Estudiantes
| Full name | Estudiantes de La Plata
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| Nickname | Los Pincharratas
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| Founded | 4 August 1905
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| Ground | Jorge Luis Hirschi Stadium,
1, 55 y 57, La Plata
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| Capacity | 23,000
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| Chairman | Julio Santiago Alegre
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| Manager | Reinaldo Merlo
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| League | Argentine Primera División
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| 2004 | Torneo Apertura, Fourth
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Estudiantes de La Plata is a sports club in La Plata, Buenos Aires province, Argentina, with a history of achievement in professional football.
History
The club was founded in 1905 by students who felt left out by the management of Gimnasia y Esgrima de La Plata, which favored indoor games over football. Its jersey had red and white vertical stripes honoring the Alumni team that dominated Argentine football in these years, with black pants and gray socks. In the early days, the team wore a blue blazer on top of the jersey when entering the pitch.
The stadium opened on 25 December 1907. Before the advent of professionalism, Estudiantes won the 1913 league title.
When professionalism was adopted in Argentina in the 1930s, Estudiantes had a famous offensive lineup: Lauri-Scopelli-Zozaya-Ferreyra-Guayta, known as los profesores (the professors), still regarded as one of Argentina's all-time finest (Guayta went on to play for the Italy team that conquered the 1938 World Cup). The Sbarra brothers (Raúl and Roberto) were feared defensive players.
The 1950s saw the rise of Garcerón, Urriolabeitia, Antonio, and striker Pellegrina.
In the 1960s, Miguel Ignomiriello coached the under-19 team known as la tercera que mata (the killer juveniles), which became the basis, together with a few acquisitions, of the team coached by Osvaldo Zubeldía that won the 1967 Metropolitano championship (Starting in 1967, Argentina holds two championships each season).
Thus, Estudiantes became the first club outside of the "five greats" (Boca Juniors, River Plate, Racing Club, Independiente, and San Lorenzo) to obtain professional titles. Other "small" clubs such as Chacarita Juniors and Vélez Sarsfield would follow suit in the coming years.
The team went on to secure the Copa Libertadores for three times in a row (1968 to 1970), and the 1968 Intercontinental Cup against Manchester United. It lost the series against AC Milan (1969) and Feyenoord (1970).
The last part of the Zubeldía era was marred by the antics of some players. Following a very violent Intercontinental match against Milan, the entire team was arrested on orders from Argentine President Juan Carlos Onganía; in an unprecendented step, goalkeeper Poletti was suspended for life. Because of several such events, it became a cliché to refer to Zubeldía's football as el antifútbol.
The Zubeldía team was was maybe the only successful professional side ever to count two physicians among its stars: captain Carlos Salvador Bilardo and teammate Raúl Madero graduated from the University of Buenos Aires Faculty of Medicine.
After graduation, Bilardo retired quit the game and got involved in medical research and in his family's furniture business. However, he started to coach, alternating between Estudiantes and Colombian sides. He coached Estudiantes in 1982, when the team won the Metropolitano championship. Under his successor Eduardo Luján Manera, also a member of the Zubeldía team, the team won the next tournment as well (the 1983 Nacional). Both wins were at the expense of a star-studded Independiente.
Bilardo went on to coach the Argentine national team that won the 1986 World Cup and reached the final of the 1990 edition. Madero was the team's physician on both events.
Estudiantes was relegated in 1994, only to return to the top division on the very next season. Its performances ever since have been uneven; the club became more known as the breeding ground for such players as Martín Palermo and Juan Sebastián Verón.
In 2004, under coach Reinaldo Carlos Merlo, the team was a contender in the Apertura championship, finishing in fourth place.
Stadium and Training Grounds
The Jorge Luis Hirschi stadium has room for 23,000 and is located on Avenue 1, between 55 and 57 streets, in central La Plata. It features wooden boards (used mostly for standing on) on three of its four sides. The remaining side is roofed and has better seating arrangements.
The noisiest fans ocupy the northern popular (opposite 55 street), while visiting fans are welcome in the southern popular, where the club usually sets aside 3,000 places (this number can be expanded up to 8,000 for larger visiting contingents).
The police usually cuts the traffic on Avenue 1 both before and after the games.
Even though a new stadium has been built for the city of La Plata, neither Estudiantes nor rivals Gimnasia y Esgrima have decided on moving their home games. The matter is a contested political issue between the clubs, their supporters, and mayor Alak. Estudiantes has asked for permission to upgrade its stadium.
For international games, Estudiantes has traditionally used the Boca Juniors field (La Bombonera).
The training grounds are located at City Bell, a few kilometres to the north of La Plata.
Fan Base
Following its international successes in the 1960s, Estudiantes gained followers in all of Argentina. They have remained true to its colors in good times and bad, giving the club a country-wide fan base, widely known as one of the most loyal in Argentina, routinely out-drawing "bigger" teams with larger stadiums.
Within the La Plata area, Estudiantes is regarded as the club of the middle class, while rival side Gimnasia y Esgrima is identified with the working class.
In the 1983 presidential election, Estudiantes fans were, together with their peers from Vélez Sársfield, the first to voice their support for (eventual winner) Raúl Ricardo Alfonsín in his bid against the Peronistas. The friendship with Vélez supporters has since vanished.
Estudiantes fans are on friendly terms with clubs from the South side of Greater Buenos Aires that make it to the top divisions. This was especially true of Temperley and Quilmes. Platense held a special place in the hearts of Estudiantes fans as it cemented Gimnasia's relegation in 1979.
On an international note, Estudiantes is friendly with the Uruguayan fan base of Peñarol.
Nicknames
The legend has it that the early training fields were infested with rats, and the players spent much time and effort chasing after them. Hence the nickname pincharratas (rat-stabbers), often shortened to pinchas. (This nickname extends to the fans.)
Some claim that the "rat-stabbing" actually refers to the laboratory work done by the many Medicine students among the club's early members.
The fans also call the team el león (the lion), orgullo de la ciudad (pride of the city), and el tricampeón (because of the three Libertadores wins).
List of Famous Players
- Lauri
- Scopelli
- Zozaya
- Manuel Ferreyra
- Guayta
- Roberto Sbarra
- Raúl Sbarra
- Garcerón
- Urriolabeitia
- Antonio
- Pellegrina (team top striker)
- Alberto Poletti
- Aguirre Suárez
- Eduardo Luján Manera
- Bocha Flores
- Conigliaro
- Echecopar
- Cacho Malbernat
- Dr. Carlos Salvador Bilardo
- Dr. Raúl Madero
- Carlos Pachamé
- Juan Ramón Verón
- Vicente Pernía
- Rubén Oscar Pagnanini
- Rubén Horacio Galletti
- Franco Frasoldatti
- Abel Ernesto Herrera (record for most appearences)
- Sergio Fortunato
- José Luis Brown
- Miguel Angel Russo
- Julián Camino
- Alejandro Sabella
- Hugo Ernesto Gottardi
- Marcelo Antonio Trobbiani
- José Daniel Ponce
- Martín Palermo
- Rubén Capria
- Juan Sebastián Verón
- Luciano Galletti
- Leonel Scaloni
- El Ruso Prátola
- Ernesto Farías
- José Sosa
- Marcelo Carrusca
External link
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