Rosario Central

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For the former train station, see Rosario Central Station.

Rosario Central

Full name

Club Atlético Rosario Central

Nickname(s)

Canallas (Scoundrels)
La Academia (The Academy)

Founded

December 24, 1889

Ground

Estadio Gigante de Arroyito
Rosario, Santa Fe
(Capacity 41,654)

Chairman

Horacio Usandizaga

Manager

Leonardo Madelón

League

Argentine Primera División

Apertura 2007

20th





Home colours





Away colours

Former crest

Club Atlético Rosario Central is a football club in Rosario, Argentina.

1 History
2 Stadium
3 Nicknames
4 Honours
- 4.1 National Titles
- 4.2 International Titles
5 Players
- 5.1 Current Squad
- 5.2 Notable former players
6 Famous Supporters
7 External links
8 References

The Central Argentine Railway Athletic Club was founded in December 24, 1889 by English railway workers of the British-owned Central Argentine Railway company. The first president was Colin Calder, and all club activities were carried out in the English language. When the company took over the Buenos Aires and Rosario Railway company in 1903, the name of the club was formally changed to Club Atlético Rosario Central.

The original jersey colors were red and white; later, the club would change to a checkered blue and white, and finally settle on the blue and gold vertical stripes design used to this day.

The team played in the local Rosario league until it joined the Argentine league in 1939 together with rivals Newell's Old Boys.

Rosario Central was relegated in 1942 and again in 1951; both times, it was promoted on the very next season.

Rosario Central won the Nacional championship in 1971 with Angel Labruna as coach, and again in 1973, being the first of many such achievements won by the coach Carlos Timoteo Griguol.

For the 1974 season, Central acquired striker Mario Kempes from Instituto Atlético Central Córdoba (Kempes and Instituto mate Osvaldo Ardiles were to be reunited in the national team that won the 1978 World Cup).

After seven years whitout titles, Central won the 1980 Nacional with veteran Ángel Tulio Zof on the bench. That team was called "La Sinfónica" (the symphony orchestra) because they played very good, beautiful football.

After a few years with bad seasons, the team was relegated in 1985, but returned to first division the following year, and won the 1986/87 Championship. This was a first in Argentine football (oddly, Central Español performed a similar feat in Uruguay in the years 1983/84, also a first).

In 1995 Rosario Central won their only international title to date, the CONMEBOL Cup (currently known as Copa Sudamericana).

It has participated in ten editions of the Copa Libertadores, third behind Boca Juniors and River Plate.

Rosario Central plays in the Gigante de Arroyito stadium, located in the confluence of Avellaneda Boulevard and Génova Avenue, in the Lisandro de la Torre neighborhood (popularly known as Arroyito), in north-east Rosario.

It has an official capacity of 41,654, but crowds of 45,000 have been accommodated after it underwent major conditioning for the 1978 World Cup held in Argentina.

In that tournament, all three second-round games of the Argentine squad were played in the Gigante. Local hero Kempes enjoyed the support of the fans and went on to become the top scorer of the tournament.

Central's common nickname is canallas ("scoundrels", which is a rather mild insult in Argentina) because it is said that they refused to play a charity match for a leprosy clinic in the 1920s; rival side Newell's acquired their leprosos (lepers) nickname when they did play in that event.

In a January 2007 press conference presenting the new jersey, Rosario native Roberto Fontanarrosa revised the definition and spelling of Central's nickname. The new spelling he gave was canaya, because according to him, people from the city of Rosario don't use the Spanish word canalla for any other reason than referring to the club.

Central are also known as La Academia (like the Argentine team Racing Club) due to the amount of players that become professional from their youth teams, and to the amount of consecutive Rosario´s League titles that the club won in the amateur era, in comparison to Racing Club (called La Academia), that won a lot of championships in the Buanos Aires´ League at the same time too.

Argentine First Division
- Winners: (4) Campeonato Nacional 1971, Campeonato Nacional 1973, Campeonato Nacional 1980, Argentine Primera 1986/1987

Copa Conmebol (currently known as Copa Sudamericana)
- Winners (1): 1995

As of September 10 2007

No.	Position	Player
1	GK	Cristian Álvarez
2	DF	Juan Manuel Azconzabal
3	DF	Oswaldo Vizcarrondo
4	DF	Abel Espinoza
5	MF	Cristian González (captain)
6	DF	Ronald Raldes (vice-captain)
7	MF	Emiliano Papa
8	MF	Tomás Costa
9	FW	Martín Arzuaga
10	MF	Damián Rodrigo Díaz
11	FW	Gonzalo Belloso (vice-captain)
12	GK	Jorge Broun
13	FW	Federico Martínez Colombo
14	DF	Andrés Imperiale
15	MF	Claudio Velázquez
16	DF	Juan Grabowski
17	MF	Mariano Seccafien

No.	Position	Player
18	FW	José Vizcarra
19	FW	Emiliano Zelaya
20	FW	Gervasio Núñez
21	MF	Diego Calgaro
22	DF	Damián Ledesma
23	MF	Mariano Messera
24	MF	Leonardo Borzani
25	GK	Hernán Castellano
26	DF	Eduardo Farías
28	DF	Diego Braghieri
30	DF	Gabriel Casas
31	FW	Milton Caraglio
32	DF	Martín Eduardo García
33	DF	Ignacio Boggino
34	FW	Gonzalo Castillejos