 | |||
| Full name | São Caetano Futebol | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Nickname | Azulão (Big Blue One) | ||
| Founded | 4 December 1989; 35 years ago (1989-12-04) | ||
| Ground | Estádio Anacleto Campanella | ||
| Capacity | 16,745 | ||
| President | Jorge Machado | ||
| Head coach | Carlinhos Alves | ||
| League | Campeonato Paulista Série A4 | ||
| 2024 [pt] | Paulista Série A3, 15th of 16 (relegated) | ||
| Website | saocaetanofutebol | ||
São Caetano Futebol, formerly known asAssociação Desportiva São Caetano, commonly referred to asSão Caetano, is a Brazilian professionalfootball club based inSão Caetano do Sul,São Paulo. Founded on 4 December 1989, they compete in theCampeonato Paulista Série A4, the fourth tier of the São Paulostate football league and play their home games atEstádio Anacleto Campanella. Their biggest rival isSanto André.
The club's only major title is winning the 2004 Campeonato Paulista, but the club is more well-known for their 2002 Copa Libertadores campaign, where they finished runner-up, and for their two runner-up finishes in the Serie A.
In November 2023, the club changed its name fromAssociação Desportiva São Caetano toSão Caetano Futebol.[1]
Founded in 1989, the club found success early, winning the Third and Second Divisions of São Paulo regional tournaments. In1998, the club was runner up of the Serie C, and was promoted toSerie B.
In 2000, theBrazilian national championship was contested in a rather unusual way. According to previous credentials, teams would play in the First, Second or Third Division; São Caetano played in the Second. The difference was that, after all Divisions were finished, a mini tournament would gather representatives from all of them (one team from Third Division, three from Second and twelve from First), and the winner would be the Brazilian Champion of 2000.
São Caetano was runner-up of the Second Division and qualified to the finals. BeatingFluminense,Palmeiras andGrêmio, they entered the final againstVasco da Gama. The first match ended as a draw. Halfway during the second match, a fence collapsed atEstádio São Januário and the match was suspended. Despite several claims that São Caetano should be declared champion, Vasco petitioned the league for a third match, which Vasco went on to win 3-1. Their runner-up finish gave them qualification for the2001 Copa Libertadores.
Unlike many teams that rise prominently then quickly fall back to obscurity, São Caetano had another strong campaign in2001. Playing its first full season in the top division, they topped the table in the first stage, and then reached the finals againstAtlético Paranaense. Once again they finished as the runner-up, but consecutive seasons placing well secured their reputation on a national level. In the2001 Copa Libertadores,Azulao reached the round of 16, being eliminated byPalmeiras on penalties.
Sao Caetano had an excellent campaign in the2002 Copa Libertadores. They began their campaign by topping their group, with four wins and two losses. In the round of 16 they eliminatedU. Católica on penalties, setting up a quarter-final matchup with five-time Libertadores championPeñarol, which they also beat on penalties. In the semi-finals, they facedClub América, and beat them 3-1 on aggregate to advance to the finals against two-time championClub Olimpia. On 24 July, Sao Caetano won the first leg in Asuncion 1-0, but in the second leg atPacaembu Stadium Olimpia won 2-1 and sent the game into a penalty shootout. Olimpia won the shootout 4-2, causing Sao Caetano to finish runner-up for the third consecutive time. Despite finishing runner up, Sao Caetano earned respect, and their run to the Libertadores final was seen as an extreme fairytale story.[2] In the2002 Serie A, Sao Caetano had a good campaign as well, finishing second in the regular season before being eliminated byFluminense in the quarter-finals.
The following season, Sao Caetano finished fourth in the league, and qualified for the2004 Copa Libertadores; In the Libertadores the club eliminated Club America again in the round of 16 before narrowly being knocked out by eventual championsBoca Juniors on penalties in the quarter finals. Also that year, São Caetano won their first title, theCampeonato Paulista, beingPaulista fromJundiaí.
On 27 October 2004, while playing in a match againstSão Paulo, São Caetano defenderSerginho suffered a fatalheart attack.[3] As São Caetano's staff let Serginho play despite knowing that he had heart problems, the club was penalized heavily by theCBF,[4][5] which has since marked a decline in their performance, and caused them to be deducted 24 points in the2004 Serie A.[6]
The club performed poorly in the 2005 Serie A, finishing seventeenth and just two points off the relegation zone. At the end of the2006 season, they finished within the relegation zone, and were relegated to the2007 Serie B.
In the next few seasons, the club finished in the middle of the Serie B table. In the2012 Série B, the club had a good season, finishing fifth and only missing out on promotion to the Serie A on goal difference (top four were promoted).[7] However, the 2013 season was the complete opposite; even with the signing of Brazil legendRivaldo, the club had a poor season and was relegated to Série C after 14 years in the top two divisions of Brazil, and just 10 years after being in the Copa Libertadores finals.[8] In the same year, the team was relegated in theSão Paulo state championship, relegated to the Paulista Serie A2. In 2014, the team would begin the season with lackluster performance in the 2nd level of the state championship, in which the team only escaped relegation in the last round.[9] Following a subpar season in the2014 Série C, the team suffered back to back relegations and found itself in theSérie D.
After an unsuccessful campaign in the Serie D, the club would play only in the state leagues. However, after finishing the2018 Campeonato Paulista in 7th place, they qualified for the 2019 Serie D. However, since 2019 the club has been in an absolute free fall, suffering three further relegations and playing in theCampeonato Paulista Série A4 as of 2024.[10]
Built in 1955, São Caetano's stadium is Estádio Anacleto Campanella. Its capacity is 22,738 people. However, for Copa Libertadores matches, the club usedPacaembu Stadium because their main stadium did not meet CONMEBOL's requirements.
Below is a list of notable players of São Caetano:
| State | ||
|---|---|---|
| Competitions | Titles | Seasons |
| Campeonato Paulista | 1 | 2004 |
| Copa Paulista | 1 | 2019 |
| Campeonato Paulista Série A2 | 3 | 2000, 2017,2020 |
| Campeonato Paulista Série A3 | 2 | 1991, 1998 |
