Club Nacional de Football is a sports institution from Uruguay, founded on May 14, 1899 in Montevideo, as a result of the fusion between Uruguay Athletic Club and Montevideo Fútbol Club.
Nacional plays several sports, football being the most important and the one in which the club has achieved significant victories in Uruguay and internationally, earning worldwide recognition.
Nacional won the Copa Libertadores three times: 1971, 1980 and 1988. In this tournament, Nacional is the all-time leader with 515 points. Nacional also won the Copa Intercontinental in 1971, 1980 and 1988, becoming the first unbeaten three times world champion. In addition, Nacional is the only Uruguayan team that won the Copa Interamericana (1972 and 1989) and the Recopa Sudamericana, competition in which is the first champion (1989). In the domestic league, Nacional won the championship 44 times, playing in the first division since 1901, with the record of 11 titles in the amateur era and 33 titles in the profesional era. With a total of 145 official titles won, 124 domestic titles and 21 international titles (9 of them recognized by either CONMEBOL or FIFA), Nacional is the most successful club in Uruguay in terms of number of titles.
Nacional is identified with the white, blue and red colours inspired by the Uruguay's national hero José Gervasio Artigas flag. In spite of hosting some games at the Montevideo's city property Estadio Centenario, Nacional plays most of its home matches at the Parque Central, located in the La Blanqueada neighbourhood and popularly known as El Parque, where on July 13, 1930 Belgium and the United States played one of the two opening games of the 1930 FIFA World Cup, and where Argentina and Brazil, among others, made their debut in FIFA World Cup. Besides, Parque Central was the only venue in the 1923 and 1924 edition of the Copa América.
Nacional has fierce rivalries with many clubs, notably with cross-town team Peñarol, in clashes known as El clásico del fútbol uruguayo.
According to CONMEBOL, Nacional is the Uruguayan team with the best international performance in the last five years.
In May 2011, Nacional surpassed the number of 40.000 associates and 50.000 by mid-2012.
Read more about Club Nacional De Football: Stadium, Nicknames, Notable Coaches
Famous quotes containing the words club and/or football:
“I spoke at a woman’s club in Philadelphia yesterday and a young lady said to me afterwards, “Well, that sounds very nice, but don’t you think it is better to be the power behind the throne?” I answered that I had not had much experience with thrones, but a woman who has been on a throne, and who is now behind it, seems to prefer to be on the throne.”
—Anna Howard Shaw (1847–1919)
“In football they measure forty-yard sprints. Nobody runs forty yards in basketball. Maybe you run the ninety-four feet of the court; then you stop, not on a dime, but on Miss Liberty’s torch. In football you run over somebody’s face.”
—Donald Hall (b. 1928)