Club Atlético River Plate (Montevideo)

Club Atlético River Plate is an Uruguayan football club based in Montevideo. The club currently plays in the Primera División, the top level of the Uruguayan football league system.

River Plate
Full nameClub Atlético River Plate
Nickname(s)Darseneros (Dockers)
Founded11 May 1932 (1932-05-11)
GroundEstadio Saroldi,
Montevideo, Uruguay
Capacity6,000 (all seated)
ChairmanWillie Tucci
CoachJorge Fossati
LeaguePrimera División
2019Primera División, 7th

History

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, 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.

Statistics

The Club

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.

Uniform

C.A. 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

1932
1994
1996
1996 visitant
2001
2005 visitant
2006 visitant
2012–2016
2012–2016
2016-present

Rivalries

River Plate's supporters at Jardines del Hipódromo stadium, in June 2015

River is based in the same neighbourhood where Bella Vista and Montevideo Wanderers play. These three clubs have a long rivalry with each other.

During the last ten years, River Plate has had the upper hand in derby matches against both rivals, winning most of the matches.

Players

First team squad

As of Feb 26, 2020 [note 1]

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 Gastón Olveira
2 DF Guzmán Rodríguez
4 DF Horacio Salaberry
5 MF Facundo Ospitaleche
6 DF Facundo Silvera
7 DF Nicolás Rodríguez
8 MF Maximiliano Calzada
9 FW Matías Arezo
10 FW Tiago Galletto
11 FW Nicolás González
12 GK Lucas Machado
13 DF Gonzalo Viera
14 DF Marcos Montiel
15 MF Juan Pablo Plada
No. Position Player
16 MF Juan Ignacio Quintana
17 MF Ribair Rodríguez
19 FW Juan Manuel Olivera
20 MF Sebastián Píriz
22 DF Claudio Herrera
23 FW Matías Alonso e
24 DF Joaquín Fernández
25 GK Fanrizio Correa
26 DF Santiago Pérez
27 FW Agustín Morales
28 MF José Neris
29 DF Guzmán Rodríguez
30 DF Adrián Leites

Managerial history

Honours

Domestic

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

International (unofficial tournaments)

Notes

  1. "Plantel de River Plate (Montevideo) 2020". Tenfield.com (in Spanish).

References

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