Fortaleza Esporte Clube

Fortaleza Esporte Clube is a Brazilian multi-sport club based in Fortaleza, capital of the state of Ceará. Founded in 18 October 1918,[3] primarily a football club, is active in other sports such as futsal, handball and basketball. The club's colors are red, blue and white.

Fortaleza
Full nameFortaleza Esporte Clube
Nickname(s)Leão do Pici (Lion of the Pici)
Rei Leão do Brasil (Lion King of Brazil)
Tricolor
Clube da Garotada (Club of the Youth)
Tricolor de Aço (Steel Tricolor)
Founded18 October 1918; 106 years ago (1918-10-18)
GroundCastelão
Capacity63,903[1]
SAF OwnerFortaleza EC SAF (100%)[2]
PresidentAlex Santiago
Head coachJuan Pablo Vojvoda
LeagueCampeonato Brasileiro Série A
Campeonato Cearense
2023
2024
Série A, 10th of 20
Cearense, 2nd of 10
Websitehttps://fortaleza1918.com.br/
Current season

Fortaleza is one of the most successful football clubs in the Brazilian Northeast, having won 46 state league titles and 3 Copa do Nordeste titles. It is placed by surveys as the second biggest fan base in the Northeast, behind only EC Bahia.[4] Its biggest rival is Ceará SC, and clashes between them are called Clássico-Rei (Classic-King).[5]

History

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On 23 February 1912, Alcides Santos founded a club called Fortaleza, and participated shortly after in the founding of the Stella Foot-Ball Club. Finally, on 18 October 1918, Fortaleza Sporting Club was born, the first denomination of the Fortaleza Esporte Clube. Its colors represent the colors of the French flag, since the founder spent time in France and decided to put the colors of the European country in the Brazilian club.

In 1920, they participated in the foundation of the Associação Cearense de Desportos. That same year they got their first Cearense Championship title.

In 1951, the Municipality of Fortaleza decided to renovate the Presidente Vargas Stadium. The idea of having a private stadium was reborn in the board since it had its own stadium during the 1920s.

In 1957, the club acquired from the land in Bairro do Pici from Mrs. Hedwing, which during the Second World War was where the American military base was in Fortaleza, called Post Command ( Command Post), hence the name Pici, transfers it to the Club of Gentilândia in exchange for the new neighborhood. It changed its name to Leão do Pici, a reference to the neighborhood where the Parque dos Campeonatos is located.

The Alcides Santos Stadium opened its doors in June 1962, beating Usina Ceará in the inaugural match.

After finishing in 4th place in the 2021 Campeonato Brasileiro Série A, the club qualified for the Copa Libertadores for the first time in history. In 2023 they finished 2nd place in the Copa Sudamericana, losing to L.D.U. Quito.

Uniform

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  • Home Uniform: Blue and red shirt with blue pants and white socks.
  • Away uniform: White and blue shirt with blue pants and blue socks.

Uniform Evolution

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1918-1922
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
1922-1926
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
1926-1938
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
1997
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
2013
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
2014
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
2015-2016
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
2016-2017
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
2017
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
2018

Statistics

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  • Campeonato Brasileiro Série A
    • Player with most goals scored: Rinaldo (23 goals)
    • Player with most goals scored in a single tournament: Rinaldo (16 goals), in 2005
  • All divisions taken in consideration
    • Player with most goals scored: Rinaldo (43 goals); in 2004 (14), 2005 (16), 2006 (11) and 2008 (2)
  • Topscorers in national competitions (cups and leagues)
  • Best Série A right-back (Bola de Prata award): Louro, in 1974

Mascot

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Juba, mascot of Fortaleza

Fortaleza's mascot is a lion named Juba. In the 1960s, a journalist suggested that a lion be used as the club's mascot, inspired by the city of Fortaleza's General Tibúrcio Square, popularly known as Praça dos Leões (Square of Lions).

Club structure

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Headquarters

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The headquarters of Fortaleza lies in the district of Pici, which is a complex consisting of buildings named after prominent figures of the club throughout their history.

Stadiums

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Estádio Castelão

Fortaleza play their games at the 8,300-seater Estádio Alcides Santos, as well as Estádio Castelão, which can hold 63,903 supporters and Estádio Presidente Vargas with a capacity of 20,600.

Past presidents

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  • Alcides Santos
  • João Gentil
  • João César
  • Ney Rebouças
  • Aírton França Rebouças
  • Péricles Mulatinho
  • José Atanásio dos Santos
  • José Nestor Falcão
  • Osvaldo Azim
  • Ezequiel Menezes
  • Jorge Mota (1999—03)
  • Clayton Alcântara Veras (2004)
  • Ribamar Bezerra (2005—06)
  • Marcello Desidério (2007—08)
  • Lúcio Bonfim (2008—09)
  • Renan Vieira (2010)
  • Paulo Arthur Magalhães (2011)
  • Osmar Baquit (2011—14)
  • Jorge Mota (2015—17)
  • Luis Eduardo Girão (2017)
  • Marcelo Paz (2017—2023)
  • Alex Santiago (2024—present)

Current squad

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As of 20 August 2024[6]

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

No. Pos. Nation Player
1 GK   BRA João Ricardo
2 DF   BRA Tinga (captain)
4 DF   BRA Titi (vice-captain)
6 DF   BRA Bruno Pacheco
7 MF   ARG Tomás Pochettino
8 MF   ARG Emmanuel Martínez
9 FW   ARG Juan Martín Lucero (4th captain)
10 MF   BRA Calebe
11 FW   BRA Marinho
13 DF   CHI Benjamín Kuscevic (on loan from Coritiba)
15 GK   BRA Magrão
16 MF   BRA Matheus Rossetto
17 MF   BRA Zé Welison
19 DF   ARG Emanuel Brítez (5th captain)
21 FW   BRA Moisés
22 DF   BRA Yago Pikachu (3rd captain)
No. Pos. Nation Player
23 GK   BRA Santos
25 DF   ARG Tomás Cardona
26 FW   BRA Breno Lopes (on loan from Palmeiras)
28 MF   BRA Pedro Augusto
30 GK   BRA Maurício Kozlinski
31 MF   BRA Amorim
33 DF   ARG Eros Mancuso
34 FW   BRA Iarley
35 MF   BRA Hércules
36 DF   BRA Felipe Jonatan
37 MF   BRA Kauan
39 FW   ARG Imanol Machuca
77 FW   VEN Kervin Andrade
79 FW   BRA Renato Kayzer
88 MF   BRA Lucas Sasha

Reserve team

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

No. Pos. Nation Player
14 DF   BRA Jhonatan Silva
42 MF   BRA Fabrício Dias
48 FW   BRA Ryan Luka

Out on loan

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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   BRA Bernardo Schappo (on loan to Botafogo-SP until 30 November 2024)
DF   COL Brayan Ceballos (on loan to Dynamo Kyiv until 31 December 2024)
DF   BRA Dudu (on loan to Criciúma until 31 December 2024)
DF   BRA Geilson (on loan to Ferroviário until 30 November 2024)
DF   ARG Gonzalo Escobar (on loan to Santos until 31 December 2024)
DF   BRA Habraão (on loan to Santa Clara until 30 June 2025)
DF   BRA João Paulo (on loan to Chapecoense until 30 November 2024)
DF   BRA Marcelo Benevenuto (on loan to Coritiba until 30 November 2024)
DF   POR Tobias Figueiredo (on loan to Criciúma until 31 December 2024)
DF   BRA Bruno Melo (on loan to Coritiba until 31 December 2024)
No. Pos. Nation Player
MF   BRA Luquinhas (on loan to Legia Warsaw until 30 June 2025)
MF   BRA Ryan (on loan to União de Leiria until 30 June 2025)
MF   BRA Sammuel (on loan to ABC until 30 November 2024)
MF   BRA Ronald (on loan to Criciúma until 31 December 2024)
MF   BRA Pedro Vitor (on loan to Remo until 31 December 2024)
FW   BRA Edinho (on loan to Paysandu until 30 November 2024)
FW   BRA Guilherme Cachoeira (on loan to Remo until 30 November 2024)
FW   BRA Igor Torres (on loan to Vila Nova until 30 November 2024)
FW   BRA Pedro Rocha (on loan to Criciúma until 31 December 2024)
FW   BRA Thiago Galhardo (on loan to Goiás until 30 November 2024)

Staff

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Current staff

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As of 24 February 2023.
Position Name
Coaching staff
Head coach   Juan Pablo Vojvoda
Assistant head coach   Nahuel Martínez
Assistant head coach   Gastón Liendo
Assistant head coach   Leonardo Porto
Fitness coach   Luis Aspiazu
Fitness coach   Émerson Santana
Fitness coach   Kelmo Bonatto
Fitness coach   Lucas Martins
Goalkeepers trainer   Santiago Piccinini
Goalkeepers trainer   Guto Albuquerque
Development analyst   Henrique Bittencourt
Development analyst   Leonardo Abreu
Medical staff
Team doctor   Cláudio Maurício
Team doctor   Glay Maranhão
Team doctor   Rafael Veras
Team doctor   Roberto Oliveira
Team doctor   Vinícius Castelo Branco
Physiotherapist   Albino Luciano
Physiotherapist   Egberto Oliveira
Physiotherapist   Patrício Teixeira
Physiotherapist   Ranielson Xavier

Honours

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Continental

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National

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Regional

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State

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  • Campeonato Cearense
    • Winners (46): 1920, 1921, 1923, 1924, 1926, 1927, 1928, 1933, 1934, 1937, 1938, 1946, 1947, 1949, 1953, 1954, 1959, 1960, 1964, 1965, 1967, 1969, 1973, 1974, 1982, 1983, 1985, 1987, 1991, 1992, 2000, 2001, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2015, 2016, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023
  • Copa dos Campeões Cearenses
    • Winners (2): 2016, 2017

References

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  1. ^ "CNEF - Cadastro Nacional de Estádios de Futebol" (PDF) (in Portuguese). 18 January 2016. Retrieved 6 June 2016.
  2. ^ "Fortaleza aprova transformação em SAF inspirada no Bayern de Munique; entenda" (in Portuguese). ESPN. 23 September 2023. Archived from the original on 24 September 2023. Retrieved 25 September 2023.
  3. ^ "Fortaleza". Albion Road. Archived from the original on 21 September 2008. Retrieved 23 November 2011.
  4. ^ "Pesquisa mostra Flamengo e Corinthians como maiores torcidas do Brasil; veja o ranking". ge (in Brazilian Portuguese). 19 July 2022. Retrieved 27 May 2024.
  5. ^ "Ceará x Fortaleza: quem venceu mais na história? | Goal.com Brasil". www.goal.com (in Brazilian Portuguese). 6 April 2024. Retrieved 27 May 2024.
  6. ^ "Elenco" [Squad] (in Brazilian Portuguese). Fortaleza EC. Retrieved 18 January 2020.
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