Uruguayan association football club
Football club
Club Atletico River Plate
is a Uruguayan
football
club based in
Montevideo
. The club currently plays in the
Primera Division
, the top level of the Uruguayan football league system.
[2]
This is not the same
River Plate F.C.
that won the Uruguayan league in the early 20th century.
History
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River Plate de Montevideo is the result of the merger of former clubs Olimpia and Capurro. After its foundation on 11 May 1932,
[3]
one of the first objectives reached was the settlement of a new football pitch.
[1]
The managers decided to establish the "Olimpia Park" (today called
Estadio Saroldi
) as its home stadium. The name of the stadium was settled in honour of River's first goalkeeper,
Federico Omar Saroldi
, who died after playing a match against
Central Espanol
from an injury suffered during the game.
[1]
During the early years (from 1932 until 1942) some of the greatest players in Uruguay's history played in River Plate, such as
Severino Varela
and
Hector Sena Puricelli
. Before Olimpia and Capurro were merged,
Isabelino Gradin
, who can be considered the first Uruguayan football star, played for the Olimpia side.
[1]
Rise in the Primera Division
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River Plate's highest league position was reached in 1992.
Osvaldo Canobbio
,
Juan Ramon Carrasco
,
Diego Lopez
and
Edgardo Adinolfi
were involved in the squad with
Victor Pua
as coach. Nacional won the title based on the skills of the notable forward
Julio Dely Valdes
. In 1997 River Plate reached third overall position, just three points from
Penarol
and
Defensor Sporting
who qualified for the finals. By those times, River Plate was coached by
Fernando Morena
. Some of the best River Plate's players were raised in that generation, such as
Hernan Rodrigo Lopez
,
Pablo Gaglianone
and
Gustavo Diaz
.
[4]
Another great performance was reached in 2007/2008 season, which resulted in River achieving the second position in the annual qualifying; by those years River was coached by
Juan Ramon Carrasco
. Some of the best players of the tournament were part of that roster:
Robert Flores
was considered the best player of the season, other key figures such as
Pablo Tiscornia
,
Henry Gimenez
,
Mauricio Prieto
,
Bruno Montelongo
and goalkeeper
Alvaro Garcia
were also part of the first roster. Some of the most important victories during the tournament were against
Penarol
(6?3),
Defensor Sporting
(5?1) and
Danubio
(5?1). The highest score registered was against
Rampla Juniors
(7?0).
2009 Copa Sudamericana
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River Plate played semifinals in
2009 Copa Sudamericana
, which was the best result achieved in an international competition. Coached by
Juan Ramon Carrasco
, River Plate eliminated
Vitoria
in the round of 16,
San Lorenzo
in quarterfinals and lost against
LDU Quito
, reaching the top four. Only
Danubio
and
Defensor Sporting
, among the so-called "minor" Uruguayan clubs, have reached the semifinals of an international CONMEBOL competition.
Last years
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River Plate Montevideo playing against Palmeiras for Copa Libertadores 2016
River Plate was coached by
Guillermo Almada
between April 2011 and June 2015. During those years River Plate positioned among the top six almost every season, qualifying for CONMEBOL official tournaments. Some key important players in those years were:
Michael Santos
,
Cristian Gonzalez
,
Damian Frascarelli
,
Leandro Rodriguez
,
Cristian Techera
,
Gabriel Marques
,
Gabriel Leyes
,
Gonzalo Porras
,
Felipe Avenatti
,
Lucas Olaza
,
Sebastian Taborda
among others. The highest point of this process was reached after qualifying for the
2016 Copa Libertadores
, the first time in club's history. They were drawn in group B along with
Rosario Central
,
Palmeiras
, and fellow Uruguayans
Club Nacional
. They drew 3 games, earning 3 points, and ended in last place of the group.
After Guillermo Almada joined
Barcelona
of Ecuador, since June 2015 until September 2016,
Juan Ramon Carrasco
was the coach of the first roster with disastrous results (a very different situation from his first campaign).
After
Pablo Tiscornia
and
Jorge Giordano
,
Jorge Fossati
took over as manager, in June 2019 until April 2021. During Fossati's tenure, River Plate made the third stage of the 2020 Copa Sudamericana, where they eliminated Colombian powerhouse and two-time Libertadores champion
Atletico Nacional
in the second stage, 4?2 on aggregate. In the round of 16 they were only eliminated through away goals against
Universidad Catolica
. Their league form was indifferent: in the Apertura they finished twelfth and in the Clausura they finished eighth, for an aggregate table position of eighth in the table.
In April 2021,
Gustavo Diaz
took over as head coach. This season was almost the same as the previous one, with the club finishing eighth in the aggregate table again, although securing a Sudamericana spot unlike what occurred in the 2020 season.
[5]
The club had a poor showing in the
2022 Copa Sudamericana
, finishing last in their group with two wins and four losses, which cost Gustavo Diaz his position as head coach.
Statistics
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Venues
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Parque Federico Omar Saroldi
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A view of Saroldi's pitch from the visitors' entrance
River Plate usually play their home games at
Estadio Saroldi
, which is located in
Montevideo's
Prado
neighborhood (western side of the city), has a capacity of 6000 spectators and one of the best pitches in the league. The stadium was originally named "Olimpia Park", as it was Club Atletico Olimpia's home ground. After joining Olimpia and Capurro, and the unfortunate death of goalkeeper Federico Omar Saroldi (one of the first River's goalkeepers), the stadium was renamed in honor of the said keeper.
Villa Colon Sports Complex
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Located in the neighborhood of
Villa Colon
(northwest of
Montevideo
), these facilities are used to train both the first-team squad's as the youth squads. This sports complex has six football pitches, first-division team's base camp, locker rooms, dormitories, fitness centers, and health services. It's considered one of the best equipped training camps in the country, and was inaugurated in August 1999.
Uniform
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River Plate's kit is similar to that used by
River Plate F.C.
, its predecessor, which dissolved in 1929. C.A. River Plate's away kit is sometimes a sky blue jersey, black shorts and socks. This kit was adopted by the
Uruguay national football team
in 1910 as a homage to the disbanded River Plate F.C. (four times champions of Uruguay) who defeated the best team of the Americas at the time, the
Argentine
team
Alumni
. Thus, the worldwide known
"celeste"
jersey was taken by the national team from the club away kit. Before 1910 Uruguay wore several jerseys including dark blue, green, striped white and sky blue, similar to that of Argentina among others.
Kit evolution
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Rivalries
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River Plate's supporters at Jardines del Hipodromo stadium, in June 2015
River is based in the same neighborhood where
Bella Vista
and
Montevideo Wanderers
play, which is the
Prado
neighborhood. These three clubs have a long rivalry with each other, and matches between them are known as the "
Clasico Del Prado
".
During the last ten years, River Plate has had the upper hand in derby matches against both rivals, winning most of the matches.
Players
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First team squad
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- As of 17 February
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under
FIFA eligibility rules
. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
Managerial history
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Honours
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Domestic
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Other Official Domestic Honours
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International (unofficial tournaments)
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Notes
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References
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External links
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| 2024
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| Other seasons
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