Club Atlético River Plate (Montevideo)

The beginnings

River Plate de Montevideo is the result of the merger of former clubs Olimpia and Capurro. After its foundation on 11 May 1932, one of the first objectives reached was the settlement of a new football pitch. 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 Español from an injury suffered during the game.

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 Héctor Sena Puricelli. Before Olimpia and Capurro were merged, Isabelino Gradín, who can be considered the first Uruguayan football star, played for the Olimpia side.

Rise in the Primera División

River Plate's highest league position was reached in 1992. Osvaldo Canobbio, Juan Ramón Carrasco, Luis Diego López and Edgardo Adinolfi were involved in the squad with Víctor Púa as coach. Nacional won the title based on the skills of the notable forward Julio Dely Valdés.

Another great performance was reached in 2007/2008 season, which resulted in River achieving the second position in the annual qualifying. 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 Giménez, Mauricio Prieto, Bruno Montelongo and goalkeeper Álvaro García were also part of the first roster. Some of the most important victories during the tournament were against Peñarol (6–3), Defensor Sporting (5–1) and Danubio (5–1). The highest score registered was against Rampla Juniors (7–0).

2009 Copa Sudamericana

River Plate played semifinals in 2009 Copa Sudamericana, which was the best result achieved in an international competition. Coached by Juan Ramón Carrasco, River Plate eliminated 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, reached semifinals of an international CONMEBOL competition.

Last years

River Plate Montevideo playing against Palmeiras for Copa Libertadores 2016

River Plate has been coached by Guillermo Almada since April 2011 to June 2015. During the four last 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 González, Damián Frascarelli, Leandro Rodríguez, Cristian Techera, Gabriel Marques, Gabriel Leyes, Gonzalo Porras, Felipe Avenatti, Lucas Olaza, Sebastián Taborda among others. The highest point of this process was reached after qualifying for the Copa Libertadores, the first time in club's history. After Guillermo Almada joint Barcelona SC, since June 2015 until September 2016, Juan Ramón Carrasco was the coach of the first roster with disastrous results (a very different situation from his first campaign). Following Carrasco's resignation, Pablo Tiscornia, a former River Plate's player, he took over as manager.

Parque Federico Omar Saroldi

A view of Saroldi's pitch from the visitors' entrance

River Plate usually play their home games at Federico Omar Saroldi stadium, which is located in Montevideo 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 Atlético 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.

Complejo Villa Colón

Located in the neighbourhood of Villa Colón (northwest of Montevideo city), 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 room and health services. It's considered one of the best equipped training camps in the country.

Kit evolution

1932

1994

1996

1996 visitant

2001

2005 visitant

2006 visitant

2012–2016

2012–2016

2016-present

First team squad

As of Aug 14, 2018

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

No. Position Player 1 GK Nicola Pérez 2 DF Agustín Ale 3 DF Deivis Barone 3 DF Emiliano García 5 MF Facundo Ospitaleche 6 DF Williams Martínez 7 DF Nicolás Rodríguez 8 MF Maximiliano Calzada 9 FW Gabriel Leyes 10 MF Matías Jones 12 GK Lucas Machado 13 MF Matías Ebre 14 DF Iván Silva 15 DF Joaquín Fernández

No. Position Player 17 FW Mauro Da Luz 18 MF Diego Vicente 19 FW Juan Manuel Olivera 20 DF Diego Rodríguez 21 FW Cristian Martin 22 DF Claudio Herrera 23 FW Matías Alonso 24 MF Pablo González 25 GK Gastón Olveira 26 DF Facundo Silvera 27 FW Facundo Boné 28 MF José Neris 29 FW Facundo Vigo 30 FW Ezequiel Peña

Domestic

• Segunda División (6): 1943, 1967, 1978, 1984, 1991, 2004
• Torneo Preparación (1): 2012
• Copa Integración (1): 2012

International (unofficial tournaments)

• Copa Aerosur Internacional (1): 2010