Universidad San Martin de Porres
Universidad San Martin is a Peruvian football club, playing in the city of Lima. The club was founded in 2004 as a joint stock company, the first in Peru. They then bought Club Sport Coopsol's place in the First Division who was promoted to the Peruvian First Division because it got 1st place in the Peruvian Second Division. The team obtained its first national title in 2007.
History
In the first half of the 2004 season (Apertura), Universidad San Martin did poorly. They only accumulated 10 points and were positioned last on the table. However, in the Clausura, the club mananged to win 47 points, and reached second place. In total, San Martin was placed twelfth with 57 points. On the relegation table they placed eleventh, remaining in the first division. The following season, they did better and placed fourth, qualifying for the Copa Sudamericana 2006. Although they were eliminated in the preliminary round, they won their first international game by defeating Bolognesi in a home game 3-2 but were eliminated because of the away goals rule. In 2006, they placed 6th on the aggregate table and did not qualify for any international tournament.
The beginning of the 2007 season smiled upon the "Santos". They won the Apertura for the first time after defeating Cienciano 2-1 in Cuzco, qualifying for the Copa Libertadores 2008. Despite not finishing in the top 6 places in the Clausura tournament, thereby not fulfilling the condition to qualify for the national title playoff, the Clausura winners Coronel Bolognesi had not satisfied the condition in the Apertura either, so no playoff was played and San Martin were awarded the national title on the basis of its better aggregate record throughout the season.
Current squad
As of January 30, 2008
Achievements
Primera Division Peruana:
*Winners (1): 2007
Apertura:
*Winners (1): 2007
Clausura:
*Runner-ups (2): 2004,2005
Stadium
U. San Martin currently do not own a stadium. Therefore they play in the different stadiums of Lima. They have used the Estadio Nacional and Estadio Alejandro Villanueva in the past. Today they choose the Estadio San Martin de Porres which is used by Sporting Cristal. San Martin, however, are known to favor Universitario's stadium, Estadio Monumental "U". The stadium they choose mostly depends on how many people are expected to attend a game.
Noted managers
; Peru
Victor Rivera
Juan Carlos Oblitas
; Argentina
Juan Antonio Pizzi
External links
This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article Universidad San Martin de Porres
