Clube, commonly known as Cruzeiro, is a professional soccer team based in Belo Horizonte, Brazil. The team was founded in 1921 and has since become one of the most successful clubs in Brazilian soccer history.

Cruzeiro has won numerous domestic and international titles, including four Brazilian Serie A championships, six Copa do Brasil titles, and two Copa Libertadores trophies. The team is known for its attacking style of play and has produced many talented players over the years, including Ronaldo, Rivaldo, and Alex.

The team plays its home matches at the Estádio Mineirão, which has a capacity of over 60,000 spectators. The team's colors are blue and white, and its crest features a star and a cross, which represent the team's name (Cruzeiro means "cross" in Portuguese).

Cruzeiro has a large and passionate fan base, known as the "Cruzeirenses," who support the team through thick and thin. The team's motto is "Uma vez Cruzeiro, sempre Cruzeiro" (Once Cruzeiro, always Cruzeiro), reflecting the loyalty and dedication of its fans.