Cienciano del Cuzco
Club Sportivo Cienciano is a football (soccer) club from Cuzco, Peru. The club was founded in 1901, originally the team of the Faculty of Science of the University of Cuzco (Ciencias meaning science in Spanish), where it takes its name from. It gained worldwide recognition after defeating River Plate from Argentina in the finals of the 2003 Copa Sudamericana and Boca Juniors in the Recopa Sudamericana 2004.
History
Beginnings
Cienciano was founded in 1901 by a group of students from the National School of Science of Cusco (Colegio Nacional Ciencias del Cusco). It participated in several leagues and tournaments of the region. In 1972, it began to play in the Peruvian First Division. However, four years later, the club was relegated.
In 1988, the FPF invited the club to play in a tournament of the southern region. In 1991, Cienciano won the tournament and in 1992 it once again played in the First Division. Since then, the team has remained in the First Division but was close to be relegated in 1994.
Copa Sudamericana
In 2003 Cienciano, led by their coach Freddy Ternero, made it for the first time to the Copa Sudamericana, after beating the current Peruvian champion Sporting Cristal in an internal qualifying tournament. It went through every later knockout round arguably as the underdog defeating Peru's Alianza Lima, Chile's Club Deportivo Universidad Catolica, Colombia's Atletico Nacional (once Copa Libertadores champion) and Brazil's Santos (twice Copa Libertadores champion), to get to the finals. Once at the finals they faced one of the biggest teams in South American football, River Plate of Argentina (twice Copa Libertadores champion). After a 3-3 draw in Buenos Aires, Cienciano went on to win 1-0 on their home game in Peru with a goal from a free kick by Paraguayan defender Carlos Lugo. The game was played in Arequipa because of the insufficient capacity for a CONMEBOL final of the Estadio Garcilazo de la Vega (which has since been expanded)
This was the first international championship for a Peruvian team in history, only two other Peruvian teams had advanced to the finals of an international tournament, the Copa Libertadores only to be defeated. However, Cienciano had never won the Peruvian national champion .
Recopa Sudamericana
After winning the Copa Sudamericana, Cienciano went on to play against Boca Juniors of Argentina, another South American giant, for the 2004 Recopa Sudamericana, this being just one match, much like UEFA's European Super Cup, that faced the winner of both South American Cups of the previous season: the Copa Sudamericana and the Copa Libertadores. After a 1-1 draw, Cienciano went on to win the title by penalty shootout. The match was played in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
Stadium
Cienciano play their home games in Estadio Garcilaso de la Vega which is in Cusco. It was named after the Peruvian Inca Garcilaso de la Vega. When first inaugurated in 1950, it had a spectator capacity of 30,000 and had a running track. In 2004, the stadium's capacity was expanded to 42,000, losing its running track, because of Cienciano's success in international tournaments and it would be a venue in the Copa America 2004.
Current Squad
Copa Libertadores 2008 Squad [*]
Achievements
National
Primera Division Peruana:
*Runners-up (3): 2001, 2005, 2006
International
Copa Sudamericana:
*Winner (1): 2003
Recopa Sudamericana:
*Winner (1): 2004
Recopa Sudamericana 2004 Players
Oscar Ibanez
Paolo De la Haza
Santiago Acasiete
Manuel Arboleda
Giuliano Portilla
Alessandro Moran
Juan Carlos Bazalar
Juan Carlos La Rosa
Daniel Gamarra
Miguel Mostto
German Carty
Carlos Lobaton
Rodrigo Saraz
Sergio Ibarra
First Team from 1901
External links
This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article Cienciano del Cuzco
