Cruzeiro

The Cruzeiro Esporte Clube, popularly known as Cruzeiro, is a Brazilian multi-sport association located in the city of Belo Horizonte, capital of the State of Minas Gerais. Although they compete in several different sports, Cruzeiro is known mainly for its association football team. It takes part in the Campeonato Brasileiro Série A.

It plays its home matches at the Estadio Mineirão, which currently has a capacity of 62,547 spectators. Cruzeiro's usual kit colours are blue shirts and white shorts with white socks.

The club was founded on 2 January 1921 by sportsmen of the Italian community of Belo Horizonte; some members of Yale Atlético Clube and many Italian immigrant workers decided to create a new club called Societá Sportiva Ypiranga, changing the name months later to Palestra Mineiro and then, after one match, to Palestra Itália. As a result of the Second World War, the Brazilian federal government banned the use of any symbol that referred to Germany, Italy and Japan, nations that were enemies of Brazil in the context of the Second World War, and the club's board members renamed the club after a leading national symbol: the constellation of Cruzeiro do Sul.

Recognised as one of the biggest clubs in Brazilian and international football, internationally Cruzeiro was twice runner-up of the Intercontinental Cup, in addition to having two titles in the Copa Libertadores de América, in 1976 and 1997, two in the Supercopa Sudamericana, in 1991 and 1992, one in the Recopa Sudamericana of 1998, one of the Copa Oro Nicolás Leoz of 1995 and one of the Copa Master de Supercopa of 1994. Nationally, the celeste side has four Campeonato Brasileiro conquests (one of them as the Taça Brasil) and six in the Copa do Brasil (a record), being the only two-time champion of the competition. At regional level, it won the Campeonato Mineiro 39 times, and it also won the now-defunct state competitions, being champion of the Copa Sul-Minas 2 times, champion of the Copa Centro-Oeste, the Taça Minas Gerais five times, the Copa dos Campeões Mineiros twice, the Torneio Início 10 times and the Supercampeonato Mineiro once. It was also the first and only team from Minas Gerais, and the only Brazilian team, to win the national triple crown, having won a state championship, a Copa do Brasil and a Campeonato Brasileiro in the 2003 season.

In 2009, the IFFHS produced the ranking of South American clubs, with statistical data from 1901 to 2000, in which Cruzeiro stood out as the best Brazilian club of the 20th century, and in 2015, Revista Placar produced the ranking of the greatest absolute champions of Brazil, in which Cruzeiro and Internacional occupied first place, as the clubs with the highest number of official titles in Brazilian football. As for the sum of official national and international titles of Brazilian football clubs (not counting official state and regional titles), in September 2019 Cruzeiro was in second place, tied with Santos and Palmeiras and surpassed only by São Paulo.

Cruzeiro is the 3rd Brazilian club with the most victories in the Copa Libertadores de América, with 95 victories, and with 636 victories it is the second club with the most victories in the history of the Campeonato Brasileiro de Fútbol (sum of the championships from 1959 to 2019). It is also fourth in the National Club Ranking (the CBF Ranking) and third in the Historical Points Ranking. When the Brasileirão began to be played on a consecutive-points basis, Cruzeiro has the third-best performance, with 1,030 points, behind only São Paulo with 1,103 points and Santos with 1,043 points (scores accumulated up to 2019).

Its classic rival is Clube Atlético Mineiro, against whom it plays the Clásico Mineiro. Cruzeiro has one of the biggest fan bases in the State of Minas Gerais.

In other sports, Cruzeiro also stands out in volleyball: in 2009 it signed a partnership with Associação Social e Esportiva Sada to form a men's volleyball team, Sada Cruzeiro, which has been one of the most important in the country, being the only Brazilian team to have won the Club World Championship of volleyball, among several important titles, such as: four Volleyball Club World Championships, seven South American Volleyball Championships, six National Superligas, six Brazil Volleyball Cups, three Brazilian Volleyball Supercups and twelve Minas Championships. In athletics, Cruzeiro also has a strong team; several important athletes are part of its team, competing in the most diverse races nationally and worldwide.