São Caetano
Full nameAssociação Desportiva São Caetano
Nickname(s)Azulão (Ultramarine grosbeak)
Founded4 December 1989 (1989-12-04)
GroundAnacleto Campanella
Capacity16,744[1]
PresidentManoel Sabino
Head coachAxel
LeagueCampeonato Paulista Série A3
2023Paulista Série A2, 15th of 16 (relegated)
WebsiteClub website

Associação Desportiva São Caetano, commonly referred to as São Caetano, is a Brazilian professional football club based in São Caetano do Sul, São Paulo founded on 4 December 1989. It competes in the Campeonato Paulista Série A3, the third tier of the São Paulo state football league.

The club's only major title is winning the 2004 Campeonato Paulista, but the club is more well-known for their 2002 Copa Libertadores campaign, where they finished runner-up.

History

Founded in 1989, the club found success early, winning the Third and Second Divisions of São Paulo regional tournaments. In 1998, the club was runner up of the Serie C, and was promoted to Serie B.

In 2000, the Brazilian national championship was contested in a rather unusual way. According to previous credentials, teams would play in the First, Second or Third Division; São Caetano played in the Second. The difference was that, after all Divisions were finished, a mini tournament would gather representatives from all of them (one team from Third Division, three from Second and twelve from First), and the winner would be the Brazilian Champion of 2000.

São Caetano was runner-up of the Second Division and qualified to the finals. Beating Fluminense, Palmeiras and Grêmio, they entered the final against Vasco da Gama. The first match ended as a draw. Halfway during the second match, a fence collapsed at Estádio São Januário and the match was suspended. Despite several claims that São Caetano should be declared champion, Vasco petitioned the league for a third match, which Vasco went on to win 3-1. Their runner-up finish gave them qualification for the 2001 Copa Libertadores.

Unlike many teams that rise prominently then quickly fall back to obscurity, São Caetano had another strong campaign in 2001. Playing a full season in the top division, they topped the table in the first stage, and then reached the finals against Atlético Paranaense. Once again they finished as the runner-up, but consecutive seasons placing well secured their reputation on a national level. In the 2001 Copa Libertadores, Azulao reached the round of 16, being eliminated by Palmeiras on penalties.

Sao Caetano had an excellent campaign in the 2002 Copa Libertadores. They began their campaign by topping their group, with four wins and two losses. In the round of 16 they eliminated U. Católica on penalties, setting up a quarter-final matchup with five-time Librtadores champion Peñarol, which they also beat on penalties. In the semi-finals, they faced Club América, and beat them 3-1 on aggregate to advance to the finals against two-time champion Club Olimpia. On 24 July, Sao Caetano won the first leg in Asuncion 1-0, but in the second leg at Pacaembu Stadium Olimpia won 2-1 and sent the game into a penalty shootout. Olimpia won the shootout 4-2, causing Sao Caetano to finish runner-up for the third consecutive time. Despite finishing runner up, Sao Caetano earned respect, and their run to the Libertadores final was seen as an extreme fairytail story.[2] In the 2002 Serie A, Sao Caetano had a good campaign as well, finishing second in the regular season before being eliminated by Fluminense in the quarter-finals. The following season, Sao Caetano finished fourth in the league, and qualified for the 2004 Copa Libertadores. The club also had a good run in the 2004 Libertadores, eliminating Club America again in the round of 16 before narrowly being eliminated by eventual champions Boca Juniors in the quarter finals. Also that year, São Caetano won the Campeonato Paulista, beating the upstate squad Paulista, from Jundiaí.

On 27 October 2004, while playing in a match against São Paulo, São Caetano defender Serginho suffered a fatal heart attack.[3] As São Caetano's staff let Serginho play despite knowing that he had heart problems, the club was penalized heavily by the CBF,[4][5] which has since marked a decline in their performance, and caused them to be deducted 24 points in the 2004 Serie A.[6]

The club performed poorly in the 2005 Serie A, finishing seventeenth and just two points off the relegation zone. At the end of the 2006 season, they finished within the relegation zone, and were relegated to the 2007 Serie B. They remained there until 2013, when the team finished in 19th place and was relegated to Série C after 14 years in the top two divisions of Brazil. In the same year, the team was relegated in the São Paulo state championship, relegated to the Paulista Serie A2. In 2014, the team would begin the season with lackluster performance in the 2nd level of the state championship, in which the team only escaped relegation in the last round.[7] Following a lacklustre season, the team was relegated once again from the national Série C, and would compete in the Série D in 2015.

After an unsuccessful campaign in the Serie D, the club would play only in the state leagues. However, after finishing the 2018 Campeonato Paulista in 7th place, they qualified for the 2019 Serie D.

Current squad

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

No. Pos. Nation Player
— GK Brazil BRA Douglas
— GK Brazil BRA Jacsson
— GK Brazil BRA Luiz Daniel
— DF Brazil BRA Alex Reinaldo
— DF Brazil BRA Anderson Luís
— DF Brazil BRA Capa
— DF Brazil BRA Carlos Henrique
— DF Brazil BRA Joécio
— DF Brazil BRA Marquinhos
— DF Brazil BRA Max
— DF Brazil BRA Saimon
— MF Brazil BRA Calyson
— MF Brazil BRA Eric Di Maria
— MF Brazil BRA Esley
— MF Brazil BRA Ferreira
No. Pos. Nation Player
— MF Brazil BRA Guilherme Biteco
— MF Brazil BRA Guilherme Lopes
— MF Brazil BRA Índio
— MF Brazil BRA Pablo
— MF Brazil BRA Vinicius Kiss
— MF Brazil BRA Vitinho (on loan from Palmeiras)
— MF Brazil BRA Willians
— FW Brazil BRA Bruno Mezenga
— FW Brazil BRA Diego Rosa
— FW Brazil BRA Gleyson
— FW Brazil BRA Hernandes
— FW Brazil BRA Italo
— FW Brazil BRA Marlon
— FW Brazil BRA Minho
— FW Brazil BRA Rafael Marques
— FW Brazil BRA Stéfano Yuri

Out on loan

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

No. Pos. Nation Player
— DF Brazil BRA Eli Sabiá (loan to Botafogo-SP)
— FW Brazil BRA Edu (loan to Joinville)
— MF Brazil BRA Ângelo Neto (loan to Al-Fayha)

Stadium

Built in 1955, São Caetano's stadium is Estádio Anacleto Campanella. Its capacity is 22,738 people. However, for Copa Libertadores matches, the club used Pacaembu Stadium because their main stadium did not meet CONMEBOL's requirements.

Former coaches

Colors and nickname

The team is dubbed Azulão (Big Blue), after the shirt color.

Rivalry

The club's biggest rival is Santo André.

Honours

State

Runners-Up

References

  1. ↑ "Cadastro Nacional de Estádios de Futebol" (PDF). CBF. 2016. Retrieved 6 October 2022.
  2. ↑ "Sao Caetano and Copa Libertadores' unfancied high-flyers". FIFA.com. 21 August 2023. Retrieved 10 November 2023.
  3. ↑ "Após Serginho, pronto socorro vira regra no futebol" (in Portuguese). Folha Online. 5 December 2004. Retrieved 17 July 2008.
  4. ↑ "São Caetano sabia que Serginho não podia jogar futebol". Época (in Portuguese). 29 October 2004. Retrieved 17 July 2008.
  5. ↑ "Nairo e Forte ainda aguardam o julgamento" (in Portuguese). Pelé.net. 27 October 2005. Retrieved 17 July 2008.
  6. ↑ "São Caetano vê declínio um ano após a morte de Serginho" (in Portuguese). Folha Online. 27 October 2005. Retrieved 17 July 2008.
  7. ↑ "São Caetano perde clássico em casa, mas se livra do rebaixamento" (in Portuguese). Globoesporte.com. 12 April 2014. Retrieved 1 November 2014.
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